KITUBA
BASIC COURSE
This work was compiled ond pub-
lished with the support of the Office
‘of Education, Department of Health,
Education and Welfare, United Stotes
‘of America.
L.B. SWIFT E.W.A. ZOLA
FOREIGN SERVICE INSTITUTE
WASHINGTON, D.C.
1963
DEPARTMENT OF STATEKITUBA
FOREIGN SERVICE INSTITUTE
BASIC COURSE SERIES
Edited by
CARLETON T. HODGE
For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Once
“Washington, D.C, 20402 ~ Price $225BASIC COURSE
PREFACE
Kituba, also known as Kikongo ya Leta and Munukutuba, is @ vehicular or trade lan-
‘guage spoken along the lower reaches of the Congo and its tributaries. There are no full-
scale grammars or dictionaries in this seldom-studied language, and only a very few schol
arly sketches of it are available. The present brief introduction to the essentials of this
language is designed for study with Kituba-speaking instructors under professional super=
vision. Gifted students may be able to make some progress using the text and accompa-
ying topes alone.
The text is one ofa series of short Basic Courses in selected African Languages being
Prepared by the Foreign Service Institute underan agreement with the United States Office
of Education, Department of Health, Education and Welfare, under the National Defense
Education Act.
The linguist in charge of developing the Kituba text has been Lloyd B. Swift, Acting
Head of the Department of Near East and African Languages, assisted by Mr. Emile W. A.
Zola. The text was prepared and class tested as partofthe Special A rican Language Pro-
gram of which Earl W. Stevick is coordinator. The tapes were recorded in the laboratory
of the Foreign Service Institute under the direction of Gabriel Cordova.
ffl
Howard E. Sollenberger, Dean
School of Language and Area Studies
Foreign Service Institute
Department of State
aiKITUBA
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PREFACE
INTRODUCTION x
PRIMER 1-225
Unit 1 Dialogue: Looking for Work 1
Drill 1.1 - variation Drills 4
Drill 1.2 - Vocabulary Supplement 6
Grammar Notes and Drills 7-21
Note 1.1 - Singular and Plural Noun Classes
(Reference Note) T
Note 1.2 - Verbs (Reference Note) 12
Note 1,3 - Word Accent 13
Note 1.4 - The Intonation of 'Yes and No!
Questions 15
Note 1.5 - Long and Short Forms of Certain words 15
Note 1.6 - The Pronunciation of Nasal Compounds 16
Drill 1,3 - Pronunciation Drill on Nasal Compounds 17
Note'1.7 - Certain Subtle Distinctions Between
Initial /n/'s (Reference Note) al
Unit 2 Dialogue: Greetings and Salutations 22
prill 2.1 - variation Drills 24
Drill 2.2 - Vocabulary Supplement 29
Drill 2.3 - Substitution Drills Incorporating
Supplemental Vocabulary 30
Grammar Notes and Drills 31-39
Note 2.1 /ke/ + /na/ + /ku-/ + Verb: Present
Action 31
Note 2.2'- The Use of the /ku-/ Prefix on Verbal
forms: The Infinitive (Reference Note) 32
Note 2.3 /ke/ + Verb: Potential or Future Action 32
Note 2.4 - The Simple Form of the Verb (without
auxiliary) 33
Note 2.5 - Vowel Changes at Word Boundaries
(Reference Note) 33
Note 2.6 - The Conjunction /n&/ ‘and! 34
Drill 2.4 - Grammar Drills /ke/ + /na/ + verb 35
Drill 2.5 - Grammar Drills /ke/ + Verb 36
Unit 3 Dialogue: Introducing oneself 4o
Drill 3.1 ~ Vocabulary Supplement da
Drill 3.2 ~ Variation Drills 43
ivBASIC COURSE
Grammar Notes and Drills 48-60
Note 3.1 - /na/ and /ya/ as Relative Particles 48
Drill 3.3 - Grammar Drills on /ya/ and /na/ 51
unit 4 Dialogue: Family 61
Drill 4,1 - Vocabulary Supplement 63
Grammar Notes and Drills 65-76
Note 4.1 - /me/ + Verb: Immediate Past 65
Drill 4.2 - Grammar Drills /me/ + Verb 66
Note 4.2 - The Concept of Possession: /ke/ + /na/ +
Noun 68
Drill 4.3 - Grammar Drills /ke/ + /na/ + Noun 69
Note 4,3 ~ The Negative /ve/ nm
Drill 4,4 - Grammar Drills - The Negative 72
Note 44.4 - The J-BA Noun Class 2
Drill 4.5 - Grammar Drills - The g-BA Noun Class B
Note 4.5 - The Verb /kuvwanda/ 'to be! 75
Note 4,6 - Various Uses of /mosi/ (Reference Note) 75
Unit 5 Dialogue: Buying and Selling vad
Drill 5.1 - Vocabulary Supplement 80
Grammar Notes and Drills 81-96
Note 5.1 The Verb Extension /.il-/,in-/ ‘to,
for, on behalf of! 81
Note 5.2 - Shift of /1/ to /d/ before /i/ 82
Drill 5.2 - Grammar Drill - verb Extension /.il-/.in-/ 83
Note 5.3 - The MU-BA and N-BA Noun Classes Ba
Note 5.] - The DI-MA Noun Class 85
Drill 5.3 - Grammar Drills Illustrating the MU-BA,
N-BA and DI-MA Noun Classes 85
Note 5.5 - Other Noun Classes 93
Drill 5.4 - Drills with Mixed Noun Classes oh
Unit 6 Dialogue: A Call 97
Drill 6.1 - Vocabulary Supplement 99
Drill 6.2 - variation prills 100
Grammar Notes and Drills 109-126
Note 6.1 - The Polite Imperative with /nge/ 109
Drill 6,3 - The Polite Imperative 110
Note 6,2 - The Impersonal Expression /ikele/ 111
Drill 6.4 - /ikele/ 11
Note 6,3 - The Verbal Extension /,ak-/ 'Past!'
