A Practical Guide to Understanding Ciyawo

Shawn Dollar, Ian Dicks

Description

A Practical Guide to Understanding Ciyawo has been developed over fourteen years and systematically explains for the novice the important aspects of Ciyawo grammar for effective communication. A practical grammar guide, the instruction is accessible, giving the basics of pronunciation, to building verb tenses, to ways of combining the different elements of the language in order to form sentences.

Informations

• Publié par: Kachere Series
• Date de parution: 01 juin 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 1
• EAN13: 9789996025280
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 4 Mo

Extrait

A Practical Guide to Understanding Ciyawo

1

ª $PQZSJHIU  *BO %JDLT  4IBXO %PMMBS

"MM SJHIUT SFTFSWFE /P QBSU PG UIJT QVCMJDBUJPO NBZ CF SFQSPEVDFE TUPSFE JO B SFUSJFWBM TZTUFN PS USBOTNJUUFE JO BOZ GPSN PS CZ BOZ NFBOT FMFDUSPOJD NFDIBOJDBM QIPUPDPQZJOH SFDPSEJOH PS PUIFSXJTF XJUIPVU QSJPS QFSNJTTJPO GSPN UIF QVCMJTIFS

1VCMJTIFE CZ ,BDIFSF 4FSJFT 10 #PY  ;PNCB .BMBƌJ

*4#/  ,BDIFSF #PPL OP 

5IF ,BDIFSF 4FSJFT JT SFQSFTFOUFE PVUTJEF "GSJDB CZ "GSJDBO #PPLT $PMMFDUJWF 0YGPSE PSEFST!BGSJDBOCPPLTDPMMFDUJWFDPN .JDIJHBO 4UBUF 6OJWFSTJUZ 1SFTT &BTU -BOTJOH NTVQSFTT!NTVFEV

$PWFS %FTJHO +BOF )JOUPO (SBQIJD %FTJHO +BOF )JOUPO

1SJOUFE CZ -JHIUFOJOH 4PVSDF

,BDIFSF 4FSJFT 10 #PY  ;PNCB .BMBƌJ LBDIFSF!HMPCFNXOFUXXXLBDIFSFTFSJFTPSH

5IJT CPPL JT QBSU PG UIF ,BDIFSF 4FSJFT B SBOHF PG CPPLT PO SFMJHJPO DVMUVSF BOE TPDJFUZ GSPN .BMBƌJ 0UIFS ,BDIFSF CPPLT BSF

*BO %JDLT 8JTEPN PG UIF :BXP 1FPQMF -VOEB MXB ŋ BOEV ƌ B $JZBXP +$ $IBLBO[B 8JTEPN PG UIF 1FPQMF  $IJOZBOKB 1SPWFSCT %BWJE .QIBOEF /UIBOUIJ [B $IJUPOHB [B ,VTBNCJ[HJZB OEJ ,VUBVMJZB 4UFWFO 1BTT %JDUJPOBSZ.UBOUIBV[JSBNBXV $IJDIFXB$IJOZBOKB &OHMJTI  &OHMJTI $IJDIFXB$IJOZBOKB #SFHKF EF ,PL $ISJTUJBOJUZ BOE "GSJDBO 5SBEJUJPOBM 3FMJHJPO 5XP 3FBMJUJFT PG B %JòFSFOU ,JOE +$ $IBLBO[B FE 3FTFBSDI JO "GSJDBO 5SBEJUJPOBM 3FMJHJPO *OJUJBUJPO 3JUFT GPS #PZT JO -PNXF 4PDJFUZ BOE PUIFS &TTBZT +BNFT / "NBO[F "GSJDBO 5SBEJUJPOBM 3FMJHJPO JO .BMBXJ 5IF $BTF PG UIF #JNCJ $VMU

5IF ,BDIFSF 4FSJFT JT UIF QVCMJDBUJPOT BSN PG UIF %FQBSUNFOU PG 5IFPMPHZ BOE 3FMJHJPVT 4UVEJFT PG UIF 6OJWFSTJUZ PG .BMBƌJ

4FSJFT &EJUPST +$ $IBLBO[B '- $IJOHPUB ,MBVT 'JFEMFS 1" ,BMJMPNCF $ ,BUVNCJ 3 -JLVQF .BSUJO 0UU 4 .BIPNFE 'SBOÎPJT /TFOHJZVNWB

