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Difference between revisions of "Typological Features Template for Luganda"

 
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|'''Phonological Features'''
 
|'''Phonological Features'''
 
|-
 
|-
−
|Vowel inventory
+
|'''Vowel inventory'''
−
|Luganda has only 5 vowels: [ a, e, i, o, u ]. Any of them can be long or short.
+
|Luganda has only 5 vowel phonemes: / a e i o u /. Any of them can be long or short.
−
i: high, front
+
/i/ high, front;
−
u: high, back
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/u/ high, back;
−
e: mid, front
+
/e/ mid, front;
−
o: mid, back
+
/o/ mid, back;
−
a:front, low
+
/a/ front, low.
 
|-
 
|-
 
|'''Vowel harmony
 
|'''Vowel harmony
 
'''Nominal Vowel harmony'''
 
'''Nominal Vowel harmony'''
−
|Vowel harmony in Luganda relates to the Luganda Vowel Chart, which contains only five vowels. The vowel on the noun class dictates the initial vowel that the noun takes on. The Luganda noun classes allow only three vowels, namely: [u, i, a]. The occurence of any of those vowels on a noun class dictates the initial vowel in this manner: [u] harmonizes with [o], [i] harmonizes with [e] and [a] harmonizes with [a].  Examples, omuti, emiti, amata.
+
|Vowel harmony in Luganda relates to the Luganda vowel chart, which contains only five vowels. The vowel on the noun class determines the initial vowel that the noun takes on. The Luganda noun classes allow only three vowels, namely /u i a/. The occurrence of any of those vowels on a noun class determines the initial vowel in this manner /u/ harmonizes with /o/, /i/ harmonizes with /e/ and /a/ harmonizes with /a/.  Examples, omuti, emiti, amata.
 
|-
 
|-
 
|'''Verbal Vowel harmony'''
 
|'''Verbal Vowel harmony'''
−
|This harmony occurs on suffixes only. This harmony follows this manner: verbs whose penultimate syllable has [a, u, i] harmonizes with [i] in suffixing the root. Verbs whose penultimate syllable has [e, o] harmonizes with [e] in suffing the root.
+
|This harmony occurs on suffixes only. It follows this manner: verbs roots whose last syllable has /a u i/ harmonize with /i/ in the suffixes. Verbs whose roots last syllable has /e o/ harmonize with /e/ in the suffixes.
−
Examples: sab-a = sabira, fun-a = funira, sib-a = sibira, som-a, sek-a = sekera, simool-a = simoolera  
+
Examples: sab-a = sab-ir-a, fun-a = fun-ir-a, sib-a = sib-ir-a, som-a = som-er-a, sek-a = sekera, simool-a = simool-er-a.  
 
|-
 
|-
 
|'''Consonant inventory'''
 
|'''Consonant inventory'''
−
|There are mainly 20 consonants in Luganda: [p, b, m, w, f, v, t, d, n, l, s, z, c, j, y, ny, k, g, ŋ, nÿ ]. Bilabials [p, b, m], labiodentals [f, v], alveolars [t, d, n, l, s, z], alveopatal [nÿ], palatals [c, J,nnya], velars [k, g, ŋ], semivowels [w,y].Each of those consonants can combine with any vowel to form a syllable. All consonants can be  long with the exception of [w,y,l]. A long consonant is one that is pronounced with force as compared to one that is single.  
+
|There are 19 consonants in Luganda: /p b m w f v t d n l s z c ɟ ɳ k g ŋ /. Bilabials /p b m/, labiodentals /f v/, alveolars /t d n l s z/, palatals/ /c ɟ ɳ/, velars /k g ŋ/, semivowels /w, j/. Each of those consonants can combine with any vowel to form a syllable. All consonants can be  long with the exception of /w y l/. /b/ has the allophone [β] between vowels, /n/ has the allophone [ɱ] before labiodentals /f v/.  
 
