482 
BRITISH CENTRAL AFRICA 
4. Substantives are divided into many classes or genders indicated by the 
pronominal particle prefixed to the root. Some of these prefixes are used 
in a plural sense, others in the singular. No singular prefix can be 
used as a plural, nor can a plural prefix be employed in the singular 
number. There is a certain degree of correspondence between the singular 
and plural prefixes, thus , No. 2 prefix invariably serves as plural to No. 1; 
No. 8 (plural) corresponds to No. 7 (singular), but this cannot be depended 
on as a rule. The full number of the prefixes is sixteen} The pronominal 
particle or prefix of the noun is attached to the adjectives, pronouns, and 
verbs in the sentence which are connected with that noun, and though in 
course of time these particles may differ in form from the noun-prefix, 
they were formerly identical in origin. (This system is the “ Concord ” 
of Dr. Bleek). The pronominal particles whether in the nominative or 
accusative case must always precede the verbal root, though they often 
follow the auxiliary particles used in conjugating the verbs. (An 
apparent but not a real exception to this rule is in the second person 
plural of the imperative mood where an abreviated form of the pronoun 
is affixed to the verb 2 and other phases of the verb are occasionally 
emphasised by the repetition of the governing pronoun at the end.) 
5. The verbal-root may modify its termination by a change of the last vowel 
or by suffixing certain particles ; or it may even change its radical vowel 
either to form a tense or to alter the original meaning of the simple stem. 
6 . The root of the verb is the second person singular of the imperative. 
7. No sexual gender is recognised. 
The sixteen original prefixes of the Bantu languages are given below. I 
state them in the most archaic forms to be found in living languages ; but there 
are evidences to show that some of these prefixes are not now found in their 
oldest types, and these latter, obtained by deduction from the other forms of 
the particle used in the syntax, are given in brackets. 
BANTU 
PREFIXES. 
Singular. 
Plural. 
Class I 
Mu-(Ngu-) 
Class 
2 
Ba- 
» 3 
Mu-(Ngu-) 
)> 
4 
Mi-(Ngi-) 
» 5 
Di-(Ndi-) 
» 
6 
Ma-(Nga-) 
» 7 
Ki-(Nki- ?) 
8 
Bi- 
,, 9 
N or Ni 
yy 
10 
Ti-, Ti-n-, or hi-, 3 bi-11-, 
or Zi-, Zi-n- 
„ 11 
Lu-(NduP) 
yy 
12 
Tu (often diminutive 
» 1 3 
Ka (usually a 
diminutive). 
in sense). 
„ 14 Bu- (sometimes used in a plural sense; generally em¬ 
ployed to indicate abstract nouns). 4 
,, 15 Ku- (identical with preposition “ to,” used as an infinitive 
with verbs but also with certain old nouns indicating 
functions of the body primarily). 
„ 16 Pa- (locative: applied to nouns and other forms of 
speech to indicate “place” or position. Identical 
with adverb “ here,” as ku- is with “ there.”) 
1 Possibly seventeen. 2 Ita = call! 7 i'ani = call ye ! ni— ye. 
3 English Th-in “think.” 4 As Mu-ntu = a man; Bu-ntu = humanity. 
