The morphology of auxiliary and copulative verbs

The contention by Pretorius et al. (2009: 132) that Setswana verbs may be categorised as follows: basic verbs, copulatives and auxiliary verbs, may be relevant for most African languages in general and for isiXhosa in particular. Furthermore, Pretorius et al. (2009: 132) states “they may appear in different moods such as Indicative, Infinitive, Consecutive, Habitual, Imperative, Subjunctive, Participial and Relative, and tenses such as Present, Perfectum, Future and Past Tense. With respect to copulatives, Pretorius et al. (2009: 132) mentions that a distinction is also made between associative, descriptive, and identifying types. Auxiliary verbs, on the other hand, do not usually carry mood and tense information.

According to Oosthuysen (2016: 285) “an auxiliary verb is a verb that is followed by a complementary predicate, and that has undergone semantic modification, so that it no longer indicates an independent process, but serves to modify the process as indicated by the predicate it complements. Such an auxiliary verb may also be called a deficient verb as it is often subjected to morphological adoption, such as dropping its subject concord and any prefixal negative morpheme, or by contracting the verb root, and for by ignoring the influence of a latent...” In other words, auxiliary verbs are verbs that need a complement to convey a complete concept.

Pretorius et al. (2009: 132) states that “syntactically an auxiliary verb is a verb which must be followed by a complementary predicate, which can be a verb or a verbal group or a copulative group or an auxiliary verbal group, because it cannot function in isolation.”

Louw (1987: 7) states that “Doke (1963: 2013) coined the term deficient verb for the auxiliary verb.” This term is inadequate as some of these verbs can function as independent verbs and are in no way indeficient. The term auxiliary predicates is preferred as it the term which is used in most linguistic studies.

Consider the following the use of the following auxiliary verbs: ukufika ‘arrive’, ukuhla ‘come down’, ukusuka ‘start, go away’, ukubuya ‘return’ and ukuphinda ‘return to some place, fold over’.

• umntwana usaya kufika afunde ukuthetha. ‘The child will learn quickly to speak.’
• uhle alwe. ‘He starts unexpectedly to fight.’
• bangasuke bakutye xa kumnandi ukutya. ‘They may eat the food any moment if it’s nice.’
• ukubuya utye xa uhluthi akulunganga. ‘To eat again when you are full is not good.’
• umfana uphinde anxibe enye impahla. ‘The young man dresses again other clothes.’

Morphological characteristics of the auxiliary verb

As a rule, auxiliary predicates cannot form a predicate but form a part of the whole which usually includes some other predicates as complement. The auxiliary predicate cannot be separated from its complement by another word.

Louw (1987: 7) points out that usually the auxiliary verb can be identified by certain morphological characteristics like the following where the subject concord can be deleted as when used in the past continuous tenses with -be:

• ndibe ndifunda > bendifunda ‘I was reading.’
• sibe sithenga > besithenga ‘we were buying.’
• ndibe ndidlala > bendidlala ‘I was playing.’

The pre prefix of the infinitive does not appear at all with the future tense:

• ndiza ukutya > ndiza kutya ‘I shall eat.’
• ndiza ukuthetha > ndiza kuthetha ‘I shall speak.’

Louw (1987: 11) points out that a most important feature of the auxiliary verb is the use of a terminating -e where one would expect the usual -a or the negative -i. The vowel -a can be replaced by -e if the auxiliary verb is in a particular tense as in the case of the present tense indicative, followed by the present subjunctive:

• ufumane athethe ‘he speaks without thinking’

But the terminative -a is preferred if -fumana should be in the infinitive:

• uya kufumana akhethe omnye umsebenzi ‘he will choose other work without thinking’

Those verbs with infinitive complements, which are auxiliary verbs, must have compulsory deletion of their terminating vowel:

• ndiya kwandul' ukubhala incwadi ‘after that (then) I shall write the letter’

The way the terminating vowel should occur is most important in the identification of the auxiliary verb.

