4iy " PKSCHIl'TIVE COMl'LKMKNT " IN |lRONGA. 



1. Denoting coJoitr. 



(Double vowels so written to express prolonged vowels.) 



d:uu, e.g., ku ku dzuu, to be red, especially of the sun 



at morning or evening. 

 nhiva {(I strongly nasal), ku ku nkwa, to be yellow. 

 viphaa, ku ku niphaa. To be pure white. Cp. haa (used 



with //). 



2. Denoting sound. 



bo, ku ku bo. Expresses noise of breaking. 

 su, ku ku su, sound used to scare birds. 

 twee, ku ku twee, noise of falling, to fall. 

 ntwin, ku ku ntwin. Sound of a blow. 



(Final n in a few cases written to nazalize vowel before 

 it.) 



3. Denoting action.'i. 



gaa, ku ku gaa, to fall Hat backwards. 

 gc. ku ku ge, to eat. 



I • . r ku ku hill, to do thus — so — . 

 hin j 



ndivin, ku ku ndwin, to turn round rapidly. 



ra, ku ku ra, to wither, fade, be dry. 



tlhiva, ku ku tlhwa, to shine at a distance. 



tlee, ku ku tlee, to draw uj) soldiers ready for battle. 



(4) Denoting states. 



ntli, ku ku utsi, to be dark (lacking light). 

 ^/, ku ku bi, to be destroyed, annihilated, disappear. 

 dzi, ku ku dzi, to stand or be upright. 

 daa, ku ku daa, to be scabby . 



dit, ku ku du, to be heavy, deep, e.g., Burongo byi ku 

 du. The slumber is deep. 



7itsc \ 

 nips e J 



ku ntse, to be silent. 



nthii, ku ku nthu, to be quiet. 



hree, ku ku swee, to be transparent, piu'e (of liquors, 

 op. baa, with //). 



Real onomatopoeias included in the above may be: bo, su, 

 tirce, ntwin. 



(h) Used with leu U . 



(1). Denoting colour. 



baa, e.g., Ma li baa (sc. maribye, stones). (The stones) 

 are pure white. 



(2) Denoting sound. 



kivee, sound of chickens chirping, e.g., Tihuku ti li 

 kwee. Chickens chirp. 



