Mourning Songs of the Ngoni Plus Grammar Lessons

Ngoni Mourning Songs: Nangu Umthakathi (Here is a witch)

There are no real mourning songs of the Ngoni as singing and dancing were not part of the burial rites except at the death of a chief, though at subsequent funeral rites, some months later, it is customary to dance ingoma.

The one below I heard a woman sing at the burial of her grandmother, and she said her grandmother had taught it to her. - Margaret Read, 

Namuhla ngiyakuloya. Today, I shall bewitch

Nangu umthakathi. Here is the witch.

Wena wafa njani? You, how did you die?

Niyangihleka, hlekani, ngingodingayo mina. You are laughing at me, laugh. I am poor, I.

Ngithuma ubani? Whom do I send.

Lina niyathuma abantwana. You, you are sending children.

Ngindinda nginje ngithuma endlini. I wander about myself. I send to the house.

Ngiyandinda ngelidolo ngihamba ematsheni. I wander about on/with (my) knees. I go on the stones.

Ngingedwa ngithatha izigodo ngingedwa. I am alone, I carry branches, I alone.

Ha ! ngiyakhalela umntwana komama (umntakomama). Ha! I am crying for your child, mother.

Waza wangishiya phalubalala. She has gone and has left me in a lonely place.

Ngihlalela yena. Ngizothini? I stayed for her. What shall I say?

Ngoni Grammar Note:

Ngiyakuloya: I shall bewitch. This is made up of the following parts.

Nangu: Here is. For more on this ngoni demonstrative pronoun please visit learnngonilanguage.co.uk and search for pronouns.

Umthakathi : a witch.

Ngi-: Pronoun, I.

-yaku-: Ngoni future tense marker. Other future tense markers are -zaku-, zo, yo, etc.

-loya: bewitch, hypnotise etc.

ngingodingayo: I am poor/needy. Made up of the following parts:

Ngi- I

ngu+o> Ngo: Identifiying prefix, am. when u in ngu meets the o in odingayo (who needs) it becomes ngo.

(o)dingayo: who needs. -dinga is a verb stem that means, need, require.

Lina: you (plural). Ngoni and Ndebele say lina where the Zulu say nina.

Ngindinda: I wander. It is made of Ngi- for pronoun, I, and verb -ndinda, wander about, rove about aimlessly.

Ngingedwa: I am alone. Comprising of ngi- I and -ngedwa, adverb for alone, only, solely, by msyelf, on my own.

Ngithatha: I take. Comprises of Ngi- (I), thatha, verb for take, lay hold of, keep.

endlini: in/at/from the house. Locative of the noun indlu, house, hut.

ngelidolo: with knees. Comprises of nga + ilidolo. ilidolo is ngoni for knee. For use of nga- and na- please visit.

izigodo: short log of wood, tree stump. It can also mean strong hardy person, son in law (umkhwenyana).

Phalubalala: Not sure if this is a Nguni word. It could be a borrowed word.

NOTE FROM MODERATOR: I am not a grammarian by any stretch of the imagination so please let me know of any errors in this article or future articles. I just do this to feel the gap that will be filled in future by able-bodied individuals. In the meantime while waiting let's share what we can and learn our beautiful language. A culture without its own language is a dead culture. We need to reclaim our language to reclaim our culture.

Ngoni War Songs Plus Grammar

NGONI WAR SONG: UMNGONI UVELA ENZANSI

This is a war song where the Ngoni are boasting about their origins. Simple song. Unfortunately I only have the text and not the tune.

Uyezwa na? (Do your hear?)
Umngoni uvela enzansi. (The Ngoni comes from the south-east)
Uyezwa na? (Do you hear?)
Uyezwa na? zi (Do you hear zi)
Zi.

Alternative for line : Lo mngoni owaye enzansi. This Ngoni who was from south east

Grammar Notes:

Enzansi: can mean, downdward, on the lower side, down country, towards the coast but the Ngoni usually use it to mean Natal where they originally came from.

Uyezwa? : Do you hear, Ngoni Present continuous tense. From the root verb -zw-, hear/feel/smell/understand. This is part of the so called verbs "allergic" to -a- verbs because any "a" before them is replaced by "e". Therefore U+ya+zwa becomes uyezwa.

Lo : lo (this) is one of the ngoni demonstratives for class 1 nouns eg umfana, umuntu etc

Owaye: o (who) is the relative prefix for class 1 nouns but waye is one of the Ngoni verb auxiliaries from the verb ukuya, to go.