|-
 
|-
 
|'''Consonantal Combinations'''  
 
|'''Consonantal Combinations'''  
−
|[m] is followed by bilabials. [n] is followed by all other consonants except [l]. [n] is followed by all alveolars except [l]. [ŋ] is followed by all velars.  
+
|Nasals which preceed plosives have to have the same place of articulation as plosives. /m/ is followed by bilabials. [n] is followed by all other consonants except [l/. /n/ is followed by all alveolars except /l/. /ŋ/ is followed by all velars.  
 
|-
 
|-
 
|'''Semi vowel combinations'''  
 
|'''Semi vowel combinations'''  
−
|All consonants can be followed by a semivowel except labiodentals, [f, v]. [f, v] cannot be followed by [w]. [s,z,c,J,nÿ] are not followed by [y]. [ŋ] does not allow combining with [y].  
+
|All consonants can be followed by a semivowel except labiodentals /f v/. /f v/ cannot be followed by /w/. /s z c ɟ] are not followed by /j/. /ŋ/ does not allow combining with /j/.  
−
Allophonetic sounds include: [β, ɱ,  ɽ, l]
+
 
|-
 
|-
 
|'''Tone'''
 
|'''Tone'''
−
|Luganda is a pitch-accent or a two tone language. Tone in the roots of uttarances can be arranged as HL or HH. Sometimes a resultant HF tone may occur. The two basic tones are modified by downstepping and downdrifting. Changes in the pitch of a syllable trigers a change meaning of a word. For instance, the word okubala can be marked in two different ways: when all the syllables are marked with high tones, the word will mean "to count"; when only the penultimate syllable is marked high, the word will mean "to yield or to bear fruit".It thus follows that, for a non-native speaker to learn this language, they must master the tones; they must listhen very carefully.  
+
|Luganda is a two tone language with two tone levels. A third falling tone can be analysed as a combination of HL.  Tone in the roots of uttarances can be arranged as HL or HH. The two basic tones are modified by downstepping and downdrifting. Changes in the pitch of a syllable triggers a change meaning of a word. For instance, the word okubala can be marked in two different ways: when all the syllables are marked with high tones, òkúbálá, the word will mean 'to count'; when only the penultimate syllable is marked high, òkùbálà, the word will mean 'to yield' or 'to bear fruit'.
  
 
|-
 
|-
 
|'''Syllable Structure'''
 
|'''Syllable Structure'''
−
|Basic syllable structures: V, CV, CV:, C:V, C:V:, NCV, NCV:, Cw/yV, C:w/yV, C:w/yV:, NCw/yV, N
+
|Basic syllable structures: V, CV, CV:, C:V, C:V:, NCV, NCV:, CWV, C:WV, C:WV:, NCWV, N. (N stands for any nasal, W stands for the glides /w j/)
 
|-
 
|-
 
|'''Morpho-syntactic Features'''
 
|'''Morpho-syntactic Features'''
 
|-
 
|-
−
|'''morphological classification (1)'''
+
|'''Morphological classification (1)'''
−
|Luganda is principally/basically agglutinative, which in many cases exhibit modifications in the roots of verbs when particular affixes are added. Among the affixes present in Luganda are: prefixes, suffixes and infixes.
+
|Luganda is principally/basically agglutinative, which in many cases exhibit modifications in the roots of verbs when particular affixes are added. Among the affixes present in Luganda are: prefixes, suffixes '''and infixes.''' However, as to whether Luganda has infixes or not is a contetious issue.
 
|-
 
|-
−
|'''morphological classification (2)'''
+
|'''Morphological classification (2)'''
−
|Luganda is generally a head-marking language at both phrase and sentence level. For instance, Omwana (N) omuto (Adj) akuba (V) embwa (Obj) [A little child is beating a dog]. In pronominalisation forms, it is possible to have a dependent marking in the verb phrase. For instance, Omwana omuto agikuba. [A little child is beating it]. A- [Subj], -gi- [Obj], kub-a [V].
+
|Luganda is generally a head-marking language at both phrase and sentence level. For instance, Omwana (N) omuto (Adj)akuba (V) embwa (OBJ).
 +
See this annotation:
 +
<Phrase>23603</Phrase>
 +
 
