Beyond Time - Linguistics - University of California, Berkeley

An identical construction with -saka ‘want’ instead of -ti is also used with the same
meaning.
These construction is apparently only used for situations that nearly obtained in the past
(ZT2009Elic66) and nditi followed by a subjunctive is deemed ungrammatical. Speakers tend
to use adverbials such as ‘soon’ or ‘close to’, or discourse markers se- or nde- to indicate
that situations are (or will be) on the point of obtaining.
7.5.3 Not yet
‘Not yet’ is expressed with a negative auxiliary with what appears to be -ina ‘be (located),
have’, 21 followed by an infinitive, as in (509).
(509) tàndínì kúkàlìsà
ta-ndi-ini ku-kalis-a
neg-1sg-have.neg inf-begin-fv
‘I haven’t started (yet)’ (ZT2009Elic32)
A pluperfect form of this construction is also available, using prehodiernal imperfective
ka-, shown in (510).
(510) takandini kuyenda
ta-ka-ndi-ini
ku-yend-a
neg-prehod.ipfv-1sg-have.neg inf-walk-fv
‘I hadn’t walked’ (ZT2007Elic56)
7.5.4 Adverbial bu-
Class 14 bu-, used mostly with abstract nouns, also creates adverbial verbs describing a
manner or repeated action. Verbs nominalized with augmentless bu- surface with penultimate
H. These forms are preceded by a verb form with -ya ‘go’. Although some sort of
motion is typically implied, the adverbial does not necessarily describe the manner of the
motion, but rather a repeated or characteristic activity. The -ya form sometimes surfaces
without an initial glide, as in (511).Examples (511)-(513) are taken from narratives, where
the construction frequently appears.
(511) bà(y)á bùyîmbà
ba-(i)-a bu-yimb-a
2pl.cmpl-go-fv cl14-sing-fv
‘they went singing’ (ZT2009NarrA15.VB.62, Kañandu)
21 In negation of possession, the final vowel is -a and no H tone surfaces, e.g. tàndìnà ‘I don’t have’.
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