| Grammar Notes: Translation: “Every person is a moon, and has a dark side which he/she never shows to anybody.” – Mark Twain, writer of books. Buli – every, each. A quantifier/determiner. It makes the following noun universal: *buli muntu* = every person. muntu – person. Noun class 1. The fuller noun is *omuntu*; here the initial *o-* is dropped after *buli*. Plural: *abantu*. mwezi – moon; also month. Noun class 3. The fuller noun is *omwezi*; here the initial *o-* is dropped because it is a predicate noun: “is a moon”. Plural: *emyezi*. era – and, also, then. A conjunction joining the two statements: “is a moon” and “has a dark side”. alina – he/she has. Verb form. Infinitive: *okuba na* (to have, literally “to be with”). Breakdown: *a-* = he/she, *-li-* = is, *na* = with, contracted to *alina*. oludda – side. Noun class 11. oluddugavu – black, dark. Adjective agreeing with *oludda* in class 11. Root: *-ddugavu*. lw’ – which, that. Relative particle for class 11, contraction of *lwe* before a vowel. It links *oludda* to the following verb. atalaga – he/she does not show. Verb. Infinitive: *okulaga* (to show). Breakdown: *a-* = he/she, *-ta-* = negative, *-laga* = show. With *lw’*, it means “which he/she does not show”. muntu – person. Same noun as above, here in the phrase *muntu yenna*. yenna – any, all. Emphatic quantifier agreeing with class 1. *muntu yenna* = any person, anybody. Mark Twain – proper name. omuwandiisi – writer, author. Noun class 1, from the verb *okuwandiika* (to write). Infinitive of source verb: *okuwandiika*. w’ebitabo – of books. *w’* = *wa* “of”, contracted before *e-*; *ebitabo* = books, plural of *ekitabo*. Together with *omuwandiisi*: writer of books = author. Grammar points Luganda often omits the simple copula “is/are” in equative sentences. *Buli muntu mwezi* literally stands as “every person moon”, meaning “every person is a moon”. Noun class agreement is central. *Oludda* is class 11, so its adjective is *oluddugavu* and its relative particle is *lw’*. The relative clause *lw’atalaga muntu yenna* agrees with *oludda*: “which he/she does not show to anybody”. Negation in the present is often marked by *-ta-* between the subject prefix and the verb stem: *a-ta-laga* = he/she does not show. Possession in Luganda commonly uses *na* “with”: *alina* is historically *a-li-na* “he/she is with”, hence “he/she has”. General grammar tip and related words Luganda is agglutinative: subject, negation, tense and relative meaning are packed into the verb. Related forms of *alina* include *nina* “I have”, *olina* “you have”, *alina* “he/she has”, *tulina* “we have”, *mulina* “you plural have”, *balina* “they have”, and *talina* “he/she does not have”. Other related words: *okulaga* “to show”, *okulabika* “to be visible/appear”, *okuwandiika* “to write”, *omuwandiisi* “writer”, *ekitabo* “book”, *ebitabo* “books”, *omwezi* “moon/month”, *emyezi* “moons/months”, *omuntu* “person”, *abantu* “people”, *obuntu* “humanity”, *buli* “every”, *yenna* “any/all”, *oludda* “side”, *oluddugavu* “black/dark”. |
