Classification
Guthrie (1967) classifies Jita in Bantu Zone E, Group 20 because, like other languages in this zone, it has double prefixes (preprefixes or augments [3] ) on nouns, an “unparalleled wealth” of verb tenses and true negative tenses with a distinctive negative prefix. More recent work (Bastin 2003, Maho 2009) classifies Jita as part of an Interlacustrine Bantu group (Zone J). More specifically, Jita is a member of the Suguti Bantu group, with the Guthrie code JE.25.
Kwaya (KYA, JE.251); Kara (REG), Regi/Leki (both JE.252); and Ruri/Rori (JE.253) are closely related to Jita. While Glottolog considers Ruri a dialect of Kwaya, [4] Massamba's (1977) comparative study of Jita, Ruri and Kwaya suggests that Ruri is quite similar to Jita, while both Jita and Ruri show a number of differences from Kwaya.
Phonology
Vowels and vowel processes
Jita has the five vowel system - plus length contrasts - illustrated in the table below.
| Front | Central | Back |
| Close | i iː | | u uː |
| Mid | e eː | | o oː |
| Open | | a aː | |
As in many Bantu languages, vowel height harmony (VHH) affects the quality of vowels in verbal suffixes, so that only the root-initial vowel of verbs contrasts for vowel quality. Vowel length is neutralized following consonant-glide sequences and preceding NC sequences, where only long vowels are found due to a process known in the Bantu literature as compensatory lengthening. (See Downing 1990, 1996 and the Jita Orthography Statement [5] for illustrations of these processes from Jita; see Hyman 1999 and Odden 2015 [6] for general discussions of these phonological processes.)
Consonants
Jita has the following IPA consonant phonemes.
| Labial | Labio-velar | Alveolar | Alveo-palatal | Velar | Guttural |
| Plosive | voiceless | p | | t | | k | |
| voiced | | | d | | g | |
| Fricative | voiceless | | f | s | ʃ | | h |
| voiced | β | v | z | | | |
| Affricate | voiceless | | | | t͡ʃ | | |
| voiced | d͡ʒ |
| Nasal | m | | n | ɲ | ŋ | |
| Liquid | | | l/r | | | |
| Trill | | | | | | |
| Approximant | w | | | j | | |
The Jita Orthography Statement [5] notes that [p] and [d] are mostly found in borrowed words. There seems to be considerable variation in the realization of the liquid phoneme. Downing (1990, 1996) says that the liquid is variably realized as [l] or [r] and chooses [l] as the phoneme, since it seems to be the variant most consistently attested in root (morpheme) initial position. Van der Weken (2002) notes variation between [l] and a retroflex lateral [ɭ], rather than a trill [r]. The Jita Orthography Statement [5] lists [r] as the phoneme and doesn't mention variation in its realization.
Tone
Like most Bantu languages, Jita is tonal. A detailed analysis of the Jita tone system has been made by Downing (1990), (1996), and (2014), as well as Rolle (2018). [7] Work like Downing (2011), Kisseberth & Odden (2003), Marlo (2013) and Philippson (1991) put Jita tonal processes in a wider Bantu perspective.
Nominal morphology
Nouns in Jita, which also include infinitives, have the following morphological structure: Preprefix (PP) - Class Agreement Prefix (CP) - Stem. Below is a chart of nominal agreement prefixes. Note that the IPA alphabet is used in all chart in this article; see the Jita Orthography Statement [5] for Jita orthography equivalents. Note that N indicates a nasal that assimilates in place to a following consonant:
| Class | PP | CP | Example | Gloss |
| 1 | o | mu | omu nu | person |
| 2 | a | βa | aβa nu | people |
| 3 | o | mu | omu fuko | bag |
| 4 | e | mi | emi fuko | bags |
| 5 | (e) | li | li nad͡ʒi | coconut palm |
| 6 | a | ma | ama nad͡ʒi | coconut palms |
| 7 | e | t͡ʃi | et͡ʃi nu | thing |
| 8 | e | βi | eβi nu | things |
| 9 | | i:(N) | i:m bed͡ʒo | adze |
| 10 | | ji:(N) | ji:m bed͡ʒo | adzes |
| 11 | o | lu | olu góje | eyelash (Cl. 10 plural) |
| 12 | a | ka | aka góje | string |
| 13 | o | tu | otu góje | strings |
| 14 | o | βu | oβu néne | bigness (no pl.) |
| 15 | o | ku | oku té:ka | to cook (no pl.) |
| 15a | o | ku | oku βóko | arm (Cl. 6 plural) |
In Class 5, the preprefix only occurs with some vowel-initial or monosyllabic roots. In all other classes, the preprefix occurs with all nouns. Nominal modifiers follow the noun. The preprefix and class agreement prefixes also occur on adjectives. Non-adjectival modifiers take a different set of agreement prefixes, which lack preprefixes:
| Class | CP2 |
| 1 | u |
| 2 | βa |
| 3 | gu |
| 4 | d͡ʒi |
| 5 | li |
| 6 | ga |
| 7 | t͡ʃi |
| 8 | βi |
| 9 | i |
| 10 | d͡ʒi |
| 11 | lu |
| 12 | ka |
| 13 | tu |
| 14 | βu |
| 15, 15a | ku |
Verbal morphology
The morphological structure for verbs is:
Subject Prefix (SP) - (Negative Prefix-) Tense/ Aspect Marker (TAM) - ( Object Prefixes (OP)-) Root - (Derivational Suffixes-) (Tense Marker (TAM)-) Final Vowel.