NGONI WAR SONG: ZEMUKA INKOMO MAGWALA-NDINI (There goes the Cattle you cowards)

This is a war song sung women, deriding the men to do great deeds. They would see herds of cattle being driven away hastily in villages passed on the march, and would sing this song to persuade the army to go after them.

I just found a 1911 Xhosa book with the same title as this song, Zemk'inkomo magwalandini Author: W B Rubusana; B B Mdledle Publisher: London : Butler & Tanner, 1911.

On the 1911 Xhosa book, I found the following on the internet: According to Satyo, based in the Department of Southern African Languages, the original Zemk' Inkomo magwalandini – its name means "There goes your heritage, you cowards" – signified the early start of an intellectual struggle against colonial authority.

Maybe it is high time we investigated the suggestion that Zwangendaba and his group were originally Xhosa before they moved to settle in Zululand. I suspect that the song below was originally Xhosa. I could be wrong. What do you our Nguni brothers from down south mzansi think?

Below is our Ngoni war song sang by Ngoni women. Enjoy!

Zemuka inkomo magwala-ndini (The cattle depart/leave/go away you cowards/ There goes the cattle, you cowards)

Naziya zemuka magwala-ndini (Those yonder; they depart, you cowards)

Inkomana zemuka na? zemuka magwala-ndini(small beasts go away? (they) go away you fools.)

Ubujaha buphelile na? zemuka hi ha o ho (Is your young manhood over)

Nihlala nemijingathi zemuka e he he (You are left with the carriers. They go away (depart))

Hayi nkomo zemuka na zemuka hi ho (No the cattle go away?, they go away hi ho)

Nilibele namabele, zemuka o ho ho5 ( "You are continually with african corn (Chewa, mawele). In other words "You have eyes only for the foodstuffs". Remember it is the ladies taunting the men for letting the cattle be taken away before their eyes.

Grammar Note

Zemuka : zi representing the inkomo (full form is izinkomo) plus ngoni verb emuka, depart, go away, desert, break allegiance; be absorbed ect. In this case the zemuka inkomo(izinkomo) is the cattle have run away/departed. Take note also of this phenomenon in bantu languages where the subject can follow the verb, so zemuka inkomo can also be inkomo zemuka with the same meaning.

Inkomo: This is one of the rare cases where the ngoni departs from using the full plural form izinkomo/zinkomo to shorten it to inkomo. The singular is inkomo but the plural even though it is spelt the same way is prounounced iinkomo with double i to differentiate from singular inkomo.

Naziya: Those yonder: For this and other ngoni pronouns please visit the link below.

Inkomana: small beast (cow, ox, bull). In this case it is not the singular inkomana but shortened form of izinkomana (small beasts).

Magwala-ndini: you are fools from amagwala, cowards and the singular is igwala.

ubujaha: young manhood, from the noun ijaha, young men.

buphelile: bu is the subject concord representing ubujaha and -phelile is a verb that stands for be completed, be done, be finished, have ended etc. Its present tense stem is phela, end, terminate, come to an end.

Nilibele: Ni (you plural) + libele (continually)

Namabele: na (with) (a)mabele african corn but amabele is also breasts depending on context.

Expressing Commands in Ngoni Language

Expressing Simple Commands in Ngoni

The simplest way to express a command in Ngoni language is to use just the plain verb stem. In other words the root plus a.

An Example would be

Verb Root + a

Hamb + a > Hamba! Go!
Ngen + a > Ngena! Enter!
Fund + a > Funda! Learn!
Thand + a> Thanda! Love!

When one or more people is being spoken to then one needs to add the suffix -ni at the end.

The pattern: Verb Root + a + ni

Examples:

VR + a + ni
Ngen+an+ni > Ngenani! Enter (all of you)
Hamb+a + ni> Hambani! Go (all of you)!
Khulum+a+ni> Khulumani! Speak (all of you)!
Fund + a+ni> Fundani! Learn (all of you)
Thand+a+ni> Thandani! Love (referring to more than one)

There are a few exceptions however especially for single syllable verb roots such as -dla (eat). In this case you add prefix yi to the verb root.

The pattern: Singular: Yi+Verb Root+a
             Plural :  Yi+Verb Root+a+ni

Examples:

Yi + VR + a 
Yi + dl + a > Yidla! Eat!

Plural
Yi + VR +a+ni
Yi + dl +a +ni> Yidlani! Eat! (plural)

Negative Commands.

