Shona: Basic Course

SHONA
BASIC COURSE
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SHONA BASIC COURSE
PREFACE
Shona is one of the two principal languages

of Rhodesia, and extends also into adjacent areas
of Mdzambique. It consists of a number of dialects,
but a standardized form of the language, based on
the Zezuru, Manyika, and Korekore dialects, is gen-
erally used in printed materials. These dialects
differ from one another in pronunciation (including
tones) and in vocabulary, but they are in general
agreement with respect to the underlying grammatical
system. One feature of this book is the attempt to
represent simultaneously in the transcription sever-
al different pronunciations, in tone as well as in
vowels and consonants.
The present volume is one of a series of short
Basic Courses in selected African languages, prepar-
ed by the Foreign Service Institute, under an agree-
ment with the Office of Education, Department of
Health, Education, and Welfare, under provisions of
the National Defense Education Act. It is intended
to give the student a start in Shona, providing him
with dialogues that relate to some of the situations
in which he is likely to use the language, as well
as with systematic practice on all major points of
grammar. Emphasis is placed on leading the student
to assume increasing amounts of responsibility and
initiative as he progresses through the book.
The linguist in charge of this project has been
Earl W. Stevick. Shona texts, exercises, and tape
voicings were furnished by Mr. and Mrs. Matthew
Mataranyika. The tape recordings which accompany
this course were prepared in the language laboratory
of the Foreign Service Institute under the direction
of Gabriel Cordova.
Howard E. SOllenberger,~
School of Language and Area Studies
Foreign Service Institute
Department of State
iii

SHONA BASIC COURSE UNIT 1
UNIT 1
BASIC DIALOGUE In this dialogue, a married man (Role A) and

a married woman (Role B) exchange perfunctory greetings. The
time is morning.
A procedure for use with each new basic dialogue.
1. The student should not look at the dialogue until

after he has learned to pronounce it very well. He should
not even glance at it briefly. If he looks at it too soon, he
I I
will almost certainly hear -- or think he hears--the sounds
for which the letters stand in English or in some other Euro-
pean language. If he waits until after he has learned to
pronounce the Shona, he will have given his ear an opportunity
to hear the sounds as they are really pronounced by his tutor.
2. Listening to the dialogue.
The tutor should begin by reading the entire dia-

logue aloud two or three times. The student should listen
carefully, without trying to repeat. The tutor should speak
at all times at a normal conversational speed. He should avoid
speaking more slowly or more distinctly than he would ever speak
with other persons for whom Shona is the mother tongue.
3. Learning to repeat the sentences after the instructor.
The tutor should say the first sentence at normal

speed, and let the students imitate him. If their imitation is
completely correct, he should than go on to the next sentence.
a. If the sentence seems to be too long, the tutor

should pronounce one small part of it, then a slightly longer
part, and finally the entire sentence. For example, the sen-
tence /varara zvavo zvakanaka/ might be built up as follows:
varara
varara zvavo
varara zvavo zvakanaka

UNIT 1 SHONA BASIC COURSE
The sentence /varara se~yi vapwere/ might be built up as

follows:
se~yl
varara se~yi
varara se~yi vapwere

b. If a student still makes a mistake in pronuncia-
tion, the tutor should correct him by repeating correctly the
word that the student mispronounced. So, for example.
Tutor: Ndarara' zvangu.
Students Ndarara' zhangu. [a mistake]
Tutor. Zvangu.
Student: Zvangu.
~ /\ ~
Tutors Ndarara zvangu.