Use of Auxiliary Verbs and complementary predicates

In isiXhosa compound tenses consisting of more than one word, are formed by the employment of many auxiliary verbs. Auxiliary verbs used to form certain tenses cannot be separated from their complements. Most auxiliary verbs can be used in all tenses in the same way as a noun. Most of these auxiliary verbs are followed by complementary predicates as described in the following paragraphs:

Auxiliary verbs with a subjunctive complement

• -buye a deficient verb, indicating ‘to do next’ as in:
  • Bayatya babuye bahlambe izitya. ‘They eat and then they wash the dishes.’
  • Ucela uxolo abuye one. ‘He/she asks for forgiveness and sins again.’
• -phantse indicates to be on the point of doing, but never quite doing
  • Ndiphantse ndawa. ‘I nearly fell.’
  • Ndiza kuphantse ndibanjwe. ‘I shall nearly be caught.’
• -fika used indicating ‘to do before’ or ‘to do first’
  • Ndifika nditye ndibuye ndilale. ‘I first eat and then sleep.’
  • Mna ndifuna ukufika ndihlale. ‘I want to arrive and sit.’

Auxiliary verb followed by the infinitive

• -anela indicates ‘to do nothing but’ as in:
  • Wanela nje ukusebenza engamkeli. ‘He is just satisfied to work without payment.’
• -phantse used of past tense to indicate “being nearly but never quite”; -phantse can never be used independently, i.e., as a regular verb, it always appears as an auxiliary. This auxiliary can be followed by the past subjunctive and the infinitive. The subject concord used with -phantse can either be in the present or remote past.
  • -phantse with the past subjunctive
    • Ndiphantse ndafa. ‘I nearly died, in the recent, but not quite’
    • Ndaphantse ndafa. ‘I nearly died, in the remote past’
    • Uphantse wawa. ‘He/she nearly fell, in the recent past.’
    • Waphantse wawa. ‘He/she nearly fell, in the remote past’
  • -phantse with the infinitive
    • Baphantse ukumva. ‘They almost heard him.’
    • Baphantse ukumbamba. ‘They almost caught him.’

Auxiliary verbs with the indicative as complement

The verb -ukuba ‘to be’ used with the morpheme -nga- inserted extending its stem to give it a potential aspect, i.e., ukungaba ‘to possibly be’, functions as an auxiliary verb with a predicate in the indicative mood as complement, to signify that a process may possibly take place or have taken place, as below:

• Mhlawumbi oonyana bam bangaba bonile. ‘Perhaps my sons can be that they did wrong.’
• Ningaba nilahlekisiwe nani na? ‘Have you (plural) also been misled?’
• Ngaba babone ntoni na? ‘What can it be that they have seen?’

Auxiliary verbs with the situative complement as

• -ukuba

  The auxiliary verb ukuba ‘to be’ is used in the composition of the compound tenses of the verbs. When a verbal structure formed with the stem -ukuba ‘to be’ has as complement a positive imperfect situative with a potential aspect, having dropped its subject concord, it indicates a continuous but fruitless process (Oosthuysen 2016: 288), as in:

  • Besiba ngafuna asafumana nto. ‘We searched and searched but found nothing.’
• -hlala

  The verb stem -hlala ‘sit/stay/live’ is used in an auxiliary verb with a predicate in the situative mood as its complement to indicate that a process persists or is continuous (Oosthuysen, 2016: 288) as in:

  • Igeza lihlala lihleka. ‘The mentally deranged person laughs persistently.’
  • Uhlala ethembekile. ‘He/she stays trustworthy.’
  • Abantwana bahlala belambile. ‘Children are continually hungry.’

From the above discussion it is clear that the auxiliary verb remains verbal in its character. It has a certain relationship with the verbal auxiliaries which have verbal origins.