 +
In pronominalisation forms, it is possible to have a dependent marking in the verb phrase. For instance, Omwana omuto agikuba. [A little child is beating it]. A- [Subj], -gi- [Obj], kub-a [V].
 
|-
 
|-
 
|'''Nominal Phrases'''
 
|'''Nominal Phrases'''
−
|In the following fields we aim for a description of some of the basic morpho-syntactic properties of nominal constituents
+
|In the following fields we aim for a description of some of the basic morpho-syntactic properties of nominal constituents.
 
|-
 
|-
−
|'''syntactic structure
+
|'''syntactic structure'''
−
|'''|In the following fields  a description of some of the basic morpho-syntactic properties of nominal constituents are given.  
+
|'''|The unmarked constituent order is SVO.  
 
|-
 
|-
 
|'''Nominal modification'''
 
|'''Nominal modification'''
−
|Luganda is one of the Bantu languages with a noun class system (sometimes referred to as gender). Of the 23 Bantu noun classes, Luganda has 21:
+
|Luganda is one of the Bantu languages with a noun class system (sometimes referred to as gender). Of the 23 Bantu noun classes, Luganda has 21. For further information about the Luganda noun class system, consult the following page: [[A comparative analysis of Runyankore Rukiga and Luganda pronominal agreement]].
−
IOMU singular, 2ABA plural, 3OMU singular, 4EMI plural, 5ELI singular, 6AMA plural, 7EKI singular, 8EBI plural, 9EN singular, 10EN plural, 11OLU singular, 12AKA singular, 13OTU plural 14OBU singular, 15OKU singular, 16WA 17KU,18MU, 20OGU singular, 22AGA plural.  
+
−
23E. The class underwhich a noun falls may be determined by the prefix.
+
−
A Luganda noun is glutinable for number and gender. The linear ordering in a noun phrase is: Determiner-Noun-Possessor-Numeral-Quantifier-Modifier-Verb. Just like the grammars of most Bantu languages, the grammar of Luganda can be said to be noun-centred: most words in a sentence agree with a noun. Agreement is based on the noun class (this is comparatively referred to as gender) and number. This agreement is realised by prefixes attached to the start of word stems. The parts of speech that manifest agreement are: verb (for subject and object); adjective; pronoun and possessive.
+
−
 
+
−
[edit]
+
 
|-
 
|-
 
|'''Nominal specification'''
 
|'''Nominal specification'''
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|-
 
|-
 
|'''Possession'''
 
|'''Possession'''
−
|Luganda uses pronouns to indicate possession in different grammatical persons.  
+
|Luganda possessor roots are specified as suffixes in in different grammatical persons.  
−
|Person  
+
{|
−
|Singular
+
!Person  
−
|align="right"|Plural
+
!Singular
 +
!Plural
 
|-
 
|-
 
|1st
 
|1st
−
|-ange
+
| -ange
−
|align="right"|
+
| -affe
−
-affe
+
 
|-
 
|-
−
|2nd
+
| 2nd
−
|-o
+
| -o
−
|align="right"|
+
| -ammwe
−
-ammwe
+
 
|-
 
|-
 
|3rd
 
|3rd
−
|-e
+
| -e
−
|align="right"|
+
| -abwe
−
-abwe
+
|}
−
|-
+
−
|'''Possession in other noun classes (impersonal pronouns)'''
+
−
|1OMU wa  e.g Omwana wa Mukasa 'Mukasa's child'
+
−
2 ABA ba  e.g Abaana ba Mukasa 'Mukasa' children'
+
−
3 OMU ga  e.g Omuti gwa Mukasa 'Mukasa's tree'
+
−
4 EMI gya  e.g Emisooli gya Mukasa 'Mukasa trees'
+
−
5 ELI lya  e.g Eliiso lya Mukasa 'Mukasa's eye'
+
−
6 AMA ga  e.g Amaaso ga Mukasa 'Mukasa's eyes'
+
−
7 EKI kya  e.g Ekikopo kya Mukasa 'Mukasa's cup'
+
−
8 EBI bya  e.g Ebikopo bya Mukasa 'Mukasa's cups'
+
−
9 EN  ya  e.g Embuzi ya Mukasa 'Mukasa's goat'
+
−
10 EN za  e.g Embuzi za Mukasa 'Mukasa's goats'
+
−
11 OLU lwa  e.g Olugoye lwa Mukasa 'Mukasa's cloth'
+
−
12 AKA ka  e.g Engoye za Mukasa 'Mukasa's clothes'
+
−
13 OTU twa  e.g Otulo twa Mukasa 'Mukasa's sleep'
+
−
14 OBU bwa  e.g Obutungulu bwa Mukasa 'Mukasa's onions'
+
−
15 OKU kwa  e.g Okugulu kwa Mukasa 'Mukasa's leg'
+
−
20 OGU gwa 'all nouns here are derogatory'
+
−
22 AGA ga 'all nouns here are derogatory'
+
 