There are two ways of expressing negative commands in Ngoni. The most common uses Yekela + infinitive form of the verb when speaking to one person and Yekelani + infinitive when speaking to more than one person.

Examples:

Speaking to one person:

Yekela ukuthanda! Do not love (one person)
Yekelani ukuthanda! Do not love (addressing more than one person)

Yekela ukungena! Do not enter! (to one person)
Yekelani ukungena! Do not enter! (addressing more than one person)

Another way of expressing the commands in the negative is using the following forms:

Mus'+uku + Verb Root + a (infinitive) when speaking to one person
Musani + uku + Verb Root + a when speaking to more than one person

Examples:

Mus' ukungena! Don't enter!
Musani ukungena! Don't enter! (to more than one person)
Mus' ukubanga umsindo! Don't make a noise!
Musani ukubanga umsindo! Don't make a noise!

Simple Commands with object concords

This when you want to say something like Help him, help them, assist them etc. To do this the pattern to follow is as follows:

Object Concord + Verb Root + e

Examples:

OC + VR + E
M + siz + e > Msize! Help him!
Ba+ siz +e > Basize! Help them!
Yi+thath+e> Yithathe! Take it (yi refers to a noun in class 9)

When speaking to more than one person being spoken to you add suffix -ni.

The pattern: Object Concord + Verb Root + e + ni
OC+VR + E + NI
Yi+thatha+e+ni> Yithatheni! Take it(all of you)!
M+siz+e+ni> Msizeni! Help her/him (all of you)
M+thand+e+ni> Mthandeni! Love him/her (all of you)

Negative Commands  with Object concords.

In this case you add the object just before the verb root

Pattern:  One person: Yekela + uku + OC+ Verb Root + a
More than one person:Yekelani + uku+ OC+ Verb Root +a

Examples: Yekela ukuyithatha! Don't take it! (yi representing class 9 nouns)
                   Yekelani ukuyithatha! Don't take it !(speaking to more than one person)

Another way is to use the mus' and musani where you add the object concord before the verb root as used in the Yekela and Yekelani examples above.

Examples:

Musani (u)kungihleka! Don't laugh at me!(addressing more than one person
Mus' (u)kungihleka! Don't laugh at me! (addressing one person)
Mus' ukuyithatha! Don't take it! (when addressing one person)
Musani ukuyithatha! Don't take it! (when addressing more than one person)
Mus' ukumthanda! Don't love him!
Musani ukumthanda! Don't love him

Ngoni Warriors 1895

Expressing The Past in Ngoni Language

The Present Perfect 

The present perfect denotes an action just completed, or one whose consequences still remain. Hence this form is frequently used in the formation of adjectives such as abantu abayonileyo (sinful people, literally people who have sinned.)

It is expressed by adding the suffix -ile to the root of the verb for the long form and -e for the short form. The short form is used when and object or an adverb follows the verb.

Below are a few verb stems to illustrate what happens.

Stem                          Long Form          Short form

-thuma  send              -thumile (sent     -thume  (sent)                                

-dla eat                        -dlile (eaten)       -dle (eaten

-wa fall                         -wile (fallen)       -we (fallen)

-na rain                         -nile (rained       -ne (rained)                

-ona sin,                       -onile (sinned)   -one (sinned)

Example

Baphuzile. They have drunk or they drank.

Baphuze amanzi. They drank water.

Ngimbonile. I saw him

Ngimbone izolo. I saw him yesterday.

Sihambile. We have left

Sihambe ngo-10.  We left at 10 oclock.

In summary here are the patterns for the present perfect:

Positive: long form: Subject concord + Verb Root + ile

               short form: Subject concord +  Verb Root+e

Negative: a + Subject concord + Root -anga

To show this in full below is a conjugation of the verb ukuthanda into the present perfect (long form).

Positive:

SC+Verb R+ ile

Ngi+thand +ile > Ngithandile. I have loved.

U  + thand+ ile > Uthandile. You have loved.

U + thand + ile > Uthandile. He has loved.

Si + thand+ ile > Sithandile. We have loved.

Ni+thand+ ile > Nithandile. You have loved.

Ba+thand+ile > Bathandile. They have loved.

Negative:

As you will notice below the negative of the present perfect is formed almost like the negative of the present tense except that it ends in -anga.

A + SC+ Verb R + anga

A + ngi+ thand + anga > Angithandanga. I have not loved./I did not love.

A + wu + thand + anga > Awuthandanga. You have not loved/You did not love.

A + ka + thand + anga > Akathandanga. He has not loved./He did not love.

