Kabyle grammar

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Kabyle grammar is the set of structural rules and regulations included in the Kabyle language, ranging from words to phrases, to punctuation, and sentences.

Contents

Nouns and adjectives

Gender

As an Afro-Asiatic language, Kabyle has only two genders, masculine and feminine. Like most Berber languages, masculine nouns and adjectives generally start with a vowel (a-, i-, u-), while the feminine nouns generally start with t- and end with a -t (there are some exceptions, however). Note that most feminine nouns are in fact feminized versions of masculine nouns.

Examples:

Certain masculine nouns do not start with a vowel: laẓ "hunger", seksu "couscous", and beṭṭu "separation". These include the names of relatives: gma "my brother", mmi "my son", and baba "my father".

Certain feminine nouns do not end with a -t: tasa "liver", tili "shadow", and timess "fire".

Certain feminine nouns do start wi a t-: lexdma "work" and rradyu "radio". These include the names of relatives: weltma "my sisterm", yelli "my daughter", and yemma "my mother".

Loan words that end with a consonant are usually masculine: zzman "time" (from Arabic); Loan words that end with a vowel are usually feminine: qahwa "coffee".

Pluralization

Singular nouns generally start with an a-, and do not have a suffix. Plural nouns generally start with an i- and often have a suffix such as -en. There are three types of plural : External, Internal, Mixed:

amɣar "an old man" → imɣaren "old men".
argaz → irgazen "men"
ul → ulawen "hearts"
adrar → idurar "mountain"
amicic "a cat" → imcac "cats"
igenni "sky" → igenwan "skies".
izi → izan "fly"
aẓar → iẓuran "root"
afus → ifassen "hands

Certain words exist only in the plural form and do not have a singular, such as: aman "water", medden "people", and ammewan "eyebrows".

Certain words exist only in the singular form and do not have a plural, such as: tidet "truth", tiɣrit "correction", and tagella "food".

The plural of certain words can change the meaning of the singular: tuccanin "mercurial", plural of tuccent "female jackal"; timeddukkal "placenta", plural of tamdeddakelt "female friend".

Certain words can have different plural forms with different meanings: iri "collar" has two plural forms, iran "edge" or irawen "responsibility".

Free and annexed state

As in all Berber languages, Kabyle has two types of states or cases of the noun: one is unmarked (and can be glossed as abs or fs), while the other serves as a post-verbal subject of a transitive verb and the object of a preposition, among other contexts, and may be glossed as ann, int or cs. The former is often called free state, the latter construct state. The construct state of the noun derives from the free state through one of the following rules:

The first involves a vowel alternation, whereby the vowel a become u :

amaziɣ → umaziɣ "Berber"
ameqqran → umeqqran "big"
adrar → udrar "mountain"

The second involves the loss of the initial vowel in the case of some feminine nouns (the sound represented by the letter 'e' is not considered a true vowel):

tamɣart → temɣart "women"
tamdint → temdint "town"
tamurt → tmurt "country"

The third involves the addition of a semi-vowel (w or y) word-initially:

asif → wasif "river"
aḍu → waḍu "wind"
iles → yiles "tongue"
uccen → wuccen "jackal"

Finally, some nouns do not change for free state. These include masculine nouns that do not start with a vowel, feminine nouns that do not start with -t, and feminine nouns whose initial vowel is -a or -u:

taddart → taddart "village"; feminine noun whose initial vowel is -a
tuccent → tuccent "female jackal"; feminine noun whose initial vowel is -u
fad → fad "thirsty"; masculine noun that does not start with a vowel
weltma → weltma "sister"; feminine noun that does not start with -t

Depending on the role of the noun in the sentence, it takes either its free or annexed state.

Yewwet

3SG-hit.PFV

aqcic.

boy.ABS

Yewwet aqcic.

3SG-hit.PFV boy.ABS

He hit a boy.

When located after a verb, the direct object of the verb takes the free state, while the subject is in the annexed state.

Yewwet

3SG-hit.PFV

weqcic

boy.ANN

aydi.

dog.ABS

Yewwet weqcic aydi.