|-
 
|-
 
|'''Pronominal system'''
 
|'''Pronominal system'''
−
|Luganda has both free and bound pronoun forms.  
+
|Luganda has both free and bound pronoun forms. All pronouns are marked for their grammatical functions: there are subject and object pronouns. All pronouns in Luganda appear also as prefixes. They also function as subject and object markers.
−
The free pronoun forms are:
+
|-
−
Singular Plural
+
|
−
1sr Person Nze ‘I’ Ffe ‘We’
+
|The free pronoun forms are:
−
2nd Person Ggwe ‘You’ Mmwe ‘You’
+
{|
−
3rd Person Ye ‘He/She’ Bo ‘They’
+
!Person
−
All pronouns are marked for their grammatical functions: there are subject and object pronouns. All pronouns in Luganda appear as prefixes. Luganda is also rich in double object constructions.  
+
!Singular
 +
!Plural
 +
|-
 +
|1st
 +
|Nze
 +
|Ffe
 +
|-
 +
|2nd
 +
|Ggwe
 +
|Mmwe
 +
|-
 +
|3rd
 +
|Ye
 +
|Bo
 +
|}
 
|-
 
|-
 
|'''Subject and Object Personal pronouns'''
 
|'''Subject and Object Personal pronouns'''
 
|Subject Pronouns
 
|Subject Pronouns
−
            Singular   Plural
+
{|
−
1st Person n-     tu-
+
!Person
−
2nd Person o-     mu-
+
!Singular
−
3rd Person      a-     ba-
+
!Plural
 
|-
 
|-
−
|Object Pronouns
+
|1st
−
|1st Person   Singular -n-, Plural -tu-; 2nd Person  Singular -ku-, Plural; -ba-; 3rd Person singula -mu- , Plural -ba-
+
|n-
 +
|tu-
 +
|-
 +
|2nd
 +
|o-
 +
|mu-
 +
|-
 +
|3rd
 +
|a-
 +
|ba-
 +
|}
 +
|-
 +
|'''Object Pronouns'''
 +
|
 +
{|
 +
!Person
 +
!Singular
 +
!Plural
 +
|-
 +
|1st
 +
| -n-
 +
| -tu-
 +
|-
 +
|2nd
 +
| -ku-
 +
| -ba-
 +
|-
 +
|3rd
 +
| -mu-
 +
| -ba-
 +
|}
 
|-
 
|-
−
|Subject pronouns: example sentences
+
|'''Subject pronouns: example sentences'''
−
|'''N'''soma ekitabo ‘I am reading a book’
+
|<Phrase>22940</Phrase>
−
'''O'''soma ekitabo ‘You are reading a book’'''
+
<Phrase>22945</Phrase>
−
'''A'''soma kitabo ‘He/She is reading a book’
+
−
'''Tu'''soma ekitabo ‘We are reading a book’
+
−
'''Mu'''soma ekitabo ‘We are reading a book’
+
−
'''Ba'''soma ekitabo ‘They are reading a book’
+
 
|-
 
|-
−
|Object pronouns: examples
+
|'''Object pronouns: examples'''
−
|A'''n'''somesa ‘S/he is teaching me’
+
|<Phrase>22946</Phrase>
−
A'''tu'''somesa ‘S/he is teaching us’
+
<Phrase>22951</Phrase>
−
A'''ku'''somesa ‘S/he is teaching you’ [singular]
+
−
A'''ba'''somesa ‘S/he is teaching you’ [2nd person plural]
+
−
A'''ba'''somesa ‘S/he is teaching them’ [3rd person plural]
+
−
Y'''ee'''somesa ‘S/he is teaching him/herself’(reflexive)
+
 
|-
 
|-
 
|'''Verbal Phrases'''
 
|'''Verbal Phrases'''
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|-
 
|-
 
|Word order
 
|Word order
−
|The word order in Luganda is SVO
+
|The word order in Luganda is SVO.
 