According to Jokweni (1997: 110), a copulative is generally defined in terms of its structural function, namely, to link the subject and the complement. Doke (1930: 215) defines a copulative as: “a word which does the work of a predicative, and which is formed directly from some other part of speech by modification of the prefix or concord.”

Jokweni (1997: 111) argues that for Doke to say that the copulative is ‘formed directly from some other part of speech by modification of the prefix or concord’ is indicative of the fact that his definition of the copulative was informed by African languages and that it did not consider the inchoative aspect of the copulative. He states that to Crystal (1992: 84) a copulative is:

“a term used in GRAMMATICAL description to refer to a linking VERB, i.e., a verb which has little independent MEANING, and whose main function is to relate other elements of CLAUSE structure, especially SUBJECT and COMPLEMENT.”

Jokweni (1997: 111) continues with reference to Crystal (1992: 84) that “in English, the main copulative or equative verb is be, e.g., ‘he is a doctor’; ... it will be apparent in the discussion to follow that in isiXhosa, and most African languages, the copula, especially the non-inchoative, has more variable forms than its English counterpart.”

Semantic function

“In all copulatives there is an existential relation between two entities. This relation is found between the subject and the complement of the copulative and can be expressed as a relation of identification, description and association” (Du Plessis, 1985: 2).

Identificative relation

According to Oosthuysen (2016: 323) “Morphologically, copulatives can be distinguished as words containing an identificative substantive. The identificative component of the copulative may commence in an identificative prefix, as in the case with definite and neutral nouns and pronouns, usually dropping the preferred subject concord in the third person...”

In an identificative relation, the subject and the copulative are identified with each other:

• Indoda ngumntu. ‘A man is a person.’
• Amadoda zititshala. ‘The men are teachers.’

In the above sentences, the subjects indoda and amadoda and the complements ngumntu and zititshala are equal to each other, in other words, they are identified as being the same. One thus finds an existential identificative relationship, copulatives that exemplify this relation of identification, are called identificative copulatives.

Descriptive relation

In this relation the complement describes the subject:

• Le nto inzima. ‘This thing is heavy.’
• Abantwana basesikolweni. ‘The children are at school.’

The complements define or describe the subjects le nto and abantwana. Copulatives with this relation are also called descriptive or defining copulatives.

Associative relation

In an associative relation the subject is associated with the complement:

• Le ndoda inemela. ‘This man has a knife.’
• Utata unemoto. ‘My father owns a car.’

These are called associative copulatives.

Stative and inchoative

All the above relations can also exhibit further aspectual differences. A specific relation can namely be stative or inchoative (Du Plessis 1985:3). In the stative distinction the existential relation is complete:

• Lo mntu yindoda. ‘This person is a man.’
• Lo mntwana yintombazana. ‘This child is a girl.’

In the inchoative distinction the existential relation is in process:

• Lo mntu uba yindoda. ‘This person becomes a man.’

Simple copulatives and compound

Oosthuysen (2016: 325) points out that “Morphologically copulatives can be categorised as simple copulatives and compound copulatives. Compound copulatives may be existential or processive.”

“Simple copulatives are only found in the indicative situative and relative moods and only in the imperfect tense positive and negative. They may also display a persisting or an inclusive aspect. Simple copulatives have the morphological characteristic that they have a subject concord prefixed to the identificative substantive. In some instances the subject concord is not explicit but is implied.” Oosthuysen (2016: 325)

Positive indicative (simple) copulatives

The positive (imperfective) indicative (simple) copulatives consist of a subject concord plus an identificative substantive:

• Singabafundi. ‘We are pupils /students.’
• Unguye ‘You (singular) are he/she.’
• Ungulowo ‘You (singular) are that one.’
• Bumhlophe. ‘It is white.’
• Uboya bumhlophe. ‘Wool is white.’
• Zizodwa. ‘They are alone/unique.’

