KITUBA BASIC COURSE This work was compiled ond pub- lished with the support of the Office ‘of Education, Department of Health, Education and Welfare, United Stotes ‘of America. L.B. SWIFT E.W.A. ZOLA FOREIGN SERVICE INSTITUTE WASHINGTON, D.C. 1963 DEPARTMENT OF STATEKITUBA FOREIGN SERVICE INSTITUTE BASIC COURSE SERIES Edited by CARLETON T. HODGE For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Once “Washington, D.C, 20402 ~ Price $225BASIC COURSE PREFACE Kituba, also known as Kikongo ya Leta and Munukutuba, is @ vehicular or trade lan- ‘guage spoken along the lower reaches of the Congo and its tributaries. There are no full- scale grammars or dictionaries in this seldom-studied language, and only a very few schol arly sketches of it are available. The present brief introduction to the essentials of this language is designed for study with Kituba-speaking instructors under professional super= vision. Gifted students may be able to make some progress using the text and accompa- ying topes alone. The text is one ofa series of short Basic Courses in selected African Languages being Prepared by the Foreign Service Institute underan agreement with the United States Office of Education, Department of Health, Education and Welfare, under the National Defense Education Act. The linguist in charge of developing the Kituba text has been Lloyd B. Swift, Acting Head of the Department of Near East and African Languages, assisted by Mr. Emile W. A. Zola. The text was prepared and class tested as partofthe Special A rican Language Pro- gram of which Earl W. Stevick is coordinator. The tapes were recorded in the laboratory of the Foreign Service Institute under the direction of Gabriel Cordova. ffl Howard E. Sollenberger, Dean School of Language and Area Studies Foreign Service Institute Department of State aiKITUBA TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE INTRODUCTION x PRIMER 1-225 Unit 1 Dialogue: Looking for Work 1 Drill 1.1 - variation Drills 4 Drill 1.2 - Vocabulary Supplement 6 Grammar Notes and Drills 7-21 Note 1.1 - Singular and Plural Noun Classes (Reference Note) T Note 1.2 - Verbs (Reference Note) 12 Note 1,3 - Word Accent 13 Note 1.4 - The Intonation of 'Yes and No! Questions 15 Note 1.5 - Long and Short Forms of Certain words 15 Note 1.6 - The Pronunciation of Nasal Compounds 16 Drill 1,3 - Pronunciation Drill on Nasal Compounds 17 Note'1.7 - Certain Subtle Distinctions Between Initial /n/'s (Reference Note) al Unit 2 Dialogue: Greetings and Salutations 22 prill 2.1 - variation Drills 24 Drill 2.2 - Vocabulary Supplement 29 Drill 2.3 - Substitution Drills Incorporating Supplemental Vocabulary 30 Grammar Notes and Drills 31-39 Note 2.1 /ke/ + /na/ + /ku-/ + Verb: Present Action 31 Note 2.2'- The Use of the /ku-/ Prefix on Verbal forms: The Infinitive (Reference Note) 32 Note 2.3 /ke/ + Verb: Potential or Future Action 32 Note 2.4 - The Simple Form of the Verb (without auxiliary) 33 Note 2.5 - Vowel Changes at Word Boundaries (Reference Note) 33 Note 2.6 - The Conjunction /n&/ ‘and! 34 Drill 2.4 - Grammar Drills /ke/ + /na/ + verb 35 Drill 2.5 - Grammar Drills /ke/ + Verb 36 Unit 3 Dialogue: Introducing oneself 4o Drill 3.1 ~ Vocabulary Supplement da Drill 3.2 ~ Variation Drills 43 ivBASIC COURSE Grammar Notes and Drills 48-60 Note 3.1 - /na/ and /ya/ as Relative Particles 48 Drill 3.3 - Grammar Drills on /ya/ and /na/ 51 unit 4 Dialogue: Family 61 Drill 4,1 - Vocabulary Supplement 63 Grammar Notes and Drills 65-76 Note 4.1 - /me/ + Verb: Immediate Past 65 Drill 4.2 - Grammar Drills /me/ + Verb 66 Note 4.2 - The Concept of Possession: /ke/ + /na/ + Noun 68 Drill 4.3 - Grammar Drills /ke/ + /na/ + Noun 69 Note 4,3 ~ The Negative /ve/ nm Drill 4,4 - Grammar Drills - The Negative 72 Note 44.4 - The J-BA Noun Class 2 Drill 4.5 - Grammar Drills - The g-BA Noun Class B Note 4.5 - The Verb /kuvwanda/ 'to be! 75 Note 4,6 - Various Uses of /mosi/ (Reference Note) 75 Unit 5 Dialogue: Buying and Selling vad Drill 5.1 - Vocabulary Supplement 80 Grammar Notes and Drills 81-96 Note 5.1 The Verb Extension /.il-/,in-/ ‘to, for, on behalf of! 81 Note 5.2 - Shift of /1/ to /d/ before /i/ 82 Drill 5.2 - Grammar Drill - verb Extension /.il-/.in-/ 83 Note 5.3 - The MU-BA and N-BA Noun