CONJUNCTION ('and')
NOUN PHRASES AND INSTRUMENTAL PHRASES
Noun Phrases are connected with the connective "na." (ZWM 1981,43)
(1) vhanna na vhasadzi
NC2-man and NC2-woman
'men and women'
Instrumental phrases can also be joined using "na." (ZWM 1981,87)
(2) U tshimbila nga modoro na nga bufho
SC1 travel INST NC3-car ad INST NC?-plane
'He travels by car and by plane.'
Nonfinite clauses can also be joined, since they are nominalized and are treated as NPs. (ZWM 1981,86)
(3) U alusa vhana nga u vha rwa na u vha sema
SC1 rear NC2-child INST NC15 OC2 beat and NC15 OC2 scold
'She rears her children by beating them and scolding them.'
The conjuntive "na" is prepositional. It can also be used as a comitative where its prepositional character is confirmed (forming a structural unit with the following conjunct) (Poulos 1990,403):
(4) Makhulu wanga vho bva na mmbwa
NC1-grandmother PC1-POSS1PP SC1-HON-PC walk with NC9-dog
'My grandmother went for a walk with the dog.'
VERB PHRASES AND SENTENCES
"Na" cannot be used for finite Verb Phrases and Sentences. There are a number of strategies in Venda for joining VPs and Ss, depending on the intended meaning. I will discuss three: (1) Concatenation (2) the Subjunctive form (3) the Consecutive form. Only in the first strategy, Concatenation, do we have a true coordinating conjunction which conjoins elements of equal rank, as defined by Schachter (1985,46). However, the only way to conjoin some forms in Venda is by changing the form of verbs that follow the first verb. And although those strategies may not be obligatory in other forms, may be a preferred or more commonly used strategy.
Concatenation
Some tenses may use this form, of stringing a series of sentences together. For instance, this is possible in the present indicative tense.
(5) Ri a la, ri a nwa, ri a amba.
SC1PP PT eat SC1PP PT drink SC1PP PT talk
'We eat, we drink, we talk.' OR
'We eat and we drink and we talk.'
This coordinated sentence is distinguished from three separate clauses through syllable
stress or vowel lengthening. If each of the clauses was a separate sentence, the
penultimate syllable would be lengthened (ZWM 1981,155):
(5a) Ri a: la. 'We eat.'
Ri a: nwa 'We drink.'
Ri a a:mba 'We talk.'
But in the coordinated sentence (5), only the penultimate syllable of the entire coordinated sentence would be lengthened (ZWM 1981,155):
(5b) Ri a la, ri a nwa, ri a a:mba.
Subjunctive
Coordinated imperative clauses always use the subjunctive in the second clause (ZWM 1981,109):
(6) Ida u n-thus-e
come SC2PS OC1PS-help-SBJ
Come and help me!
(7) Tshimbila-ni ni tavhany-e
walk-PL SC1PP hurry-SBJ
Walk and hurry!
The first clause is in the imperative (without a Subject Concord) and the second is in the subjunctive, which is formed with the "-e" suffix on the Verb Stem (in the positive) (and which DOES have a Subject Concord). We see this same form when the Subject of each of the clauses is different. (ZWM 1981,109):
(8) Ibva ndi dzhen-e
go out SC1PS enter-SBJ
'Go out that I may enter!'
Using the Subjunctive form in the second or following clauses can also be used in declarative forms when there is a sense that the following actions are a result of the first action. (ZWM 1981,109)
(9) Ri a dzula, ri le, ri nwe.
SC1PP PT sit SC1PP eat-SBJ SC1PP drink-SBJ
'We sit and (then) eat and drink.'
Consecutive Form
The Consecutive Form is used when a series of actions which occur in a sequence are conjoined. The first or main clause is usually in the Principal form (non-Consecutive,which can be in a full range of tenses), and all following forms are in the Consecutive form. the Consecutive appears as a prefix on the verb, No Tense markers appear since the consecutive form takes on the tense marked on the Main Clause.
positive: Subject Concord - a - Verb Stem - a
negative: Subject Concord - a - Verb Stem -e
In form, the Subject Concord and the "-a-" Consecutive prefix are phonologically combined into what can be called a Consecutive Concord (CC).