A + si + thand + anga > Asithandanga. We have not loved./We did not love.

A + ni + thand + anga > Anithandanga. You have not loved/You did not love.

A + ba + thand + anga > Abathandanga. They have not loved./They did not love.

Before we close this part it is important to note some verbs that are slightly different from the norm.

The first one is the negative form of the verb -sho (say (so)). 

Akashongo he did not say (so)

Angishongo I did not say (so)

Past Indefinite/Remote Past Tense

This tense expresses what was formerly true, but is no longer so. In this it differs from the present perfect. It is usually used to refer to events that happened in the distant and fairly distant past usually from about six months back though this and the perfect usually overlaps in daily usage.

Examples of this tense are sentences like Waqala nini ukufunda isiNgoni. When did you start learning Ngoni.

To create this tense we follow the pattern below:

Positive: Subject Concord  + a + Root + a
Negative: a + Subject Concord + Root + anga

In the positive remote tense the -a- is a long -a- in pronunciation to differentiate from other -a-in the present tense. Please find below a table to show the changes that take place when the vowels of the subject concords combine with the  -a-.

Class            SC + a                    Remote Past Example
1st P.S.         Ngi +a > nga-         ngabona I saw.
1st pp           Si    +a > sa-           sabona We saw.
2nd p.s          u  + a> wa-            wabona You saw.
2nd p.p.        ni  + a>na-              nabona you saw.
um(u)-          u  + a> wa-             wabona she swa.
aba-              ba+ a> ba-               babona they saw.
um(u)-          u + a > wa               wabona it saw.
imi-               i + a > ya                 yabona they saw
i(li)-              li + a > la                  labona it saw
ama-             a  + a > a-                 abona they saw
isi-                si + a> sa                 sabona it saw.
izi-                zi + a> za                zabona they saw.
in-                 i + a > ya                yabona  he saw.
izin-              zi + a>za                 zadla they ate.
u(lu)-            lu + a > lwa             lwawa it fell
ubu-              bu + a> ba              bachitheka it spilled
uku-             ku + a > kwa            kwasha it burned

Below is the conjugation of the negative of the infinitive, ukuthanda, to love/like:

A+SC+Root+anga
A+ngi+thand+anga > angithandanga I did not love.
A+wu+thand+anga> Awuthandanga You did not love.
A+ka+thand+anga> Akathandanga  He did not love.
A + si+thand+anga > Asithandanga We did not love.
A + ni+thand+anga > Anithandanga You did not love
A + ba+than+anga> Abathandanga They did not love.

Expressing Was/Were in the Ngoni Language

To express sentences such as I was sick, he was asleep or they were in the city etc you use the stem be-

For most of the verbs the pattern to follow is shown below:

Positive:    Be + Subject Concord + Verb Root + a
 Negative: Be +  Subject Concord +nga + Verb Root +i

Examples before we go on could be the following:

Positive

Be + SC + VR + a
Be + ngi + gul   +a > Bengigula izolo. I was sick yesterday.

Negative:

Be + SC + nga + VR + i
Be + ngi + nga + gul +i > Bengingaguli izolo I was not sick yesterday

Below is the conjugation for the 1st 2nd and 3rd persons for the verb ukuthanda, whose root is thand:

Positive:

1st Person singular: Bengithanda. I was loving.
2nd Person singular: Ubuthanda You were loving
3rd Person singular: Ubethanda/Wabethanda. He was loving.
1st Person plural   :  Besithanda. We were loving.
2nd Person Plural : Benithanda You were loving.
3rd Person Plural : Bebethanda. They were loving

Negative:

1st Person singular: Bengingathandi. I was not loving
2nd Person singular: Ubungathandi. You were not loving.
3rd Person singular : Ubengathandi/Wabengathandi. He was not loving.
1st Person  plural   : Besingathandi. We were not loving.
2nd Person plural : Beningathandi. You were not loving.
3rd Person plural : Bebengathandi. They were not loving.