|-
 
|-
−
|TAM  
+
|'''TAM'''
−
|A Luganda verb is agglutinable for 3 tenses: the present tense, the past and the future.  
+
|A Luganda verb is agglutinable for 3 tenses (this is however still debatable, some scholars say the tenses are six): the present tense, the past and the future. See the examples here: http://typecraft.org/TCEditor/1225/. However, there are different aspects within these tenses.  
−
The present tense is zero marked. E.g Nfumba emmere ‘I cook food’or ‘I am cooking food.’
+
−
Past tense is marked by three aspect constructions which appear either as prefixes and suffixes.
+
−
i.e. Nfumbye emmere ‘I have cooked food.’
+
−
Nafumbye emmere ‘I cooked food.’
+
−
Nafumba emmere ‘I cooked food’ [far past]
+
−
Future tense is marked by two aspect constructions.
+
−
Banaafumba emmere ‘They will cook food’
+
−
Balifumba emmere ‘They will cook food’ [far future]
+
−
In some constructions, Luganda displays periphrastic tenses. E.g
+
−
Nfumba emmere bulijjo ‘I always cook food’
+
−
Nja kufumba emmere ‘I will cook food’
+
−
Ntera okufumba emmere [I sometimes cook food].
+
−
The perfective aspect in Luganda involves various morpho-phonetic changes depending on the phonological environment at hand. For instance all verbs ending in /b, p, m/ will manifest this aspect as '-ye'; all verbs ending in /t,k/ will attract a phonological change, where /t,k/ will change into '-se'. The rest of other phonemes change according to established phonological rules.  
+
 
|-
 
|-
−
|Mood
+
|'''Mood'''
−
|Luganda makes use of the following moods: imperative mood, conditional mood, subjunctive mood, indicative mood and infinitive mood. There are notable changes that occur on application of imperative mood. In second person singular, the person is not manifest on the verb; second person plural, third person singular and plural is manifest. In subjunctive mood, the notable change is that, the FV "a" changes into "e" in all persons. Conditional mood is not morphhologically marked on the verb, it is phrasal.  
+
|Luganda makes use of the following moods: imperative mood, conditional mood, subjunctive mood, indicative mood and infinitive mood. There are notable changes that occur on application of imperative mood. In second person singular, the person is not manifest on the verb; second person plural, third person singular and plural, the person is manifest. In subjunctive mood, the notable change is that, the FV "a" changes into "e" in all persons. Conditional mood is both morphhologically and periphrastically marked on the verb.  
 
|-
 
|-
−
|Infinitival forms
+
|'''Infinitival forms'''
 
|Luganda has one infinitive form marked by (o)ku-. It should be noted that all Luganda verbs are bound morphs, except about two only that appear as free morphs. The infinitive (o)ku- relates to the 15Oku noun class.
 
|Luganda has one infinitive form marked by (o)ku-. It should be noted that all Luganda verbs are bound morphs, except about two only that appear as free morphs. The infinitive (o)ku- relates to the 15Oku noun class.
 
|-
 
|-
 
|'''Verbal constructions'''
 
|'''Verbal constructions'''
−
|Luganda has transitive, intransitive, ditranstive and auxiliary  verbs. A Luganda verb is glutinable for person, tense, aspect, and mood. Luganda verbs are also known to take on verb extensions common in Bantu languages including causative, applicative, reflexive, reciprocal, capable, passive.  
+
|Luganda has transitive, intransitive, ditranstive and auxiliary  verbs. A Luganda verb is glutinable for person, tense, aspect, and mood. Luganda verbs are also known to take on verb extensions common in Bantu languages including causative, applicative, reflexive, reciprocal, capable, passive. Here we only illustrate the applicative. <Phrase>13980</Phrase>, <Phrase>14005</Phrase>.
 +
 
 +
 
 
|-
 
|-
 
|'''Adpositions'''
 
|'''Adpositions'''
Line 186: Line 189:
 
Examples: Omuti guno gwange, This tree is mine; Omuti ogwo gwange, That tree is mine; Omuti guli gwange, The other tree is mine.
 