2 C IYAW ON D E R S TA N D IN G TO U G U ID E R A C T IC A L A P

A Practical Guide to Understanding Ciyawo

Ian Dicks & Shawn Dollar

Kachere Books no. 47

Kachere Series Zomba 2010

3

5PQJD  $POEJUJPOBM 1SFTFOU



5PQJD  7FSC 5P #F



5PQJD  *OUFOTJWF 7FSC &OEJOHT

5PQJD  /PU :FU 1SFTFOU 5FOTF

5PQJD  'BS 'VUVSF 5FOTF 

"DLOPXMFEHFNFOUT

5PQJD  /PVO $MBTTFT









5PQJD  4PVOE $IBOHFT



5PQJD  1BTU 5FOTF 















5PQJD  0OMZ  &NQIBTJT

5PQJD  $POEJUJPOBM 1BTU 5FOTF     





5PQJD  5IFSF *T"SF /PU  )BT)BWF /PU 

5PQJD  /FBS 'VUVSF 5FOTF 

5PQJD  *NQFSBUJWF 5FOTF 











5PQJD  1SFTFOU $POUJOVPVT 5FOTF 

5PQJD  *NQFSBUJWF 5FOTF 

5PQJD  $POKVODUJPOT

5PQJD  0OF BOE 0OFTFMG

5PQJD  /FBS 'VUVSF 5FOTF 



5PQJD  7FSC &OEJOHT 0WFSWJFX





5PQJD  "QQMJFE 7FSC &OEJOHT

5PQJD  4UBUJD 7FSC &OEJOHT

5PQJD  1BTTJWF 7FSC &OEJOHT

5PQJD  3FDJQSPDBM 7FSC &OEJOHT





5PQJD  /FVUFS 7FSC &OEJOHT



5PQJD  1SPOPVOT

5PQJD  0CKFDU .BSLFST













5PQJD  $BVTBUJWF 7FSC &OEJOHT





5PQJD  1SPOVODJBUJPO







5PQJD  -PDBUJWFT









5PQJD  )BWF :PV &WFS 2VFTUJPOT

5PQJD  $POEJUJPOBM 1SFTFOU

5PQJD  "EWFSCT

5PQJD  .PEJmFE 4UFN

5PQJD  ,B  JUT WBSJPVT GVODUJPOT





5PQJD  1SFTFOU 1FSGFDU 5FOTF 



5PQJD  "EKFDUJWFT  %FUFSNJOFST

4 C IYAW ON D E R S TA N D IN G TO U G U ID E R A C T IC A L A P



5PQJD  1BTU 5FOTF 

5PQJD  1PTTFTTJWFT





5PQJD  %FNPOTUSBUJWFT



"CPVU UIF "VUIPST



Table of Contents

5PQJD  2VFTUJPOT

5PQJD  5JNF .BSLFST

5PQJD  /VNCFST

5PQJD  *OmOJUJWF 5FOTF

5PQJD  7FSCT BT /PVOT

5PQJD  'BS 'VUVSF 5FOTF 

$POUJOVPVT     

5PQJD  $POEJUJPOBM 1BTU 5FOTF     

5PQJD  5IFSF *T"SF  )BT)BWF 

*OUSPEVDUJPO







5PQJD  1SFTFOU $POUJOVPVT 5FOTF 

5PQJD  )BCJUVBM $POUJOVPVT

$POUJOVPVT     

5PQJD  3FWFSTJWF 7FSC &OEJOHT

About the Authors Ian Dicks is an Australian and is married with two children. He lives and works in the Mangochi District of Malaŵi, and has been there, together with his wife, for 14 years. Ian works as a language and culture consultant, helping to facilitate others in language and cultural acquisition.

Shawn Dollar is an American currently living in Mozambique with his wife and three children. He has lived in a Yawo area for nine years and has worked in development and language consultancy.

Acknowledgements

Firstly, we want to thank our wives, Wendy and Dierdre for allowing us the time, giving us encouragement and assisting us with the editing of this book. Without their support we would have surely failed! We also want to thank our colleagues who have stimulated our thinking on language, especially Charles Reed, Joel Mgawi and Keith Gallagher. A big thank you goes to many of our Yawo friends who have contributed to our language development over the years, particularly Omega, Yusuf Affick, Ahmed Msusa, Katherine Michael, Joyce Sonjela, Phillip Kazembe, Lajabu, Kobra, Gerard Josaya, Elliot Chilokote, Medson Elliot, Wayindi Elliot and Saidi Kutyokatyoka. Thanks also goes to Ciyawo language learners in Mangochi and Lichinga who have willingly allowed us to experiment on them in our language workshops. We salute you for turning up and credit you for giving us feed-back. We want to thank those who have helped edit and format this work, particularly Sue De Vries, Tim Cowley, Dierdre Dollar and Elaine Davey. A big thank you goes to Andrew McDonough from Lost Sheep Publishing (that’s a free advert for you Andy, we expect the same in return!) who drew the fabulous icons which appear throughout the book. Thanks also to our publisher Kachere, especially Mercy Chilunga who helped us get the book into print. We give a huge sikomo jekulungwa to Steffi Nchembe, who has contributed much to this book - so much so, that we also hold him personally responsible for the good and the bad bits in it! Finally, (we are now standing and clapping heartily) we want to thank Jane Hinton, who not only designed the really cool covers for the book, but who also worked tirelessly to make the book easier on the eye by completely reformatting it for us.

Ian Dicks (Namwera) & Shawn Dollar (Mandimba), 2010.