and ‘Habitual’ 112
Note 6.4 - Summary of 'Past' Forms of Kituba
Verbs (Reference Note) shiKITUBA
———
Drill 6.5 - Grammar Drills on Verbal Extension
/.2ak-/ *Past" 4
Drill 6,6 - Grammar Drills with Verbal Extension
/.ak-/ after /ke/ - ‘Habitual’ 121
Drill 6,7 - Grammar Drills - /me/ + Verb + /,ak-/
"intermediate Past! 126
Unit 7 Dialogue: Asking Directions 127
Drill 7.1 - Supplementary Vocabulary 129
Drill 7.2 - Variation Drills 133
Grammar Notes and Drills 145-157
Note 7.1 - Some Uses of the Simple Form of the
verb 145
Drill 7.3 - Grammar Drill on Use of the Simple Form
of the Verb in the Second Clause 148
Note 7.2 - Adjectival Phrase with /ya/ + Infinitive
(x) 149
Drill 7.4 - Grammar Drill on adjectival Phrase with
/ya/ + Verb oe
Drill 7.5 - Review Drills 152
Unit 8 Dialogue: Help in the Home 158
Drill 8,1 - Supplementary Vocabulary 163
Drill 8.2 - Variation Drills on Pattern Sentences 164.
Grammar Notes and Drills 174-185
Note 8.1 - Some Verb Extensions 174
1. 'Reflexive' Prefix /ki-/ with and without
extension /,il-/.in-/ 174
2, The 'Applicative' extension, /,il-/.in-/
used to express ‘instrument’ etc, 175
Note 8.2 /kuzola/ kuzona/ as an auxiliary verb 177
Drill 8,3 Grammar Drills on Verbal Extensions 178
Unit 9 Dialogue: A Week's activity 186
Grammar Notes and Drills 193-214
Note 9.1 - /vwandaka/ + Verb 193
Drill 9.1 - Grammar Drills: /vwandaka/ + Verb
Note 9.2 - /ya/ + Verb - Adjectival use of
the verb (II) 197
Drill 9.2 - Grammar Drill /-ya/ + Verb 198
Note 9.3 - The Days of the Week - Ordinal Numerals 202
Drill 9.3 - Grammar Drill - Ordinal Numerals 203
Note 9./| - Some Further Verbal Extensions 20h
Drill 9.4 - Grammar Drills on Verbal Extensions 208
Drill 9.5 - Controlled Dialogue Drill al
viBASIC COURSE
Unit 10 Dialogue: A Fable
Grammar Notes and Drills
Note 10,1 - The Extension /,am-/ 'Passive'
Drill 10.1 - Grammar Drill on the Extension /,am-/
Note 10.2 - The Extension /,an-/ 'Reciprocal',
/.asan-/ ‘continuous reciprocal'
Drill 10,2 - Grammar Drill on /,an-/ and /,asan-
GROUP A: VISITING FRIENDS AND RELATIVES
(Home, Family and Work)
Unit 11 Dialogue: A Family
Note 11.1 Kinship Terminology
Supplementary Vocabulary
Narrative
Unit 12 Dialogue: A Wedding Invitation
Note 12.1 - Indirect Discourse following /ke/ 'that'
Narrative
Unit 13 Dialogue: A Visit to a Congolese Home
Narrative
Unit 14 Dialogue: ‘Talk About the House
Narrative
Unit 15 Dialogue: To Buy or to Rent
Narrative
Unit 16 Dialogue: In the Kitchen
Narrative
Unit 17 Dialogue: Dinner is Served
Narrative
Unit 18 Dialogue: Table Talk
Narrative
Unit 19 Dialogue: The End of the Evening
Narrative
GROUP B: MONEY, COUNTING AND BARGAINING
Unit 20 Dialogue: Buying Clothes
Narrative
vii
are
220-225
220
221
222
223
226-287
226
229
229
232
233
239
ali
eho
any
248
255
257
262
264
268
270
eT
276
281
282
286
288-313
288
293KITUBA
Unit 21 Dialogue: Getting Some Curios 295
Narrative 303
Unit 22 Dialogue: Talking Shop 305
Narrative 312
GROUP C: GETTING ABOUT: DIRECTIONS, GEOGRAPHY AND
CAR TROUBLES 314-347
Unit 23 Dialogue: Directions in Town 314
Narrative 319
Unit 24 Dialogue: on the Train 321
Narrative 329
Unit 25 Dialogue: Getting Set for a Car Trip 331
Narrative 338
Unit 26 Dialogue: Advice for the Road 340
Narrative 346
GROUP D: HOME MANAGEMENT AND CHILD CARE 348-391
Unit 27 Dialogue: Locking for Servants 348
Narrative 355
Unit 28 Dialogue: an Interview 357
Narrative 363
Unit 29 Dialogue: All in the Day's Work 365
Narrative yal
Unit 30 Dialogue: Child Care 373
Narrative 361
Unit 31 Dialogue: Cooking Instruction 383
Narrative 390
GROUP E: LEARNING MORE OF THE LANGUAGE 392-417
Unit 32 Dialogue: An Informal Language Lesson 392
Narrative 397
Unit 33 Dialogue: A Health Lesson from the Radio 399
Narrative 405