The Root plus following suffixes comprises the Stem; this grouping plus object prefixes comprises the Macro-Stem. Jita is one of the Bantu languages which allow two object prefixes to occur before the Stem.
Subject and object prefixes
Subject and object prefixes for verbs are identical to the CP2 prefixes listed above, except for Class 1. The first, second and third (Classes 1 and 2) person singular and plural subject and object agreement prefixes for verbs are as follows:
| SP / OP (singular) | SP / OP (plural) |
| I | ni ~ N / N | we | t͡ʃi / t͡ʃi |
| you | u / ku | you pl. | mu / βa |
| s/he (Cl.1) | a / mu | they (Cl.2) | βa / βa |
| -self (reflexive OP, singular and plural) | i |
Derivation al suffixes (extensions)
Derivational suffixes in Jita, as in other Bantu languages, change the argument structure of the verb to express grammatical notions such as causative, benefactive, locative, reciprocal, reversive and passive. Below are listed some common derivational verbal suffixes (extensions) in Jita. Note that some extensions have two contextually determined forms due to vowel height harmony, mentioned above.
| -(is)j- / -(es)j- | causative |
| -ir- / -er- | Benefactive; locative |
| -an- | reciprocal |
| -urur- / -oror- | reversive |
The extended form of some Jita Infinitives is found in the table below (oku- is the infinitive prefix; an acute accent on a vowel indicates High tone):
| oku-má:m-a | to sleep; lie down |
| oku-ma:m-ír-a | to sleep somewhere (applied) |
| oku-má:m-j-a | to make lie down (causative) |
| oku-βwí:r-a | to tell |
| oku-βwi:r-án-a | to tell each other (reciprocal) |
| oku-d͡ʒí:ng-a | to wind |
| oku-d͡ʒi:ng-úrur-a | to unwind (reversive) |
TAMs
As noted by Guthrie (1967), Jita has a "wealth" of verb tense/aspect/mood (TAM) paradigms. Downing (1990, 1996, 2014) and Odom & Robinson (2016) provide comprehensive lists of the paradigms. Note, however, that Odom & Robinson (2016) do not mark tone, even though the melodic tone patterns assigned to each pattern are a crucial part of the expression of TAM. (See Odden & Bickmore 2014 for an overview of the properties of Bantu melodic tone.) Below is the Appendix from Downing (2014), providing an overview of the melodic tone patterns assigned to frequently used TAMs in Jita. Note that not only the TAM but also the negative prefix, as well as relative verb forms, can determine the melodic tone pattern:
| Inflection | Tone pattern |
| Infinitive | non-melodic |
| |
| Distant Past I | melodic – penult H |
| Negative | melodic – penult H |
| Relative | melodic – penult H |
| |
| Distant Past II | melodic – final H |
| Negative | melodic – final H |
| Relative | melodic – final H |
| |
| Perfective | non-melodic |
| |
| Yesterday Past | non-melodic |
| Negative | non-melodic |
| Relative | non-melodic |
| |
| Today Past | non-melodic |
| Negative | non-melodic |
| Relative | melodic – final H |
| |
| Present Continuous | melodic – ‘chaotic’ |
| Negative | non-melodic |
| |
| Distant Future | melodic – final H |
| Negative | non-melodic |
| Relative | melodic – final H |
| |
| Imperative | melodic – ‘chaotic’ |
| |
| Subjunctive | melodic – ‘chaotic’ |
| |
When no consistent melodic tone pattern could be determined for a paradigm, Downing labeled the pattern "chaotic." Rolle (2018) develops an analysis of Jita melodic tone which finds a pattern even in the "chaotic" paradigms
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