Subject Concord with Vowel Verb Stems

The following verbs starting on vowels have fixed initial vowels which may not be interchanged or omitted:

-aka (share)
-akha (build)
-ala (refuse)
-anda (increase)
-anga (kiss)
-eba (steal)
-ehla (descend)
-ena (be overgrown)
-enda (marry)
-enza (do)
-eqa (jump)
-okha (transfer fire)
-oma (get dry)
-ona (sin, do wrong)
-onda (get thin)
-ondla (nourish)
-onga (be economical, save money)
-opha (bleed)
-osa (roast)
-otha (warm oneself)


There are also verbs which start on vowels which may be interchanged or omitted:
(all the following initial vowels can be omitted, and all except -esuka be replaced with an a-)

-esuka (move away)
-elusa (herd)
-edlula (pass)
-ehlula (conquer)
-ehluka (differ)
-embatha (dress)
-emuka (go away)
-ephuka (get broken)
-ephula (break)
-esula (wipe)

In isiZulu two vowels may never appear next to each other within the same word. Therefore, certain sound changes will take place when subject concords are prefixed to vowel verb stems.

Vowel elision

When subject concords cosisting of a consonant + vowel are prefixed to a vowel verb stem, the vowel of the verb stem is kept and the vowel of the subject concord discarded. This might be better explained by a few examples:

• ngi- + -eba -> ng- + -eba
  Ngeba imali. (I steal money)
• si- + -osa -> s- + -osa
  Sosa inyama yenkukhu. (We roast chicken meat)
• ba- + -ala -> b- + -ala
  Abafana bala ukudlala (The boys refuse to play)
• zi- + -onga -> z- + -onga
  Izintombi zonga imali. (The girls save money)

The only exception is in the classes ulu- and uku- (where the vowel is not elided) and the class ama- where the subject concord a- is elided as a whole:

• a- + -omile -> omile
  Amahhashi omile manje. (The horses are thirsty now)

Consonantalization

Subject concords consisting only of the vowels u- and i-, respectively change to the semi-vowels w- and y-:

• Indoda yala (i- + -ala) ukusebenza. (The man refuses to work)
• Umoya wephula (u- + -ephula) umuthi. (The wind breaks the tree)

Second person singular:

• Welusa (u- + -elusa) izinkomo.

The concords of classes ulu- and uku-
Depending on the nature of the initial vowel, vowel elision or consonantalization may take place when the subject concords of ulu- and uku- are prefixed to vowel verb stems. When prefixed to stems starting with a- and e- the subject concords lu- and ku- become lw- and kw-. When prefixed to stems starting with o-, they become l- and k-.

• lu- + -eba -> lweba ;
  Uhlanya lweba ubisi. (The lunatic steals milk)
• Ukhamba loma (lu- + -oma) kahle. (The claypot dries well)

Long present tense with vowel verb stems
The a- of -ya is elided when it is used with vowel verb stems:

• Siyosa. (We are roasting)
• Ngiyeba. (I am stealing)
• Uyehla. (He is descending / Climbing down)

Word List - Verbs

-bala (count)
-balele (be sunny and hot)
-bamba (catch)
-banda (be cold)
-bhaka (bake)
-bhala (write)
-bhukuda (swim)
-bila (boil)
-biza (call, cost)
-bona (see)
-bonga (be thankful)
-buya (come back)
-buza (ask, enquire)
-cabanga (think)
-cela (request, ask for)
-cima (put out)
-cula (sing)
-dabuka (originate)
-dla (eat)
-dlala (play)
-dlela (enjoy)
-dlile (ate, be satisfied)
-dweba (draw, sketch)
-enza (do, make)
-faka (put into, put on)
-fika (arrive)
-fisela inhlanhla (congratulate, wish luck)
-funa (want)
-gibela (ride)
-gijima (run)
-gwinya (swallow)
-gxuma (jump)
-hakaniphile (be clever)
-hambile (be gone, has left)
-hambisa (send off)
-hambisana (go together)
-hlala (sit, stay, remain, dwell)
-hlamba (wash, swim, purify)
-jaha (be in hurry)
-jika (take / make a turn)
-khanyisa (light (a candle), put on a light)
-khipha (take out, pull out)
-khiza (drizzle (of rain))
-khokha (pay)
-khula (grow up, become big)
-khulele (grew up)
-khulumela phansi (speak softly)
-khulumela phezulu (speak up)
-khumbula (remember)
-khumula (take off clothes)
-khwela (climb, mount)
-lalela (listen, to obey)
-landa (fetch, relate)
-landela (follow)
-lele (be asleep)
-letha (bring)
-lima (hoe, cultivate, plough)
-linda (wait for, guard)
-loba (write)
-lungile (be good, be right)
-lungisa (put right, prepare, fix, tidy up)