(6) Ri fara phukha nga matsheloni
SC1PP catch animal INST morning
ra i via nga madekwana
CC1PP OC9 slaughter INST evening
'We catch the animal in the morning (and) we slaughter it in the evening.'
(Poulos 1990,286)
We are joining two clauses, where the actions of each of the verbs do not occur simultaneously but consecutively, and so the second clause is in the Consecutive Form and uses a Consecutive Concord.
As mentioned above, the tense on the first verb has scope over all following Consecutive Forms. This is also true of negatives. A negative on the first verb will have scope over all following consecutives, which are in the positive (Poulos 1990,288):
(7) A vho ngo da vha tamba na vhona vhanga
NEG SC2PC NEG come CC2 play with NC2-child PC2-POSS1PS
'They did not come and play with my children.'
The Potential Form must be followed by a Consecutive Form in a coordinated sentence (Poulos 1990,288):
(8) Ndi nga mu nwal-el-a nda si mu vhudz-e zwothe
SC1PS POT OC1 write-BEN-PT CC1PS NEG OC1 write-NEG NC8-everything 'I
might write to him and not tell him everything.'
Here, the first clause is in the positive and the second in the negative; here the negative Consecutive Form must be used.
Although the Consecutive Form seems to indicate "and then . . . , and then . . . " it seems to be used in cases where the actions are not necessarily sequential, and are of equal rank. Because of this, I feel it is a strategy for coordinating clauses, not subordinating clauses, even though the clauses following the first clause, because they are in the Consecutive Form can no longer by considered independent and are dependent clauses. We see this in the Potential Form in (8), in (7) above, and also in the following which uses the Consecutive Form in the Future Tense (ZWM 1981,109):
(9) O/khosi i do amba, ya ri . . .
NC4-chief SC4 FUT speak CC4 say . . .
'The chief will speak and say . . . '
The Consecutive is also known as the Narrative Tense and according to ZWM (1981,103-104) is in the past tense (although seen in the above examples, the English gloss of these sentences shows it reflecting a variety of tenses). ZWM gives several extended passages from folktales which uses the Consecutive Form; it may be a form that has grown out of an oral tradition of literature.
POSSESSION
Agreement
Possession in Venda is expressed through Agreement, using a Possessive Concord which is attached to the possessor and agrees with the Noun Class of the possessum. Poulos (1990,130) describes this Possessive Concord as consisting of two elements: the initial element reflects agreement with a Noun Class and the second element is what he calls a "possessive particle" ("-a"). This suggests that it is not necessarily Agreement that is expressing possession, but an affix which then has an agreement prefix attached to it. However, I will follow Croft's (1990) classification of possession in Venda as being an "Agreement type." For instance (Poulos 1990,129):
(10) vhana vha musadzi
NC2-child PC2 NC1-woman
'the children of the woman' OR 'the woman's children'
The Possessive Concord "vha" which agrees with the possessum "vhana" is prefixed to the possessor, "musadzi." Usually the possessum precedes the possessor, but the order is actually not fixed, and depends on the intent of the speaker. Emphasized elements are ordered first.
Infinitives, as nominalized verb phrases can be modified by a possessor (Poulos 1990,59):
(11) U amba ha munna
NC15 talk PC15 NC1-man
'the talking of the man' OR 'the man's talking'
Special Forms
Venda also has Special Forms, or suppletives, for first and second person pronominal possessors. The Possessive Concord is formed by combining the Agreement prefix with a special form which substitutes for the "-a" base in the more general form described above. For instance (ZWM 1981,89):
(12) O/kholomo dza-nga
NC10-cattle PC10-POSS1PS
'my cattle'
(13) mutukana wa-u
NC1-boy PC1-POSS2PS
'your son'
In (12) the 1PS possessive base "-nga" is suffixed to the Possessive Concord for 'cattle' which is in NC10. In (13) the possessor is 2PS so the possessive base "-u" appears with the PC for the possessum.