Below is the breakdown for 3rd person subject concords:

Class       Subject Concord   Examples
1/1a         ube-                       Ubegula She was sick.
                                              Ubengaguli. She was not sick.
2/2b         bebe-                     Bebekhuluma. They were speaking.
                                              Bebengakhulumi. They were not speaking.
3              bewu -                   Bewuhamba. It was leaving/going.
                                               Bewungahambi. It was not leaving/going.
4              beyi-                       Beyikhula  They ere growing.
                                               Beyingakhuli They were not growing.
5             beli-                        Belina It was raining
                                               Belingani. It was not raining.
6             abe-                         Abehamba. They were going.
                                              Abengahambi They were not going.
7              besi-                       Besikhala. It was crying.
                                               Besingakhali It was not crying.
8              bezi-                       Bezikhula They were growing.
                                               Bezingakhuli They were not growing.
9             beyi-                       Beyihleka It was laughing.
                                               Beyingahleki. It was not laughing.
10           bezi-                        Bezigula They were sick.
                                               Bezingaguli. They were not sick
11           belu-                        Belukhala. It was crying/complaining
                                               Belungakhali. It was not crying/complaining.
14          bebu-                       Bebufika It was arriving.
                                               Bebungafiki. It was not arriving.
15           beku-                      Bekusiza. It was helping
                                              Bekungasizi. It was not helping.

Below is a short video explaining some simple tenses.

Ngoni Future Tense

The future tense expresses an action that will take place at some time in the future.

There are different ways of presenting the Ngoni future tense:

Future (Immediate or emphatic)

One uses this to refer to a time immediately after the moment of speaking and emphasises that the even or action will happen very soon. 

1. The first way is marked by the use of the auxiliary "za" with the contracted infinitive of the principal verb where the first "u" is elided; thus, 'Ngizakuthanda,' I shall love, or I am going to love, or I am about to love, literally, I come to love.

Below is a formula to summarise this way of presenting the future:

Subject Concord + za + infinitive with the "u" elided

Thus ngizakuthanda was formalised as follows:

ngi+za+ukuthanda > ngi+za+kuthanda> ngizakuthanda.

2. Another way of expressing this is by using the shortened form which is common in isiZulu using the following formula:

Subject Concord + zo + verb stem

Ngi+zo+thanda > Ngizothanda I shall love.

Ngi+zo+khuluma>Ngizokhuluma noZuma, I shall/will speak with Zuma.

3. The negative in this form is formed by the following formula where the "za" changes to "zi":

a + Subject Concord + zi + infinitive with "u" elided

Example:

A + SC + zi + infinitive with "u" elided

a  +  ngi +zi+kuthanda > angizikuthanda, I will not love.    

One can also use the short form where the tense marker za becomes zu as per the following formula:

a + SC +zu+verb stem

Example:

a + SC + zu + verb stem

a + ngi +zu+ hamba > angizuhamba (I will not leave)

a + ngi + zu+ thanda> I will not love

When speaking to other Nguni groups I would urge you to avoid the long forms and go for the short forms, such as ngizohamba (I will leave) and angizuhamba (I will not leave)

       

Future Indefinite Using ya

The future indefinite is used to refer to future actions that will take place some time in future.

1. The first variety, affirmative, is marked by the use of the auxiliary ya with the infinitive of the principal verb, the initial "u" of the infinitive sign (uku) being elided ; thus,

Subject Concord +ya+Infinitive with "u" elided.

Example: Ngiyakuthanda,' I shall love, literally, I go to love. This is created by from the following parts:

Ngi +ya+kuthanda (ukuthanda, to love, with "u" elided) > Ngiyakuthanda. This form used to be common in old isiZulu which has now resorted to only using shortened forms such as ngiyothanda which ngoni also uses rarely besides the the full forms.

If you have ever sang or read old ngoni songs and praise poems you will agree with me that the full forms are used more frequently than the shorter terms. 

To illustrate my point below is an excerpt of hymn no 32 from Izingoma zobukhristu (Christian Songs) which is used extensively at funerals in northern Malawi.

Liyakhala ilizwi leNkosi yezulu (The voice of the king of heaven is calling. Literally, It is calling the voice of the king of heaven)

Liyabiza abantu abayonileyo (It is calling the people who have sinned)

Bayakuphumula phezulu (They will rest above (in heaven))

As you can see bayakuphumula does not mean they will rest you but they will rest. The ku in bayakuphumula is not standing for you as is normally the case but is part of the infinitive ukuphumula to rest where the first vowel has been elided.

2. One can also use the short form which follows the formula below:

Subject Concord + yo + verb stem

Example:

SC+yo+verb stem

I + yo  + thenga > iyothenga as in Indoda yami iyothenga inyama. My man will buy the meat.

Ngi+yo+thanda > Ngiyothanda, I shall love.