3SG-hit.PFV boy.ANN dog.ABS

The boy hit a dog.

When the direct object is indicated on the verb by a direct object affix, the direct object's identity may be restated in the annexed state.

Yewwet-it

3SG.M-hit.PFV-3SG.M.ACC

weydi.

dog.ANN

Yewwet-it weydi.

3SG.M-hit.PFV-3SG.M.ACC dog.ANN

He hit a dog.

When a noun is moved in front of the verb to establish it as the sentence topic, it remains in its free state.

Aqcic

boy.ABS

yewwet

3SG-hit.PFV

aydi.

dog.ABS

Aqcic yewwet aydi.

boy.ABS 3SG-hit.PFV dog.ABS

The boy hit a dog.

After a preposition (at the exception of "ar" and "s"), all nouns take their annexed state. Hence the free-state noun aman (water), annexed state waman, can form kas n waman, (a glass of water), with the preposition n "of" triggering the construct state's appearance.

Adjectives

Adjectives can be formed by deriving a verb or using elements placed before the noun.

Verb derivation

  • From a stative verb: izwiɣ "to be red" → azeggaɣ "red"
  • Identical to an agent noun: ilaẓ "to be hungry" → amellẓu "hungry"
  • By adding the suffix -an to a verb: ihiriw "to be large" → ahrawan "large"
  • By adding the prefix u- to a verb: zmer "to be able" → uzmir "strong" or "capable"

Using elements before the noun

  • Adding bu "who has" (masculine singular), mu "who has" (feminine singular), at "who have" (masculine plural), sut "who have" (feminine plural) + noun in the annexed state: bu uqerru, mu uqerru "tenacious" (uqerru from aqerru "head"); sut wartiran "demonym for people from At Waritran, in this case feminine plural"
  • Adding war "without" (masculine) or tar "without" (feminine) + noun in the free state: war sseɛd, tar sseɛd "unlucky"
  • Adding yir "bad" + noun in the free state: yir zwaǧ "a bad marriage"

Verbs

Kabyle verbs inflect for four paradigms of tense–aspect–mood, three of them conventionally labelled the preterite (expressing perfective aspect), intensive aorist (expressing imperfective aspect) and aorist (essentially functioning like an irrealis or subjunctive mood). Unlike other Berber languages, where it is used to express the present, the aorist alone is rarely used in Kabyle, instead often appearing with an accompanying particle. The preterite also has an accompanying negative paradigm which may or may not differ from that of the non-negative preterite depending on the verb.

VerbPreteritead + aoristIntensive aorist
If (to outdo)ifeɣad ifeɣttifeɣ
Muqel (to observe)muqleɣad muqleɣttmuquleɣ
Krez (to plough)kerzeɣad kerzeɣkerrzeɣ
VerbPreteritead + aoristIntensive aorist
Aru (to write)uriɣad aruɣttaruɣ

The intensive aorist can be used alone or with the following particles:

Conjugation

Conjugation in Kabyle is done by adding affixes (prefixes, suffixes or both). These affixes are static and identical for all finite stems, with only the theme changing. Kabyle is a pro-drop language, where the affixes are sufficient to indicate the subject pronouns, without the need to include the pronouns separately.

Kabyle person-number affixes
PersonSingularPlural
1st— (e)ɣn(e) —
2nd (m)t(e) — (e)ḍt(e) — (e)m
2nd (f)t(e) — (e)ḍt(e) — (e)mt
3rd (m)i/y(e) —— (e)n
3rd (f)t(e) —— (e)nt

A group of stative/resultative verbs (such as imɣur "to be/become big or old") use a different set of person-number endings in their preterites, which contains only suffixes.

Kabyle stative preterite person-number affixes
PersonSingularPlural
1st— (e)ɣ— it
2nd (m)— (e)ḍ— it
2nd (f)— (e)ḍ— it
3rd (m)— it
3rd (f)— (e)t— it

As an example, the full finite conjugation of the verb afeg "to fly" exhibiting its four themes (preterite ufeg, negative preterite ufig, aorist afeg, and intensive aorist ttafeg) is given below. For Kabyle verbs, the citation form of a verb is the second-person singular imperative.