Venda has Special Forms for NC1 nouns which only includes personal nouns and is 3PS possessive base.
(14) lufhanga lwa-we
NC11-knife PC11-POSS3PS
'his knife'
Venda actually has two forms for each of the possessive pronouns, with one set used normally (examples above) and another set used when special emphasis is intended.
Venda also has some special forms to indicate possession by a family or group. For instance (Poulos 1990,134):
(15) O/kholomo dza hashu
NC10-cattle PC10 GR-POSS1PP
'cattle of our family'
(16) O/mbudzi dza ha-nu
NC10-goats PC10 GR-POSS2PP
'goats of your family'
All of these special forms have possessive stems that are prefixed with "ha-" which is a locative prefix which indicates a place, and in the case of these special forms, the place of a group ("your group/family" or "our group/family").
Inalienable Possession
Venda also differentiates between inalienable and alienable possession. Inalienables seem to include anatomical body parts of humans. Inalienable possession can be expressed through a special construction which uses a Double Object construction (Object plus Secondry Object) called Possessor Ascension (Culy-pers. comm.). For example (Poulos 1990,135):
(17) Ndo mu vunda tsh-anda
SC1PS/PC OC1 break NC7-hand
'I broke his hand' (lit. 'I have broken him, the hand.')
(18) Vele o m-baissa mato
Vele PC OC1PS-hurt NC9-eye(s)?
'Vele hurt my eye(s)' (lit. 'Vele has hurt me, the eye(s).'
In (17) and (18) the possessor is the Direct Object, expressed as an Object Concord, and the possessum is the Secondary Object, which appears directly after the verb.
The three types mentioned above include Agreement, Special Forms (for personal pronouns), and Possessor Ascension (for inalienables). The Agreement pattern is also the structure used to adjectivize nouns and adverbs. Those forms are actually called "Descriptive Possessives" in Venda grammars. For instance (Poulos 1990,136):
(19) lufhanga lwa O/-tsimbi
NC11-knife PC11 NC9-iron
'a knife of iron' OR 'an iron knife'
(20) O/-swuhana la ma-anda
NC5-young man PC5 NC6-strength
'a young man of strength' OR 'a strong young man'
In both (19) and (20) there is a Possessive Concord prefixed to the "possessor" or quality which reflects agreement with the head of the noun phrase, paralleling exactly the Agreement structure for possession. Although there are special stems for the personal pronouns, the basic possessive structure in the special forms is really based on the Agreement pattern. For this reason, it seems that Agreement is the basic type of Possession Construction in Venda. The inalienable possession type is extremely specialized and limited.
Abbreviations:
NP - Noun Phrase
V - Verb
NC - Noun Class (NC1 = Noun Class 1)
SC - Subject Concord
OC - Object Concord
PC - Possessive Concord
CC - Consecutive Concord
PL - Plural
HON - Honorific form
1PS - 1st Person Singular
1PP - 1st Person Plural
2PS - 2nd Person Singular
2PP - 2nd Person Plural
3PS - 3rd Person Singular
CP - Copulative Prefix
RP - Reflexive Prefix
PT - Present Tense
PC - Perfective Completive
FUT - Future Tense
POT - Potential Tense
POSS - Possessive Stem
NEG - Negative
SBJ - Subjunctive
PASS - Passive
CAUS - Causative
BEN - Benefactive
INST - Instrumental
LOC - Locative
POSS - Possessive
O/ - Null suffix
Citings
Poulos, George. 1990 A Linguistic Analysis of Venda. Pretoria: Via Afrika Limited.
Shachter, Paul. 1985. "Parts-of-speech systems." IN Language Typology and Syntactic Description, vol. I. Ed. T. Shopen. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge UP.
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 February 26, 1999