  (Oosthuysen, 2016: 329)

Simple negative copulatives

Negative indicative simple copulatives consist of the negative a-, plus a subject concord, plus an identificative substantive (Oosthuysen 2016: 329):

• Akanguye na unyana wakho uThemba? ‘Is Themba not your son?’
• Ithemba lenu alilikhulu. ‘Our hope is not big.’
• Akasiso isicaka sakho na? ‘Is he/she not your servant?’

Aspectual copulatives

“A simple copulative is given a persisting aspect when the aspect morpheme -se- is inserted after the subject concord and any negative morpheme that is prefixed.” (Oosthuysen, 2016: 337):

• Kusekho abantu abangekafiki. ‘There are still people who have not arrived.’
• Ebesengumntwana. ‘He was still a child.’

Unique attributes of copulatives

“Copulatives are found in the same categories as verbs, displaying similar unique semological and syntactical characteristics” (Oosthuysen, 2016: 326). When comparing the unique characteristics of verbs and simple copulatives the following observations amongst others are of note:

• A verb is a word that indicates action. It is always used with a subject concord. It may be transitive or intransitive and may take objects or objectival concords. Its meaning may be modified by different verbal suffixes to form verbal derivations and may take adverbial extensions. It may be conjugated in the positive or negative in different moods and tenses.
• On the other hand, a copulative is a word that signifies a predicative sense. It is a predicative that is derived from the other parts of speech other than verbs. It predicates a state and for this reason it is intransitive. Like the verb it takes verbal extensions. It may be used with or without a subject concord. It is only conjugable when it appears with a subject concord. For the progressive implication it makes use of the formative -se- and not -sa- as in the verb:
  • Ndisekho. ‘I am still present.’
  • Basebakhulu. ‘They are still big.’
  • Verb: Ndisahamba. ‘I am going.’
  • Verb: Basasebenza. ‘They are still working.’

“Copulatives never take morphemes as suffixes and never change their final vowel. For example, compare the positive indicative copulative kukude ‘it is far away’ and the negative indicative copulative akukude ‘it is not far away’ to the positive indicative verb ndiyahamba ‘I am going away’ and the negative indicative verb andihambi ‘I am not walking away/I am not going away’.” (Oosthuysen, 2016: 327).

“Aspectual simple copulatives are only found with a persisting or an inclusive aspect, and the aspect morpheme -sa- as used in verbs, is found as -se- in copulatives. For example, compare the verb sisahleli ‘we are still alive’ to the copulative sisengabantwana ‘we are still children’. An inclusive aspect is found in copulatives such as ndikwangumzingeli ‘I am also a hunter’.” (Oosthuysen, 2016: 327).

Oosthuysen (2016: 327) contends (that) “In contrast to verbs, copulatives are never found with imperfect aspect morpheme -ya- and never take morphemes as suffixes. While verbs are found in long and short forms, no such distinction is found in copulatives. Compare the verb ndiyabona ‘I see’ to the copulative ndimncinane ‘I am small’.”

Crystal, D. (1992) A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.

Doke, C. M. (1930) Textbook of Zulu grammar. Cape Town: Longman

Doke, C. M. (1963) Textbook of Zulu Grammar. 6th edn. Cape Town: Longman.

Du Plessis, J. A. (1985) ‘The copulative in Xhosa’. Stellenbosch Studies in African Languages. 8(1): 1-38.

Jokweni, M. W. (1997) ‘Identifying, descriptive and associative copulatives in Xhosa structure and function’. South African Journal of Languages. 17(3): 110-113.

Louw, J. A. (1987) ‘Auxiliary verb in Xhosa’. South African Journal of African Languages. 7(1): 7-15.

Oosthuysen, J. C. (2016) The Grammar of isiXhosa. SUN MeDIA Stellenbosch.

Pretorius, L., Viljoen, B., Pretorius, R., & Berg, A. (2009) ‘A Finite State Approach to Setswana Verb Morphology’. International Workshop in Finite-State Methods and Natural Language Processing FSMNLP 2009: Finite-State Methods and Natural Language Processing. pp 131 -138.