A Grammar of Vabungula. Part 4.2: Prefixes and Suffixes.

In many cases it is not easy to classify a Vabungula root as exclusively a prefix or a suffix, since many roots can be used as both. However, there are certain roots that function primarily or even exclusively as prefixes or suffixes. Here are some of the most common ones:

Prefixes

do - good, holy; up na - bad, evil; down da - cause fa - do (note: sometimes the difference between da- and fa- becomes blurred) e - abstract (as opposed to concrete) ên - abstract, usually relating to social concepts le - intensive on - whole, entire fi/fwi - not, un- si - small ja - large ci - between, inter- ke - similar to, quasi la - at; towards mu(l) - become sa - having tu - this tê - that va - on vo - before ta - behind ze - same za - change into dzzu - give; (transitive) dzzû - take; (intransitive) o - various abstract applications, such as: forming relatives from interrogatives: kam? = what? okam = what, that lam? = where? olam = where various function words: oda = regarding odapro = as far as ... is concerned ogabu = at all ogas = in fact, as a matter of fact (from gas = real) okenim = on the one hand oni = don't you know one = in comparison making temporal adverbs from nouns: olarêm = one day (from larêm = day) ohalarêm = one evening (from halarêm = evening) omislarêm = one morning (from mislarêm = morning) interjections: oglûno = wow! (from glûno = surprise) oklêd = please! (from klêdeg = ask for) onamag = oh dear! (from namagûs = problem) onapê = excuse me! (from napêgu = apologize) impersonal verbal prefix: ogula = it is said, they say (from agula = say, speak) ofalê = it is done, they do (from falê = do)

The basic meaning for dzzu- is "to take" and dzzû- "to give", derived from the words dzzumba (take) and dzzûmba (give) respectively. The word dzzula ("to put"), however, uses a corrupted version of the root dzzû-. Thus the prefix dzzu- in many cases has the meaning of "putting" or "placing", a concept which is far removed from "taking". In the case of the word pair dzzudot (hang) and dzzûdot (hang), the only difference is that the former is transitive, i.e., requires a direct object, whereas the latter is intransitive. Thus after you dzzudot your coat in the closet, it dzzûdot's there until you fetch it again. Dzzû- in this case functions as an intransitive counterpart to the transitive verb formed by dzzu-. In other words, the dzzû- in dzzûdot has nothing to do with the word dzzûmba (to take), but rather was formed as a counterpart to contrast with the dzzu- in dzzudot, which in turn is a corruption of the prefix dzzû-. This seeming contradiction leads to what can seem to be a rather haphazard use of the prefixes dzzu- and dzzû-.

(a)l - general nominal suffix kûlûnal = resistance (kûlûn = resist) negosal = curiosity (negosa = be curious) a/s/as - general verbal suffix menaka = be angry (menak = anger) glûnos = be surprised at (glûno = surprise) flogas = invite (flogal = invitation) ke - adjectival suffix menake = angry (menak = anger) bolake = clean (bola = clean (verb)) se - participle suffix ("who is --ing", or "who ---s") agulase = who is speaking (agula = speak) falêse = who is doing (falê = do) te - adverbial participle suffix ("-ing") masate = going (masa = go) komate = flying (koma = fly) (a)n - gerund suffix nifan = thinking (noun) (nifa = think) fagêmlên = working (noun) (fagêmlê = work) sum - person mêkacfusum = baker (mêkacfu = bake) edobisum = artist (edobi = art) nidzz - a branch of science zonidzz = mathematics (zo = number) nelûnzonidzz = geometry (nelon = shape, ûnda = part, zo = number) akamenidzz = chemistry (akamel = chemical) dwajênidzz = geology (dwajên = earth) kaminidzz = physics (kamo = thing, imag = event) muhasinidzz = astronomy (muhasil = star) leg - any kind of hard substance or object kakleg = stone (kak = hard) pênleg = tooth (pêntês = mouth) cepleg = nut (cepi = fruit) suleg = bone (sum = human) figaleg = metal (figas = artificial) tuwaleg = ivory (tuwadzze = elephant) uc - sharp pointed objects, such as claws, fangs, horns, hooks arguc = claw (armon = hand) njuc = horn (nimoka = head) oluc = hook (olkalûn = crescent) ic - new; child famêlic = invent (famêlêt = make) sumic = child (sum = person) (m)ic - pain nagmic = hurt pênlegmic = toothache (pênleg = tooth) pumic = ache (pumalê = smooth) ak - sudden action fûgezak = jerk (fû = sudden, gezama = move) fûmislak = gasp (fû = sudden, islûn = breathe) sajdak = hesitate (sajdo = remain) on - whole sumon = body (sum = person) falon = assemble (falê = do) haljon = destroy (halja = kill) lar - time kaclar = summer (kace = hot) kiralar = future (kira = after) lam - place murafalam = bank (murafa = money) sekarlam = forest (sekara = tree) zzau - back and forth motion fagezzau = wag (fagezzu = shake) fûmazzau = jump up and down (fûmado = jump) nok - rounded knob-like shape or object neagonok = knoll (neago = hill) mazanok = knee (mazaka = leg) talnok = knot (talac = tie) pe - body part vope = chest (vo = front) surape = heart (sumirap = blood) lapê - completion of action famulapê = finish up writing (famu = write) hamekalapê = burn all up (hameka = burn) kamo/kam/ka/ko - thing, object komakamo = airplane (koma = fly) dzzulakamo = table (dzzula = put) dwademaka = shovel (dwadema = dig) hamêsko = stove (hamês = cook) mok - container, vessel, box daramok = pitcher (dara = pour) skematamok = trunk (car) (skemaska = car, ta = behind) vûs - cloth, clothing aldovûs = curtain (aldozûm = window) armovûs = handkerchief (armon = hand) mûl - "-ism" sumidirmûl = democracy (sumi = people, dira = leader) lasusalmûl = communism (lasunig = public, sal = possession)

1) The stress generally falls on the last syllable for nouns formed by the nominal suffix -(a)l, although there are many exceptions.

2) A small number of nouns have the rare nominal suffix -a (or -la). The main ones are:

karala ("difference", from kar = "different") dala ("fall", from "da" = "to fall") dzzûsafa ("hold", from "dzzûsaf" = "to hold, grasp") lonoêma ("beginning", from "lonoêem" = "to begin") famima ("dream", from "famim" = "to dream") franka ("importance", from "frankale" = "important") jasilara ("while", from "jasilar" = "a while") kêmdwassila ("patriot, nationalist", from "kêmdwassi" = "patriotic, nationalistic")

There are other nouns that end in a (or other vowels), but the a in these cases is part of another root and does not represent the nominal suffix a.

3) The suffixes in the word pair karas/karal is in direct contradiction to the general rule: karas is the noun ("food"), and karal is the verb ("eat").

Page last modified on March 30, 2002

Vabungula is an artificial language invented by Bill Price in 1965.

Vabungula co nûsk mugola famêlêtke onudzz Bill Price larla alara idekuzorekol.