Finite conjugation of Kabyle afeg "to fly"
PersonPreteriteNegative PreteriteAoristIntensive AoristImperativeIntensive Imperative
SingularPluralSingularPluralSingularPluralSingularPluralSingularPluralSingularPlural
1stufgeɣnufegufigeɣnufigafgeɣnafegttafgeɣnettafeg
2nd (m)tufgeḍtufgemtufigeḍtufigemtafgeḍtefgemtettafgeḍtettafgemafegafgetttafegttafget
2nd (f)tufgeḍtufgemttufigeḍtufigemttafgeḍtefgemttettafgeḍtettafgemtafegafgemtttafegttafgemt
3rd (m)yufegufgenyufigufigenyafegafgenyettafegttafgen
3rd (f)tufegufgentur tufigur ufigentad tafegad afgenttettafegttafgent

The participles in Kabyle are used as a means of expressing relative phrases in which the preceding noun is the participle's subject. In the following proverb, ur nxeddem "who doesn't work" modifies argaz "man".

Argaz

man.ABS

ur

NEG

nxeddem,

NEG.PTCP-work.IPFV,

efk-as

give.IMP-3SG.M.IO

taṛuka

distaff.ABS

ad

PTCL

yellem!

3SG.M-spin.AOR

Argaz urnxeddem, efk-as taṛuka ad yellem!

man.ABS NEG NEG.PTCP-work.IPFV, give.IMP-3SG.M.IO distaff.ABS PTCL 3SG.M-spin.AOR

A man who doesn't work is not a real man. (lit. A man who doesn't work? Give him a distaff to spin!)

Each Kabyle verb has five participles, all formed by attaching various affixes onto a corresponding finite stem.

Preterite ParticipleAorist ParticipleIntensive Aorist Participle
PositiveNegativePositiveNegative
yufgenur nufigara yafgenyettafegur nettafeg

Verb framing

Kabyle is a satellite-framed based language, Kabyle verbs use two particles to show the path of motion:

Examples:

Negation

Kabyle usually expresses negation in two parts, with the particle ur attached to the verb, and one or more negative words that modify the verb or one of its arguments. For example, simple verbal negation is expressed by « ur » before the verb and the particle « ara » after the verb:

Other negative words (acemma ... etc.) are used in combination with ur to express more complex types of negation.

Negation of the verbs in the subjunctive mood is achieved by the form a wer + verb

Negation of the verbs in the imperative mood is achieved by the form ur + intensive imperative + ara

Auxiliaries

The auxiliary ili (to be)

ili + verb is employed to express the following aspects:

  • A possibility, a doubt, or a repetition in the future, and the future perfect
  • A repetition in the past, and the past perfect
  • A habit or a normal state

Examples

  1. yeswa (sew "to drink" in the preterite) + yella (ili "to be" in the preterite) → yella yeswa "He had drunk"
  2. yeswa (sew "to drink" in the preterite) + ad yili (ili "to be" in the aorist) → ad yili yeswa "He will have drunk"
  3. yebzeg (bzeg "to be wet" in the preterite) + yettili (ili "to be" in the intensive aorist) → yettilli yebzeg "It is usually wet"
  4. tesseɣ (sew "to drink" in the intensive aorist) + lliɣ (ili "to be" in the preterite) → lliɣ tesseɣ "I was drinking"
  5. tesseɣ (sew "to drink" in the intensive aorist) + iliɣ (ili "to be" in the aorist) → ad iliɣ tesseɣ "I will be drinking"

The auxiliary (to have)

aɣ in its general meaning "to take" can be used in complex verb construction in its preterite form yuɣ, or intensive aorist form yettaɣ. Its use is equivalent to the use of the verb ili.