Classes Ba Note 5.] - The DI-MA Noun Class 85 Drill 5.3 - Grammar Drills Illustrating the MU-BA, N-BA and DI-MA Noun Classes 85 Note 5.5 - Other Noun Classes 93 Drill 5.4 - Drills with Mixed Noun Classes oh Unit 6 Dialogue: A Call 97 Drill 6.1 - Vocabulary Supplement 99 Drill 6.2 - variation prills 100 Grammar Notes and Drills 109-126 Note 6.1 - The Polite Imperative with /nge/ 109 Drill 6,3 - The Polite Imperative 110 Note 6,2 - The Impersonal Expression /ikele/ 111 Drill 6.4 - /ikele/ 11 Note 6,3 - The Verbal Extension /,ak-/ 'Past!' and ‘Habitual’ 112 Note 6.4 - Summary of 'Past' Forms of Kituba Verbs (Reference Note) shiKITUBA ——— Drill 6.5 - Grammar Drills on Verbal Extension /.2ak-/ *Past" 4 Drill 6,6 - Grammar Drills with Verbal Extension /.ak-/ after /ke/ - ‘Habitual’ 121 Drill 6,7 - Grammar Drills - /me/ + Verb + /,ak-/ "intermediate Past! 126 Unit 7 Dialogue: Asking Directions 127 Drill 7.1 - Supplementary Vocabulary 129 Drill 7.2 - Variation Drills 133 Grammar Notes and Drills 145-157 Note 7.1 - Some Uses of the Simple Form of the verb 145 Drill 7.3 - Grammar Drill on Use of the Simple Form of the Verb in the Second Clause 148 Note 7.2 - Adjectival Phrase with /ya/ + Infinitive (x) 149 Drill 7.4 - Grammar Drill on adjectival Phrase with /ya/ + Verb oe Drill 7.5 - Review Drills 152 Unit 8 Dialogue: Help in the Home 158 Drill 8,1 - Supplementary Vocabulary 163 Drill 8.2 - Variation Drills on Pattern Sentences 164. Grammar Notes and Drills 174-185 Note 8.1 - Some Verb Extensions 174 1. 'Reflexive' Prefix /ki-/ with and without extension /,il-/.in-/ 174 2, The 'Applicative' extension, /,il-/.in-/ used to express ‘instrument’ etc, 175 Note 8.2 /kuzola/ kuzona/ as an auxiliary verb 177 Drill 8,3 Grammar Drills on Verbal Extensions 178 Unit 9 Dialogue: A Week's activity 186 Grammar Notes and Drills 193-214 Note 9.1 - /vwandaka/ + Verb 193 Drill 9.1 - Grammar Drills: /vwandaka/ + Verb Note 9.2 - /ya/ + Verb - Adjectival use of the verb (II) 197 Drill 9.2 - Grammar Drill /-ya/ + Verb 198 Note 9.3 - The Days of the Week - Ordinal Numerals 202 Drill 9.3 - Grammar Drill - Ordinal Numerals 203 Note 9./| - Some Further Verbal Extensions 20h Drill 9.4 - Grammar Drills on Verbal Extensions 208 Drill 9.5 - Controlled Dialogue Drill al viBASIC COURSE Unit 10 Dialogue: A Fable Grammar Notes and Drills Note 10,1 - The Extension /,am-/ 'Passive' Drill 10.1 - Grammar Drill on the Extension /,am-/ Note 10.2 - The Extension /,an-/ 'Reciprocal', /.asan-/ ‘continuous reciprocal' Drill 10,2 - Grammar Drill on /,an-/ and /,asan- GROUP A: VISITING FRIENDS AND RELATIVES (Home, Family and Work) Unit 11 Dialogue: A Family Note 11.1 Kinship Terminology Supplementary Vocabulary Narrative Unit 12 Dialogue: A Wedding Invitation Note 12.1 - Indirect Discourse following /ke/ 'that' Narrative Unit 13 Dialogue: A Visit to a Congolese Home Narrative Unit 14 Dialogue: ‘Talk About the House Narrative Unit 15 Dialogue: To Buy or to Rent Narrative Unit 16 Dialogue: In the Kitchen Narrative Unit 17 Dialogue: Dinner is Served Narrative Unit 18 Dialogue: Table Talk Narrative Unit 19 Dialogue: The End of the Evening Narrative GROUP B: MONEY, COUNTING AND BARGAINING Unit 20 Dialogue: Buying Clothes Narrative vii are 220-225 220 221 222 223 226-287 226 229 229 232 233 239 ali eho any 248 255 257 262 264 268 270 eT 276 281 282 286 288-313 288 293KITUBA Unit 21 Dialogue: Getting Some Curios 295 Narrative 303 Unit 22 Dialogue: Talking Shop 305 Narrative 312 GROUP C: GETTING ABOUT: DIRECTIONS, GEOGRAPHY AND CAR TROUBLES 314-347 Unit 23 Dialogue: Directions in Town 314 Narrative 319 Unit 24 Dialogue: on the Train 321 Narrative 329 Unit 25 Dialogue: Getting Set for a Car Trip 331 Narrative 338 Unit 26 Dialogue: Advice for the Road 340 Narrative 346 GROUP D: HOME MANAGEMENT AND CHILD CARE 348-391 Unit 27 Dialogue: Locking for Servants 348 Narrative 355 Unit 28 Dialogue: an Interview 357 Narrative 363 Unit 29 Dialogue: All in the Day's Work 365 Narrative yal Unit 30 Dialogue: Child Care 373 Narrative 361 Unit 31 Dialogue: Cooking Instruction 383 Narrative 390 GROUP E: LEARNING MORE OF THE LANGUAGE 392-417 Unit 32 Dialogue: An Informal Language Lesson 392 Narrative 397 Unit 33 Dialogue: A Health Lesson from the Radio 399 Narrative 405