APPENDIX 



verbs will be treated, as most of the substantives, that the sports- 

 man is likely to use, belong to this class anyhow. 



4. The personal prefixes for the verbs are, Ni-, U-, A-, Tu-, 

 M-, and Wa-; I, Thou, He (she or it), We, You, and They. 



5. The tense prefixes for the verbs are, -na- for the present 

 tense, -li- or -nic- for past, and -ta- for future. Thus, for in- 

 stance, of the verb, piga, shoot, beat, we have : Ni-na-piga, I 

 shoot; Ni-li-piga, I shot; Ni-mc-piga, I have shot; Ni-ta-piga, 

 I shall shoot. In writing or in printing, the forms of the verbs 

 are always written in one word, Ninapiga, but in the first two 

 lessons they are separated, so as to make it easier for the be- 

 ginner to find the different forms at a glance. 



6. The Swahili has no special interrogative form of the verb, 

 but expresses the question by a different tone of voice. For 

 instance, Mtii hapa, may mean : A man is here, or Is a man here ? 

 according to the way of pronouncing the words. If an inter- 

 rogative is used, it is always placed after the word it refers 

 to, except, perhaps, when it stands in a longer sentence and be- 

 longs to several nouns, when it may begin the sentence. For 

 instance, wapi, where; Where is the man? in Swahili, Mtu wapi? 

 Where are the man and the woman ? Wapi mfu na hibi? 



7. Is or are, as a general rule, are omitted in the sentence, 

 unless they are especially accentuated. In such case, both is and 

 are are expressed by ni for all persons, singular and plural, and 

 si for the negative is not, or are not ; therefore, The man is here, 

 Mtu ni hapa; The man is not here, Mtu si hapa. 



8. The second person imperative of all regular verbs in Swa- 

 hili is, as in English, exactly like their infinitive form ; thus, piga 

 means shoot (to shoot), and shoot! When in English to is put 

 before the infinitive form, the Szvahili uses ku. To shoot, there- 

 fore, is in Swahili, ku-piga. 



Vocabulary 



bwana, sir, master. bibi, wife, zvotnen, miss. 



chakula, food, meal. bilauri, glass. 



bunduki, gun. leta, bring. 



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