3.5.
Verbs
A verb is a word or a group of words that express an action.
As far as verbs are concerned, B.S. deviates from S through borrowing verbs
from Western and vernacular languages, borrowing S verbs whose meanings are
transformed and through neologisms. Examples are provided here below:
a) B.S. verbs loaned from Western languages and their
correspondences in S.
|
B.S.
|
English equivalents
|
S
|
|
Ku-squiver(French)
|
to escape
|
ku-toroka
|
|
Ku-aller(French)
|
to go
|
ku-enda
|
|
Ku-daye(English)
|
to die
|
ku-fariki
|
|
Ku-preparer (French)
|
to prepare
|
ku-andaa
|
|
Ku-coder (French)
|
to come to terms with
|
ku-patana
|
|
Ku-varier (French)
|
to get angry
|
ku-kasirika
|
|
Ku-saver (French)
|
to know
|
ku-juwa
|
|
Ku-calculer (French)
|
to calculate
|
ku-hesabu
|
|
Ku-guetter (French)
|
to watch, to see
|
ku-ona
|
|
Ku-vener (French)
|
to come
|
ku-ja
|
|
Ku-breker (English)
|
to brake
|
ku-zua
|
|
Ku-intimider (French)
|
to intimidate
|
ku-tisha
|
Bukavu Swahili speakers resort frequently to verbs from
Western languages (mainly French). When these (English or) French verbs are
used in B.S., they are treated as any Swahili verb, that is, they comply with
the infinitive prefix (ku-) and may be extended through
affixation.
b) B.S. loan verbs from vernaculars and their
correspondences in S.
|
B.S.
|
English equivalents.
|
S.
|
|
ku-basa (Mashi)
|
to hit
|
ku-piga
|
|
ku-sheshera (Mashi)
|
to funnel through, to intrude
|
ku-jipenyeza
|
|
ku-jabika (Mashi)
|
to dive
|
ku-loweka
|
|
ku-shwa (Lega)
|
to become
|
ku-wa
|
This verb in the expression:»Byashwa dur» Things
become difficult Mambo yanakuwa magumu ku-shamula Kushamula (Mashi) «to
confiscate» ku-nyanganya
ku-dahula (Mashi) «to profit from sthg illegally»
ku-iba
c) B.S. loan verbs from S with semantic transformation.
|
B.S
|
English equivalents
|
S
|
|
Ku-chunga
|
to await
|
ku-ngoja
|
|
Ku-kera
|
to buy sweet, etc
|
ku-nunua...
|
|
Ku-uza
|
to buy
|
ku-nunua
|
|
Ku-uzisha
|
to sell
|
ku-uza
|
|
Ku-doda
|
to have a lift
|
ku-bebwa na...
|
|
Ku-singa
|
to court/flirt
|
ku-tongoza
|
The B.S. verbs above are at the same time S verbs. But the
meanings they have in B.S. are quite different from those the same verbs have
in S. In S, «kuchunga» means «to graze cattle, to look
after»; «kukera» «to torment»; «kukanga»
«to heat»; «kuuza» «to sell»;»kudoda»
«to ooze». In B.S., selling is expressed through extending the verb
«kuuza» in order to have «kuuzisha». «Kusinga»
means «to rub», in S.
d) B.S. neologisms with their correspondences in S.
|
B.S.
|
English equivalents
|
S
|
|
Ku-hopa
|
to hesitate
|
ku-sita
|
|
Ku-nyuka
|
to beat/defeat
|
ku-piga/shinda
|
|
Ku-zibula
|
to hit
|
ku-piga
|
|
Ku-supa
|
to court
|
ku-tongoza
|
Bukavu Swahili is characterized by neologisms which are not as
numerically extended as borrowings
| 