Examples: Omuti guno gwange, This tree is mine; Omuti ogwo gwange, That tree is mine; Omuti guli gwange, The other tree is mine.
 
|-
 
|-
−
|'''Orthography'''
+
|'''Luganda Orthography'''
 +
|The current Luganda orthography was standardised 1947. This orthography uses the Roman Alphabet. In this spelling system short and long vowels as well as short and long consonants are indicated. The short vowel and consonant are written singly while long vowels and consonants are written double. All vowels (a, e, i, o, u) can be double, see these examples: omukeeka (mat), maama (mummy), ekibiina (class/group), omuwuulu (bachelor), emmeeme (soul). All consonants can be double except /l, r, h, w, y). For example: omubbi (thief), ettama (cheek) etc. 
 
|-
 
|-
 
|'''Short Bibliography'''
 
|'''Short Bibliography'''
−
| #Ashton, Ethel O., and others (1954) A Luganda Grammar, London: Longmans, Green.
+
|
 +
#Ashton, Ethel O., and others (1954) A Luganda Grammar, London: Longmans, Green.
 
#Murphy, John D. (1972) Luganda-English Dictionary. Catholic University of America Press
 
#Murphy, John D. (1972) Luganda-English Dictionary. Catholic University of America Press
 
#Chesswas, J. D. (1963) Essentials of Luganda. Oxford University Press
 
#Chesswas, J. D. (1963) Essentials of Luganda. Oxford University Press
 
#Kiingi, K.B. (2009) Enkuluze ya Oluganda eya e Makerere, olusunsula 2a, Kampala: Fountain Publishers.
 
#Kiingi, K.B. (2009) Enkuluze ya Oluganda eya e Makerere, olusunsula 2a, Kampala: Fountain Publishers.
 
|-
 
|-

Latest revision as of 07:15, 24 August 2011

By Medadi Erisa Ssentanda

Feature Description
Phonological Features
Vowel inventory Luganda has only 5 vowel phonemes: / a e i o u /. Any of them can be long or short.

/i/ high, front; /u/ high, back; /e/ mid, front; /o/ mid, back; /a/ front, low.

Vowel harmony

Nominal Vowel harmony

Vowel harmony in Luganda relates to the Luganda vowel chart, which contains only five vowels. The vowel on the noun class determines the initial vowel that the noun takes on. The Luganda noun classes allow only three vowels, namely /u i a/. The occurrence of any of those vowels on a noun class determines the initial vowel in this manner /u/ harmonizes with /o/, /i/ harmonizes with /e/ and /a/ harmonizes with /a/. Examples, omuti, emiti, amata.
Verbal Vowel harmony This harmony occurs on suffixes only. It follows this manner: verbs roots whose last syllable has /a u i/ harmonize with /i/ in the suffixes. Verbs whose roots last syllable has /e o/ harmonize with /e/ in the suffixes.

Examples: sab-a = sab-ir-a, fun-a = fun-ir-a, sib-a = sib-ir-a, som-a = som-er-a, sek-a = sekera, simool-a = simool-er-a.

