The basic word order in Venda is Subject-Verb-Object. Because Subjects and Objects are cross-referenced on the verb, they can be omitted entirely, or their order changed:
(1) S V O
[O/-Khotsi anga] [vha khou vhala] [O/-gurannda]
NC1a-father PS1PS SC2b(HON) CT read NC9-newspaper
'My father is reading the newspaper.' (Poulos 1990. 219)
(2) V
[Ro vha thusa]
SC1PP-PC OC2 help
'We helped them.' (Poulos 1990, 229)
(3) O S V
[Ma-di] [mu-sidzana] [u a a ka]
NC6-water NC1-girl SC1 PT OC6 buy
'The girl draws the water.' (ZWM 1981, 34)
(4) V O S
[U ka] [ma-di] [mu-sidzana ]
'The girl draws water.' (ZWM 1981, 34)
In (1) we have a declarative sentence with common noun arguments and the word order is SVO. In (3) the order is OSV and in (4) it is VOS. In Venda because of the Subject and Object Concords cross-referenced on the verb, there would be no confusion as to which noun phrase was which argument (unless they were from the same NC). However, SVO seems to be the basic order for several reasons. From their glosses, we see that both (3) and (4) are marked, that is, the alternate word orders are reflecting special emphases. We see that OSV and VOS are marked word orders. Fronting a phrase reflects a special emphasis of the speaker. Based on the unmarked nature of (1) and the frequency of SVO word order in declarative sentences with common nouns as subject and object, we can conclude that SVO is the basic word order in Venda. (It is also of interest, however, that the order of clitics on the verb is SOV, and this is invariant, and as we see in (2) sufficient to express a complete sentence.)
ADJECTIVES
Adjectives in Venda can be formed in a number of ways, including the possessive, the "true relative" and the "verbal relative" (relative clause). There is also a finite set of adjective stems which are prefixed with Adjective Concords (AC) of the noun being modified.
(5) N P
[O/swohana] [la maanda]
NC5-young man PC5 strength
'a strong young man'
(6) N TR
[mu-thu] [u-sili]
NC1-thing [TR1-strange]
'a strange person'
(7) N VR
[mu-thu [we a luga]
NC1-thing REL1 RC1 good
'a good person' (lit. 'a person who is good') (ZWM 1981, 81)
(8) N A
[n-guvho] [n-tswa]
NC9-blanket AC9-new
'a new blanket' (ZWM 1981, 82)li-
In all four cases, we see that the order is NA, with the noun being modified followed by the modifier.
GENITIVES
Genitives, as noted above, follow the adjective pattern, with the possessum or Noun followed by the possessor or Genitive:
(9) N G
[li-no] [la-nga]
NC5-tooth PC5-1PS
'my tooth' (Poulos 1990, 133)
(10) N G
[0/-khotsi] [a vha-tukhana]
NC1a-father PC1a NC2-boy
'the father of the boys' or 'the boys' father' (Poulos 1990, 132)
ADPOSITION
According to Poulos (1990, 397), Venda does not have prepositions "as known in English" However, Venda does have morphemes indicating a time or space relationship between a noun and an event which are generally affixed to the noun (Poulos and ZWM do not always agree on this, but almost all are affixed) and almost all of these affixes are positioned before the noun:
(11) "kha-" on, to' PR N
[kha] [tshi-dzulo]
on NC7-chair
'on the chair' (ZWM 1981, 41)
(12) "nga-" 'by means of' PR N
' [nga] [modoro]
by car
'by car' (Poulos 1981, 399)
(13) [nga] [khali]
with clay pot
'with (by means of) a clay pot' (Poulos . 399)
(14) 'about'
PR N
Vha khou amba [nga ha] [halwa]
SC2 CT talk about beer (Poulos, 399)
'They are talking about beer'
(15) 'on, in'
(re time)
[PR] [N}
Ndi do ni vhona nga Musumbuluwo
SC1PS FT OC2PS see on Monday
'I will see you on Monday' (Poulos, 400)
(16) "na-" 'with' PR N
na m-mbwa
with NC9-dog
'with the dog' (Poulos, 403)
(17) "-ni' 'to, at, from, in, on'
N PO
mulambo- ni
to, at, in, from river
'to, at, in from, or on the river' (Poulos, 409)
Of the four morphemes mentioned above, only one is postpositional, and this postpositional morpheme is also the only one that is orthographically part of the noun. Although the others are not (usually) considered independent morphemes, they are written as separate from the noun and so seem not quite as tightly bound to the noun. Also, in the case of the locatives "kha-" and especially "-ni" the actual meaning of the morpheme is dependent on the verb form. (Locative meanings generally in Venda are incorporated in the verb form and also in several noun classes (NC16 - "fha-", 'under'; NC17 ' "ku-", 'far'; NC18 - "mu-", 'behind'). ) Generally, however, it appears that morphemes that indicate the relationship of a noun in space or time generally are prepositional. One could argue that the "-ni" suffix is really part of the verbal locative, and not really a postposition.)
RELATIVE CLAUSES
As mentioned above under adjectives, in relative clauses, the modifying relative follows the noun being modified. There are several constructions for relative clauses in Venda, but they all follow this word order. For example:
(18) N REL
[vha-thu] [vha tshibila-ho]
NC2-thing RC2 walk-RC suffix
'people who walk' (ZWM 1981, 77)
(19) [vha-thu] [vha-ne vha tshimbila]
NC2-thing RC2-RPS RC2 walk
'people who walk' (ZWM 1981, 78)
GENERAL WORD ORDER PATTERNS:
The basic word order in Venda is SVO.
Adjectives: N-A
Genitives N-G
PPs PR-N
Relative Clause N-RC
Greenberg (1966, 100) states that the following are harmonic with each other:
(S)VO
NA
PR-N
(NG) (Pr-N implies NG)
This type is found among languages with prepositions, which Greenberg characterizes as "modified before the modifier."
In Hockett's grouping, "comment" follows "topic":
Subject-Verb (includes SVO)
NA
N-REL
We see that basic word order and noun-modifier worder follows the tendencies proposed by Greenberg and Hockett. This is also true when Venda orders are compared with the relevant Universals proposed by Greenberg (1966).
Venda
Universal 1: Subject precedes Object SVO
Universal 2: Prep NG Prep, NG
Universal 40: If NA, A expresses INFL of N NA, A agrees with N
There does not seem to be any category where Venda contradicts universals or tendencies proposed by Greenberg, suggesting that in regard to Word Order, Venda is unmarked.
ABBREVIATIONS:
NC - Noun Class (NC1 = Noun Class 1)
SC - Subject Concord
OC - Object Concord
PC - Possessive Concord
AC - Adjective Concord
RC Relative Concord
TR - True Relative Concord
PL - Plural
1PS - 1st Person Singular
PT - Present Tense
CT - Continuous Tense
PR - Preposition
PO - Postposition
HON - Honorific (plural)
O/ - Null affix
Citings
Poulos, George. 1990 A Linguistic Analysis of Venda. Pretoria: Via Afrika Limited.
Ziervogel, D., P.J. Wentzel, and T.N. Makuya 1981. A Handbook of the Venda Language. Pretoria: University of South Africa.
(I have used the abbreviation "ZWM" for "Ziervogel, Wentzel, and Makuya.")
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Revised April 12, 1999