Examples

  1. yuɣ lḥal yečča "He had (already) eaten"
  2. yuɣ-iten lḥal ad awḍen ass-nni "They must have arrived on that day"

Verb derivation

Verb derivation is done by adding affixes. There are three types of derivation forms : Causative, reflexive and Passive.

ffeɣ "to go out" → ssuffeɣ "to make to go out"
kcem "to enter" → ssekcem "to make to enter, to introduce"
irid "to be washed" → ssired "to wash".
ẓer "to see" → mẓer "to see each other"
ṭṭef "to hold" → myuṭṭaf "to hold each other".
krez "to plough" → ttwakrez "to be ploughed"
ečč "to eat" → mmečč "to be eaten".
enɣ "to kill" → mmenɣ "to kill each other" → smenɣ "to make to kill each other"

Two prefixes can cancel each other:

enz "to be sold" → zzenz "to sell" → ttuzenz "to be sold" (ttuzenz = enz !!).

Agent noun

Every verb has a corresponding agent noun. In English it could be translated into verb+er. It is obtained by prefixing the verb with « am- » or with « an- » if the first letter is b / f / m / w (there are exceptions however).

ṭṭef "to hold" → anaṭṭaf "holder"
inig "to travel" → iminig "traveller"
eks "to graze" → ameksa "shepherd"

Action noun

Every verb has a corresponding action noun, which in English it could be translated into verb+ing:

ffer "to hide" → tuffra "hiding" (stem VI), « Tuffra n tidett ur telhi » — "Hiding the truth is bad".

There are 6 regular stems of forming action nouns, and the 7th is for quality verbs : (C for consonant, V for vowel)

StemVerbAction noun
ICVCVaCVC
IIC(C)VC(C)aC(C)VC(C)V
IIIC(C)eCCaC(C)eCCi
IV(C)CaC(C)a(C)CaC(C)i
VC1C2eC3aCCaC
VICCeCtuCCCa
VIIiC1C2VC3teC1C2eC3
ɣeẓẓ "to bite" → aɣẓaẓ
zdi "to be united" → azday
ini "to say" → timenna

Predicative particle "d"

The predicative particle "d" is an indispensable tool in speaking Kabyle, "d" is equivalent to both "it is + adjective" and "to be + adjective", but cannot be replaced by the verb "ili" (to be). It is always followed by a noun (free state).

Examples:

The predicative particle "d" should not be confused with the particle of coordination "d"; indeed, the latter is followed by a noun at its annexed state while the first is always followed by a noun at its free state.

Pronouns

Personal pronouns

PersonSingularPlural
1st (m)nekk / nekkininekni
1st (f)nekk / nekkininekkenti
2nd (m)kečč / keččinikunwi / kenwi
2nd (f)kemm / kemminikunnemti / kennemti
3rd (m)netta / nettan / nettaninutni / nitni
3rd (f)nettatnutenti / nitenti

Example : « Ula d nekk. » — "Me too."

Possessive pronouns

There are three types of possessive pronouns: isolated, suffixes, and those of names of relatives.

1-Isolated (or independent):

PersonSingularPlural
1st (m)inunneɣ
1st (f)inunnteɣ
2nd (m)ineknwen
2nd (f)inemnkent
3rd (m)inesnsen
3rd (f)inesnsent

Isolated possessive pronouns can be placed before or after the possessed noun:

2-Suffix: it comes after the possessed noun, and it is linked to it by a hyphen.

PersonSingularPlural
1st (m)-iw-nneɣ
1st (f)-iw-nnteɣ
2nd (m)-ik-nwen
2nd (f)-im-nkent
3rd (m)-is-nsen
3rd (f)-is-nsent

Example : « Axxam-nneɣ. » — "Our house." (House-our)

3-Possessive pronouns of the names of relatives:

PersonSingularPlural
1st (m)-tneɣ
1st (f)-nteɣ
2nd (m)-k-twen
2nd (f)-m-tkent
3rd (m)-s-tsen
3rd (f)-s-tsent

When the name of the relative does not have a possessive pronoun, it means by default "my", for example: ∅ baba "my father"; whereas baba-s means "his father" or "her father".