Consonant inventory There are 19 consonants in Luganda: /p b m w f v t d n l s z c ɟ ɳ k g ŋ /. Bilabials /p b m/, labiodentals /f v/, alveolars /t d n l s z/, palatals/ /c ɟ ɳ/, velars /k g ŋ/, semivowels /w, j/. Each of those consonants can combine with any vowel to form a syllable. All consonants can be long with the exception of /w y l/. /b/ has the allophone [β] between vowels, /n/ has the allophone [ɱ] before labiodentals /f v/.
Consonantal Combinations Nasals which preceed plosives have to have the same place of articulation as plosives. /m/ is followed by bilabials. [n] is followed by all other consonants except [l/. /n/ is followed by all alveolars except /l/. /ŋ/ is followed by all velars.
Semi vowel combinations All consonants can be followed by a semivowel except labiodentals /f v/. /f v/ cannot be followed by /w/. /s z c ɟ] are not followed by /j/. /ŋ/ does not allow combining with /j/.
Tone Luganda is a two tone language with two tone levels. A third falling tone can be analysed as a combination of HL. Tone in the roots of uttarances can be arranged as HL or HH. The two basic tones are modified by downstepping and downdrifting. Changes in the pitch of a syllable triggers a change meaning of a word. For instance, the word okubala can be marked in two different ways: when all the syllables are marked with high tones, òkúbálá, the word will mean 'to count'; when only the penultimate syllable is marked high, òkùbálà, the word will mean 'to yield' or 'to bear fruit'.
Syllable Structure Basic syllable structures: V, CV, CV:, C:V, C:V:, NCV, NCV:, CWV, C:WV, C:WV:, NCWV, N. (N stands for any nasal, W stands for the glides /w j/)
Morpho-syntactic Features
Morphological classification (1) Luganda is principally/basically agglutinative, which in many cases exhibit modifications in the roots of verbs when particular affixes are added. Among the affixes present in Luganda are: prefixes, suffixes and infixes. However, as to whether Luganda has infixes or not is a contetious issue.
Morphological classification (2) Luganda is generally a head-marking language at both phrase and sentence level. For instance, Omwana (N) omuto (Adj)akuba (V) embwa (OBJ).

See this annotation:

Omwana omuto akuba embwa
“The young/little child is beating a dog”
Omwana
omuana
IV1child
N
omuto
omuto
IV1young
N
akuba
akuba
3SGSBJbeatFV
V
embwa
enembwa
IV9dog
N


In pronominalisation forms, it is possible to have a dependent marking in the verb phrase. For instance, Omwana omuto agikuba. [A little child is beating it]. A- [Subj], -gi- [Obj], kub-a [V].

Nominal Phrases In the following fields we aim for a description of some of the basic morpho-syntactic properties of nominal constituents.
syntactic structure The unmarked constituent order is SVO.
Nominal modification Luganda is one of the Bantu languages with a noun class system (sometimes referred to as gender). Of the 23 Bantu noun classes, Luganda has 21. For further information about the Luganda noun class system, consult the following page: A comparative analysis of Runyankore Rukiga and Luganda pronominal agreement.
Nominal specification To specify a noun, Luganda uses determiners, demonstratives, numerals, quantifiers and nominal specifiers.
Possession Luganda possessor roots are specified as suffixes in in different grammatical persons.
Person Singular Plural
1st -ange -affe
2nd -o -ammwe
3rd -e -abwe
Pronominal system Luganda has both free and bound pronoun forms. All pronouns are marked for their grammatical functions: there are subject and object pronouns. All pronouns in Luganda appear also as prefixes. They also function as subject and object markers.
The free pronoun forms are:
Person Singular Plural
1st Nze Ffe
2nd Ggwe Mmwe
3rd Ye Bo
Subject and Object Personal pronouns Subject Pronouns
Person Singular Plural
1st n- tu-
2nd o- mu-
3rd a- ba-
Object Pronouns
Person Singular Plural
1st -n- -tu-
2nd -ku- -ba-
3rd -mu- -ba-
Subject pronouns: example sentences
Nsoma ekitabo
“I am reading a book”
Nsoma
nsoma
1SGreadFV
V
ekitabo
ekitabo
IV7book
N
Basoma ekitabo
“they are reading a book”
Basoma
basoma
they3PLSBJreadFV
V
ekitabo
ekitabo
IV7book
N
Object pronouns: examples
Ankuba
“S/he is beating me”
Ankuba
ankuba
3PSGSBJ1PSGOBJbeatFV
V
Mumukuba
“You are beating him/her”
Mumukuba
mumukuba
2PLSBJ2SGOBJbeatFV
V
Verbal Phrases In the following fields a description of some of the basic morpho-syntactic properties of verbal constituents is given.
Word order The word order in Luganda is SVO.
TAM A Luganda verb is agglutinable for 3 tenses (this is however still debatable, some scholars say the tenses are six): the present tense, the past and the future. See the examples here: http://typecraft.org/TCEditor/1225/. However, there are different aspects within these tenses.
Mood Luganda makes use of the following moods: imperative mood, conditional mood, subjunctive mood, indicative mood and infinitive mood. There are notable changes that occur on application of imperative mood. In second person singular, the person is not manifest on the verb; second person plural, third person singular and plural, the person is manifest. In subjunctive mood, the notable change is that, the FV "a" changes into "e" in all persons. Conditional mood is both morphhologically and periphrastically marked on the verb.
Infinitival forms Luganda has one infinitive form marked by (o)ku-. It should be noted that all Luganda verbs are bound morphs, except about two only that appear as free morphs. The infinitive (o)ku- relates to the 15Oku noun class.
Verbal constructions Luganda has transitive, intransitive, ditranstive and auxiliary verbs. A Luganda verb is glutinable for person, tense, aspect, and mood. Luganda verbs are also known to take on verb extensions common in Bantu languages including causative, applicative, reflexive, reciprocal, capable, passive. Here we only illustrate the applicative.
Basekulira omwami kasooli
“They are pounding maize for the chief/husband”
Basekulira
basekulira
3PLpoundAPPLFV
V
omwami
omwami
IV1chief/husband
N
kasooli
kasooli
maize
N
,
Matovu yasengukira wa?
“Where did Matovu shift to?”
Matovu
matovu
 