A B O U T T H E A U T H O R S & A C K N O W L E D G E M E N T S

5

Introduction

Our Purpose

Our purpose for writing this book is to help non-indigenous language learners understand Ciyawo, the language of the Yawo people, so that they can communicate more effectively with them. We believe that learning to speak and understand Ciyawo is an essential part of any serious cross-cultural engagement, as adequate cultural and worldview understanding can only develop through engagement with people in their own language. A Practical Guide to Understanding Ciyawo has been developed over 14 years and systematically explains for the novice the important aspects of Ciyawo grammar for effective communication. A key notion behind writing this book is accessibility. To achieve this we have deliberately sought to put the reader at ease by using an informal writing style, language and terms, which are commonly understood by non-linguists an d by the deliberate inclusion of humour. Well, we at least think parts of the book are funny! The inclusion of these elements are not meant to make light of the subject matter, about which we are extremely serious, but to help you relax, read the book and enjoy the process of learning Ciyawo.

For whom is this Book Written? As mentioned above, this book is primarily for non-indigenous Ciyawo language learners who live and work in an area where learning Ciyawo would enhance their communication with people in that area. This book has been primarily developed to serve English speakers or those who have a good understanding of the English language.

A Brief Overview of Ciyawo Language Material A Practical Guide to Understanding Ciyawo  follows in the footsteps of other books written for non-indigenous speakers on Ciyawo grammar. These include Alexander Hetherwick, A Handbook of the Yao Language , London: S.P.C.K., 1889, and Meredith Sanderson, A Yao Grammar , London: S.P.C.K., 1922. Other books on Ciyawo grammar have been written more recently in Portuguese and French. These include Armindo Ngunga, Elementos de Gramática da Língua Yao , Maputo: Imprensa Universitária, Uni- versidade Eduardo Mondlane, 2002, and Pascal Kishindo, Parlons Ciyawo, Langue et Culture du Mozambique These texts, for obvious reasons,, Paris: L’Harmattan, 2005. remain largely inaccessible to English speakers who want to learn Ciyawo. There have been numerous articles and books written on particular aspects of Ciyawo, such as, W. H. Whiteley, A Study of Yao Sentences , Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1966, Larry Hyman

6 R A C T IC A L G U ID E A P N D E R S TA N D IN G TO U C IYAW O

& Armindo Ngunga, ‘Two Kinds of Moraic Nasal in Ciyao’, Studies in African Linguistics , 26. 131-163, 1997, Armindo Ngunga, Lexical Phonology and Morphology of the Ciyao Verb Stem , Stanford: CSLI Publications, 2000, and Al Mtenje, ‘Conditions on Rules in the Malawian Chiyao’, Journal of The Linguistics Association for Southern African Development Communities Universities , 2002, pp 4-14, to mention but a few. These writings, however, are also largely inaccessible to the novice and the non-linguist. We, therefore, believe that A Practical Guide to Understanding Ciyawo  fills a void in the area of practical language materials for English speakers who want to understand and become speakers of Ciyawo.

What this Book Is and Is Not

This book is meant to be a practical grammar guide, hence its title. By going through this book one can gain a fairly good understanding of how to construct words, tenses and sentences in Ciyawo. In the book we guide you on a journey, in Ciyawo, from the basics of pronunciation, to building verb tenses, to showing you the way to combine the different elements of the language in order to form sentences. We add tips on variations of speech and give constant reminders on how to use the tables and previously covered materials. This book shows learners the door which leads to using Ciyawo correctly and, we believe, will give them the power to turn the door handle with the opportunity to enter into the language if they so desire.

This book is not a dictionary, or a source for vocabulary boosting, a practice manual or cultural guide. We have deliberately limited the amount of vocabulary so that the learner can focus on the grammatical aspects of Ciyawo and not be distracted by the use of many different words (although, if one does not learn the meaning of kutenda by the end of this book it is not our fault).

Our Style of Explaining We believe that grammar can often be very academic in its focus. We try to set a laidback, easy and sometimes jocular tone in this book. We do this, not to make fun of Ciyawo, but to help the learner ease into the language without them wanting to tear out their hair. Let’s face it, grammar is hard enough, without having to read a book full of difficult terms which seem only to make learning it even more complex. As we greatly enjoy Ciyawo, we want to transfer that enjoyment to new language learners as well. SO WELCOME!

Stop! Read this before Progressing

A Practical Guide to Understanding Ciyawo been written and designed with has the learner in mind. We sought to achieve this by ordering our topics in what we consider to be the natural path of progression for someone wanting to learn Ciyawo. The book, therefore, begins with introductory and elementary topics, such as Sound Changes and Pronunciation without which one won’t get very far in the language. It then proceeds to explain other important elements of Ciyawo, moving from simple verb tenses to more complex verb conjugations later in the book. Many of the topics build upon each other. Therefore, to get the most from this book it is important to work through it systematically. Wow, what a novel idea we hear you say!

IN T R O D U C T IO N

7