3. The negative is formed by changing the final vowel of the auxiliary ya from a to i, and using the negative a before the pronoun nominative, for direct negation; and the negative nga after the pronoun nominative, for indirect or accessory negation; thus,

'Angiyikuthanda,' I shall not love; 'ngingayikuthanda,' (that) I shall not love"

Another negative form is the shortened form which is common in modern isiZulu. To form the negative, the negativiser "a"-occurs, and the tense markers become zu/yu.

a + SC + yu-verb stem

a + si + yu + fa > asiyufa (we will not die)

a + ngi+yu+hamba > I will not leave.

Lastly but not least as is typical in most bantu languages there is a further shortened form. In this case a number of contractions occur resulting in the following:

Si + za + ukusebenza We shall work

Si + zo + kusebenza (a+u > o, coalescence)

Sizosebenza (-ku- deletion)

Sosebenza (-i + z- Deletion) 

Sosebenza kakhulu kusasa ntambama Will work hard tomorrow afternoon.

A similar process also takes place with the -ya- with the same results.

To put in simple terms below is the formula that you can use for this shortened form.

Positive: Subject concord without the last vowel + o + Verb stem

Example:

SC + O + Verb stem

S   + o   + suka  > Sosuka, we will leave

Ng + o  + phakamisa > ngophakamisa, I will elevate.

S   + o  + sebenza > We shall work

Ng + o + tshala umumbu > Ngotshala, I will plant maize.

Because of the extreme contractions this form the distinction between -za- and -ya- cannot be made. Therefore the above forms can be used for both the -za- and -ya-. Thus ngotshala umumbu can stand for both ngizotshala umumbu and Ngiyotshala umumbu.

I suspect that in future this is the shortened forms that will dominate even in Ngoni as more and more people learn Zulu to understand Ngoni language.

Future Progressive

The future progressive tense indicates continuing action. It is created by the future of tense of the infinitive of the auxiliary verb, ukuba (to be), plus the present tense of the verb that you want to conjugate.

Below is the pattern for the conjugation of the verb ukuba (to be) which is used in the forming of this tense.

Subject Concord +ya+Infinitive with "u" elided.

Below are the conjugations for the verb ukuthanda, to love.

Positive:

SC+ya+Infinitive
Ngi+ya+kuba > Ngiyakuba ngithanda. I shall be loving.
U+ya+kuba > Uyakuba uthanda. I shall be loving.
Wa+ya+kuba> Wayakuba ethanda. He shall be loving (Note the use wa and e in the main verb).
Si+ya+kuba> Siyakuba sithanda. We shall be loving.
Ni+ya+kuba> Niyakuba nithanda. You shall be loving.
Ba+ya+kuba>Bayakuba bethanda. They shall be loving.

Negative.

A + SC + Yi + infinitive with "u" elided

a + SC + yi + Inf
A+ngi+yi +kuba> Angiyikuba ngithanda. I will not be loving
A+ku+yi+kuba > Akuyikuba uthanda You will not be loving.
A+ka+yi+kuba> Akayikuba ethanda. He will not be loving.
A+si+yi+kuba> Asiyikuba sithanda. We will not be loving.
A+ni+yi+kuba> Aniyikuba nithanda. You may not be loving.
A+ba+yi+kuba>Abayikuba bethanda. They will not be loving.

Future Perfect

The future perfect tense refers to a completed action in the future.

The future perfect is created by conjugating the auxilliary verb, ukuba, into the future tense and combining it with the present perfect tense of the verb that you want to use.

Below are the conjugations of the verb, ukuthanda into the future perfect starting with positive forms followed by the negative forms.

Present:

SC+ya+Infinitive
Ngi+ya+kuba>Ngiyakuba ngithandile. I shall have loved.
U+ ya+kuba> Uyakuba uthandile. You shall have loved
Wa+ya+kuba>Wayakuba ethandile. He shall have loved.
Si+ya+kuba>Siyakuba Sithandile. We shall have loved.
Ni+ya+kuba>Niyakuba Nithandile. You shall have loved.
Ba+ya+kuba>Bayakuba bathandile. They shall have loved.

Negative:

a + SC + yi + Inf
A+ngi+yi+kuba > Angiyikuba ngithandile. I will not have loved.
A+ku+yi+kuba > Akuyikuba uthandile. You will not have loved.
A+ka+yi+kuba > Akayikuba ethandile. He will not have loved.
A+si+yi+kuba > Asiyikuba sithandile. We will not have loved.
A+ni+yi+kuba > Aniyikuba nithandile. We will not have loved.
A+ba+yi+kuba > Abayikuba bethandile. They will not have loved.

Ngoni Dance 1895