Grammar: Present Tense and Imperative

For the present tense of verbs, the verb stem is used. If the personal pronoun follows the verb (which is the case for the first person inseparable pronoun), an a- or e- prefix is attached to the verb stem in line with the vowel harmony, i.e. an a- prefix for verb stems with an a, ï, ö or ü vowel; an e- prefix for verb stems with an i, e, o or u vowel:

bi	live (verb stem)	chï	carry (something in the hand) (verb stem)
ebi m	I live	achï m	I carry

This prefix falls away with the other pronouns. The second and third person inseparable pronouns harmonise with the verb stems:

i bi	you live	ï chï	you carry
o bi	he lives	ö chï	he carries

Separable pronouns do not require harmonisation:

anyï bi	we live	anyï chï	we carry
unu bi	you (pl.) live	unu chï	you carry
ha bi	they live	ha chï	they carry
mü na gï bi	me and you live	mü na gï chï	me and you carry

Other example:

bü	be (verb stem)
abü m Mike	I am Mike
ï bü emeka	you are Emeka
ö bü emeka	he is Emeka
anyï bü Mike na Emeka	we are Mike and Emeka
unu bu Mike na Emeka	you are Mike and Emeka
ha bü Mike na Emeka	they are Mike and Emeka

The negative present tense is formed by harmonising the verb stem with the harmonising prefix a or e and suffix ghi or ghï in the following manner:

abüghï m Nick	I am not Nick
aha m bü Michael; aha m abüghï Nick	my name is Michael; my name is not Nick.
anyï chï anü	we carry meat
unu akwöghï anyï	you do not carry us
ebi m na Achara Layout	I live in Achara Layout
ebighi m na GRA	I do not live in GRA

The imperative uses the verb stem without any prefix:

nye	give
gwa	tell

The imperative can be followed by a noun or pronoun:

nye m ego	give me money
gwa m	tell me
kwuo ya	say it
züö akwa	buy a cloth
unu zaa ala	you (pl.) sweep the floor
ka ha gaa	let them leave
ka anyi laa	let us go (home)
ka anyi gaa	let us leave

The negative imperative is formed with the prefix e- or a- and suffix –ne or –la, both harmonising with the verb stem:

erine	do not eat
azala	do not sweep
unu azala	you do not sweep the floor

 

Grammar: Numerals

otu	1
abüö	2
atö	3
anö	4
ise	5
isii	6
asaa	7
asatö	8
itolu	9
iri	10
iri na otu	11
iri na atö	13
iri abüö	20
iri abüö na otu	21
iri atö	30
iri atö na otu	31
iri asatö	80
iri itolu	90
narï	100
narï abüö	200
puku	1,000
puku atö na iri abüö na iri	3,210
nde	1,000,000
ijeri	1,000,000,000
ökara	half

Only otu and ökara precede the noun; the other numbers follow the noun:

otu ülö	one house
ülö ise	five houses
otu naira	one naira
naira abüö	two naira
ökara naira	half a naira

Note that the noun does not change if it is in plural.

The ordinal numbers are as follows:

mbü	first
nke abüö	second
nke atö	third
nke anö	fourth

Examples:

ülö mbu	the first house
ülö nke abüö	the second house
abü m mbu	I am first