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; -able 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 fida - un---able 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; (in adjectives made from verbs: tending to perform the action of ...) su - (in adjectives made from transitive verbs: tending to receive the action of ...) tu - this tê - that va - on vo - before ta - behind ze - same za - change into džu - give; (transitive) džû - 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)

endimêk (instead of êndimêk) "rule, regulation." endiragul (instead of êndiragul) "law". endirafamul (instead of êndirafamul) "constitution". endisimu (instead of êndisimu) "restrict, curtail".

The basic meaning for džu- is "to take" and džû- "to give", derived from the words džumba (take) and džûmba (give) respectively. The word džula ("to put"), however, uses a corrupted version of the root džû-. Thus the prefix džu- 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 džudot (hang) and džûdot (hang), the only difference is that the former is transitive, i.e., requires a direct object, whereas the latter is intransitive. Thus after you džudot your coat in the closet, it džûdot's there until you fetch it again. Džû- in this case functions as an intransitive counterpart to the transitive verb formed by džu-. In other words, the džû- in džûdot has nothing to do with the word džûmba (to take), but rather was formed as a counterpart to contrast with the džu- in džudot, which in turn is a corruption of the prefix džû-. This apparent contradiction leads to what can seem to be a rather haphazard use of the prefixes džu- and džû-.

(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)) - passive suffix for verbs falêke = done (falê = do) agulake = said (agula = speak, say) 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) jêl - nominative suffix (for adjectives) afadejêl = a rich person, a rich one (afade = rich (adj.)) nêmajêl = a weak person, a weak one (nêma = weak (adj.)) kel - nominative suffix (for passives of transitive verbs) fisankel = an excluded person, an excluded one (fisan = exclude) džûdonikel = an honored person, an honored one (džûdoni = honor) sum - person mêkacfusum = baker (mêkacfu = bake) edobisum = artist (edobi = art) nidž - a branch of science zonidž = mathematics (zo = number) nelûnzonidž = geometry (nelon = shape, ûnda = part, zo = number) akamenidž = chemistry (akamel = chemical) dwajênidž = geology (dwajên = earth) kaminidž = physics (kamo = thing, imag = event) muhasinidž = 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 (tuwadže = 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) žau - back and forth motion fagežau = wag (fagežu = shake) fûmažau = 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) džulakamo = table (džula = 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") džûsafa ("hold", from "džûsaf" = "to hold, grasp") lonoêma ("beginning", from "lonoêm" = "to begin") famima ("dream", from "famim" = "to dream") franka ("importance", from "frankale" = "important") jasilara ("while", from "jasilar" = "a while") kêmdwašila ("patriot, nationalist", from "kêmdwaši" = "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").

There are two classes of adjectives formed from verbs appended with suffix -ke, one that is formed with the prefix sa- and one formed with the prefix su-.

Prefixing to sa- to a verb produces an adjective that describes an attribute of tending to be the agent or the subject of the verb:

damuna "harm" sadamunake "harmful" dojani "respect" sadojanike "respectful" fêl "obey" safêlke "obedient" gulen "express" sagulenke "expressive" nigo "know" sanigoke "knowledgeable" nidesomu "suspect" sanidesomuke "suspecting", "have a suspicious nature"

Prefixing to su- to a transitive verb produces an adjective that describes an attribute of tending to receive or be the direct object of the transitive verb:

džûdoni "honor" sudžûdonike "honorable" nakafûm "hate" sunakafûmke "detestable" tula "pity" sutulake "pitiful" klego "doubt" suklegoke "doubtful" madžoga "forgive" sumadžogake "forgivable" šimonû "like" sušimonke "likeable"

Page last modified on November 10, 2015

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

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