Pronouns of the verb

PersonSingularPlural
1st (m)(i)yiɣ / (y)aɣ / naɣ / (y)anaɣ
1st (f)(i)yiɣ / (y)aɣ / tnaɣ / (y)anteɣ
2nd (m)(i)k(i)ken
2nd (f)(i)kem(i)kent
3rd (m)(i)t(i)ten
3rd (f)(i)tt(i)tent

Example : « Yuɣ-it. » — "He bought it." (He.bought-it)

PersonSingularPlural
Long formShort formLong formShort form
1st (m)(i)yiyiɣ / (y)aɣɣ
1st (f)(i)yiyiɣ / (y)aɣɣ
2nd (m)(y)akk(y)awenwen
2nd (f)(y)amm(y)akentkent
3rd (m)(y)ass(y)asensen
3rd (f)(y)ass(y)asentsent

Demonstratives

There are three demonstratives, near-deictic ('this, these'), far-deictic ('that, those') and absence:

Near-deicticFar-deicticAbsence
SingularPluralSingularPlural
(y)a / (y)agi(y)agini(y)ihin / (y)ihinna(y)innanni
Near-deicticFar-deicticAbsence
SingularPluralSingularPluralSingularPlural
masculinewa/ wagi/ waginiwi/ wigi/ wiginiwihin / wihinnawihid / wihidak
widak-inna / wigad-inna
widak-ihin / wigad-ihin
win / winnawid / wid-nni
widak / widak-nni
wigad-nni
feminineta / tagi / taginiti / tigi / tiginitihin / tihinnatihid / tihidak
tidak-inna / tigad-inna
tidak-ihin / tigad-ihin
tin / tinnatid / tid-nni
tidak / tidak-nni
tigad-nni

Numerotation

Only the first two numbers are Berber; for higher numbers, Arabic is used. They are yiwen (f. yiwet) "one", sin (f. snat) "two". [1] The noun being counted follows it in the genitive: sin n yirgazen "two men".

"First" and "last" are respectively amezwaru and aneggaru (regular adjectives). Other ordinals are formed with the prefix wis (f. tis): wis sin "second (m.)", tis tlata "third (f.)", etc.

Prepositions

Prepositions precede their objects: « i medden » "to the people", « si temdint » "from the town". All words preceded by a preposition (at the exception of « s » and « ar », "towards", "until" ) take their annexed state.

Some prepositions have two forms : one is used with pronominal suffixes and the other form is used in all other contexts.

Also some of these prepositions have a corresponding relative pronoun (or interrogative), example:

« i » "for/to" → « iwumi » "to whom"
« Tefka aksum i wemcic » "she gave meat to the cat" → « Amcic iwumi tefka aksum » "The cat to whom she gave meat"
Kabyle prepositions
PrepositionWith suffixesTranslation equivalentCorresponding Relative pronoun Translation equivalent
dyid- / did-'and, with, in the company of'(w)ukud / wi d'with whom'
i'for, to' (dative)iwumi / iwimi / imi / umi / mi'to whom' (dative) / 'whose'
ɣer / ar'to' (direction)iɣer / ɣer way / (s)aniɣer / (s)awier / ɣer'to' (direction)
s'to' (direction)sani'to' (direction)
ɣur'among'(w)uɣur / ɣur'among'
ɣef / af / ffell-'on; because of; about'iɣef / ɣef way / ɣef wadeg / ɣef'on what'
deg / g / di'in'ideg / deg way / deg waydeg / anda / deg'where'
seg / si / g'from'iseg / seg way / ansi'from where'
siss- / yiss- / yis-'with, by means of, using' (instrumental)s ways / s wacu / s / iss / is'with what' (instrumental)
gergar-'between'
n'of'
nnig / sennig'on top of'
ddaw / seddaw'beneath, under'
ar'until'
deffir'behind'
zdat / zzat'in front of'
am'like, as'

Conjunctions

Conjunctions precede the verb: mi yiwweḍ "when he arrived", muqel ma yusa-d "see if he came".

Bibliography

References

  1. Corpus-based studies of lesser-described languages : the CorpAfroAs corpus of spoken AfroAsiatic languages. Amina Mettouchi, Martine Vanhove, Dominique Caubet. Amsterdam, the Netherlands. 2015. pp. 237–238. ISBN   978-90-272-6889-1. OCLC   897946694.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: others (link)