THE KI-SWAHILI LANGUAGE 



the headman has taken the rope into his tent. 9. When did you 

 arrive in camp, porter? 10. I have been here the whole day, Sir, 

 II. Headman, has this man been here all the day? 12. I do not 

 know, Sir, I have not seen him. 13. Porter, you are very bad, I 

 will not have you in my caravan. 14. Go and take your food and 

 run away. 15. If you do not go at once, I shall send the soldier 

 to beat you ! 16. Yes, Sir, I have been very bad, but now I shall 

 be good. 17. All right, go and do your work now. 18. What work 

 shall I do? 19. Help the headman to make the loads ready, we shall 

 march on to-morrow. 20. Boy, bring here water, soap and a towel, 

 I will now bathe. 21. When I have bathed, I want my food at once. 

 22. See that the plate, fork, spoon and knife are very clean. 23. 

 Have you not had your food to-day, guide? 24. Yes, thank you 

 very much, I have eaten my posho. 25. Go now and sleep. 



Lesson VH 



1. The passive forms of the verbs are made by the insertion 

 of a -zv- between the last two letters of the verb, but are other- 

 wise exactly like the active tenses. For instance, Ninapiga, I 

 love ; Ninapigzva, I am being loved ; Amepiga, he has shot ; amc- 

 pigwa, he has been shot, etc. Kongoni amciiwa na simha, the 

 hartebeest was killed by the lion. Wapagazi ivamepigwa na 

 askari, the porters have been beaten by the soldier. 



2. The Swahili is very fond of a special narrative tense, 

 which includes the idea of " and " with a past tense ; this narra- 

 tive tense is 'expressed by inserting -ka- between the personal 

 prefix and the verb. For instance, Akakuja, akasema mind tay- 

 ari, and he cam.e and he said I am ready. Tukakuja tukaona ki- 

 farii na tukampiga, and we came and we found a rhino, and we 

 shot him. 



3. The infinitives of verbs are often used as substantives and 

 are in English translated by the present participle or by the 

 infinitive with to. For instance, Nataka kupiga, I like shooting, 

 or to shoot. Giinhearer anapcnda kiisafisha bunduki, the gun- 

 bearer likes the cleaning of guns, or to clean guns. 