Word List - Food (Ukudla)

amagilebhisi (grapes)
amareyzini (raisins)
amazambane (patatoes)
i-aphula (apple)
i-ayisikhilimu (ice-cream)
ibhotela (butter)
ikhofi (coffee)
ikhukhamba (cucumber)
inyama yenkukhu (chicken meat)
irayisi (rice)
isaladi (salad)
isinkwa (bread)
iwolintshi (orange)
uanyanisi (onion)
ubhanana (banana)
ubisi (milk)
ukherothi (carrot)
uletisi (lettuce)
uphayinaphu (pineapple)
ushizi (cheese)
ushukela (sugar)
utamatisi (tamato)

Word List - Colors (Imibala)

-bomvu (red)
-liphuzi (yellow)
-luhlaza (green)
-luhlaza okwesibhakabhaka (blue)
-mhlophe (white)
-mnyama (black)
-mpunga (gray)
-nsundu (brown)
orenji (orange)
phephuli (purple)

Word List - Animals (Izilwane)

ibhele (bear)
idada (duck)
ijubajubane (butterfly)
ikati (cat)
imbabala (deer)
imbuzi (goat)
impukane (fly)
indlovu (elephant)
inhlanzi (fish)
inja (dog)
inkomazi (cow)
inkukhu (chicken)
inyoni (bird)
inyosi (bee)
iphela (cockroach)
iselesele (frog)
isilwane (animal)
ubhejane (rhinoceros)
uhlobo lwempungushe (fox)
ukhozi (eagle)

Subject Agreement

In isiZulu there exists a certain relationship between the subject and the verb of a sentence. This is by means of a subject concord that is prefixed to the verb stem. The subject concord always closely resembles the class prefix of the noun which is the subject of the clause. (Refer to table on subject concord).

THE PRESENT TENSE

In isiZulu there is distinguished between in the 'present tense' between two types: the short present tense and the long present tense.

The Short Present Tense
The present tense followed by an object (or some other part of the predicate), is called the short present tense. The subject concord of the class concerned is simply prefixed to the verb stem,
for instance:

• Abafundi bafunda incwadi. (The learners read a book)
• Inja iluma ikati. (The dog bites the cat)
• Umfazi upheka manje. (The woman cooks now)
• Abafana bagijima kakhulu. (The boys run fast)

In addition, an adverbial form may also appear in the short present tense:

• Abafundi bafunda incwadi lapha. (The learners read a book here)

The Long Present Tense
This form of the present tense is marked by the long present tense formative -ya-which follows the subject concord:

• U-ya-sebenza (He/She is working)
  

The long present tense is used when the verb appears at the END of a sentence, as in the following examples:

• Umlilo uyashisa. (The fire is hot) vs. Umlilo ushisa kabi (The fire is very hot)
• Amadoda ayasebenza. (The men work) vs. Amadoda asebenza kakhulu (The men work hard)
• Umfana uyapheka. (The boy cooks) vs. Umfana uyapheka ukudla (The boy cooks food)

The English can also be translated as "The boy is cooking", "The fire is burning", etc.

When a verb is followed by an adverbial form indicating time or locality, the verb may appear in the long present tense as well:

• Ngiyahamba manje. (I am going now)
• Uyavakasha ekhaya. (He is visiting at home)

The Present Tense Negative

The negative form is as folows: negative formative ka- or a- + the verb which ends in -i. The k- of ka- is optional, the verb consists of the subject concord + the verb stem:

• Abafana (k)abathandi ukusebenza. (The boys do not like to work)

The following is a full list of the negative form with the verb stem -hamba (go, walk):

Singular		Plural
1st p.s.	angihambi	1st p.p.	asihambi
2nd p.s.	awuhambi	2nd p.p.	anihambi
umu:	akahambi	aba:	abahambi
umu:	awuhambi	imi:	ayihambi
ili:	alihambi	ama:	awahambi
isi:	asihambi	izi:	azihambi
in:	ayihambi	izin:	azihambi
ulu:	aluhambi
ubu:	abuhambi
		uku:	akuhambi

Note that the subject concord of the umu- class (singular third person) is -ka-. In the nasal cases (where the subject concord consists of a vowel only) juxtaposition of vowels is prevented by the insertion of a semi-vowel between the negative a- and the subject concord:
umu-: -wu-
imi-: -yi-
ama-: -wa-
in-: -yi-


Enclitics

In conclusion for this chapter, there will be a short discussion of enclitics. An enclitic is neither a proper suffix nor can it be used independantly. The following enclitics exist in isiZulu:

• -ke (then) which is written with a hyphen
• -bo which is used with the imperative to express insistence
• nje (just, simply)

Enclitics usually follow a verb. They may, however, also follow other parts of the sentence. Some examples:

• Siyahamba-ke! (And so we go now)
• Hambani bo! (Do go now!)
• Siyakhuluma nje. (We are just talking)
• Isela likhuluma mahhala nje. (The thief is just talking nonsense)
• Hambani-ke. (So go now)
• Hambani manje bo! (Go now!)
• Bheka izimoto bo! (Look out for the cars!)