Np
yasengukira
yasengukira
3PLSGPASTshiftAPPLFV
V
wa?
wa?
where
PROint

.


Adpositions Luganda has prepositions at both word and phrase level. E.g mu ‘in’, ‘among’, ‘within’, ‘to’, ‘from’; ku ‘at’, ‘on’, ‘to’; e ‘to’ etc. At phrase level, they appear as, waggulu ku… ‘on top of…’, waggulu wa… ‘above’ etc.

In indicating the grammatical relation between the verb and the noun, Luganda concordial agreements based on the noun class system.

Complementation In this field you describe complementation strategies. Does [your language] make use of complementizers?
Special Properties of Luganda Negative sentences in Luganda are usually formed by prefixing si- for 1st person singular (this replaces the 1st person personal pronoun, n-). For all other persons, the prefix te- is used coming before the subject pronoun. Depending on the morpho-phonological environment, the negators, si- and te- change. In environments where the negator comes but not next to a verb, it is an independent entity.
Demonstratives Luganda, has different forms of demonstratives that correspond to the Luganda noun class system. These demonstratives express spatial relations in three distinct ways: proximate [-no], intermediate [-o] (distal) and most distal [-li] (non-proximal).

Examples: Omuti guno gwange, This tree is mine; Omuti ogwo gwange, That tree is mine; Omuti guli gwange, The other tree is mine.

Luganda Orthography The current Luganda orthography was standardised 1947. This orthography uses the Roman Alphabet. In this spelling system short and long vowels as well as short and long consonants are indicated. The short vowel and consonant are written singly while long vowels and consonants are written double. All vowels (a, e, i, o, u) can be double, see these examples: omukeeka (mat), maama (mummy), ekibiina (class/group), omuwuulu (bachelor), emmeeme (soul). All consonants can be double except /l, r, h, w, y). For example: omubbi (thief), ettama (cheek) etc.
Short Bibliography
  1. Ashton, Ethel O., and others (1954) A Luganda Grammar, London: Longmans, Green.
  2. Murphy, John D. (1972) Luganda-English Dictionary. Catholic University of America Press
  3. Chesswas, J. D. (1963) Essentials of Luganda. Oxford University Press
  4. Kiingi, K.B. (2009) Enkuluze ya Oluganda eya e Makerere, olusunsula 2a, Kampala: Fountain Publishers.
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