Student: Ndarara zvangu.
All the sentences in the dialogue should be treated in this way.
4. Learning the meanings of the sentences.
Up to this point, the student has not been told the
meanings of the sentences he is practicing. If he is told the
meanings too soon, he will have a very strong tendency to use
English intonations on the sentences.
Now the tutor should say the first sentence, and have
the students repeat it after him. Then he should give the equi-
valent English sentence, and the students should reply with
the Shona sentence. If the students make any mistakes at all,
the tutor should say the Shona sentence again and have them
repeat it after him.
Each sentence should be treated in this way, until

the students can give the Shona sentences promptly and without
error.
5. Reading aloud.
Now, for the first time, students should open their

books and read aloud after the tutor. When they can do this
easily, they may practice reading aloud independently.
6. Memorizing the dialogue.
students' books should again be closed. The tutor

should assume one of the roles in the dialogue, and have the
students take the other role. Then he should take the second
role and have the students take the first. Finally, the stu-
dents should take both roles. This kind of practice should
continue until each student is able to take either role in the
dialogue without having to look at it.
A
[ -
Mangwananl mal.
"' ]
Good morning (madam).
[ - -- ]
B Mangwananl baba. Good morning (sir).
[ - - ]
A M\jarara here? [How] did you sleep?
[
B Ndarara zvangu. (! slept) [fine].
[-:: --]
B Varara se~yi vapwere? How did the children
sleep?
A They slept well.
In the English equivalents for Shona expre~sions in this

course, use is made of [ ], ( ), and ( ). Square
brackets [ ] enclose English words which have no counterpart
in the Shona, but which are needed in order to make a
translation into idiomatic English. Parentheses ( ) enclose
words which are English counterparts of something in the Shona
sentence, but which would not ordinarily be used in the English
equivalent. Parentheses with single quotes are used to indicate
a literal English version of a sentence.
3
1. A note on syllable accent in Shona.
In the sentences I of the basic dialogue, certain syllables

will strike the student s ear as being more prominent than
others. Some of the differences in prominence will prove to be
due to differences in musical pitch. Pitch differences will
be discussed in later notes. Some of the relative prominence
of syllables, however, is due to physical characteristics other
than pitch. Compare the sentences:
Mwarara here?
•
Ndarara zvangu.
If one ignores the pitches of the syllables, one will

still find a kind of prominence which is associated with the
syllable /he/ in the first sentence and with /zva/ in the
second. As far as pitch is concerned, /he/ is relatively low,
while /zva/ is relatively high. What the two syllables have
in common, then, is not pitch. It is rather a combination
of extra force of articulation and extra duration. This kind
of prominence will be called 'accent. t The accent generally
falls on the next to last syllable before a pause. In some
styles of speech, the physical realization of accent is a
quite noticeable prolongation of the vowel of the syllable.
The student should notice whether this is true of his own tutor.
2. A note on tones and on ways of representing them in writing.
The third and fourth sentences in the dialogue are alike

in that each has five syllables, and that the next to last syl-
lable of each is accented. They differ however in their pitch
patterns:
[ - - ]
M~arara here?
[ - ]
Ndarara zvangu.
Pitch differences of this kind are of great importance

in Shona. Sometimes, pitch is the only audible difference be-
tween two words of entirely different meanings:

[ - -]
nhanga tpumpkin t
[ - - ]
nhanga tyard!
[ - - -]
kuchera Ito dig l
[- - - ]
kuchera Ito draw [water] t
Even more important, and more complicated, is the part which

tone plays in determining the grammatical function of words in
sentences:
[- -]
munda tfield l
[- -]
munda tit is a field t
[ -- -]
vaenda 1they went!
[ - - - ]
vaenda t[those] who went!
[ - - -]
vaenda tthey having gone,
when they have gone t
It will be noted that three or four different pitch

levels are indicated, even in the short sentences which have
been used in the above examples. Longer sentences would be
found to have even more different levels. All of the levels may
be summarized in terms of two entities, which will be called
Itones. 1 The names of the two tones are thigh t and tlow t • The
tones are defined primarily in terms of their relative musical
pitches, but they also differ from one another in voice quality,
and also in loudness.
Any syllable is said to have high tone if it has no-

ticeably higher pitch than an adjacent syllable. The syllables
with high tone are marked with an acute accent:
5

[ I' I'
- ]
Ndarara zvangu.
A syllable is also said to have high tone if it has

the same pitch as an adjacent high tone. An example is the
last syllable of:
, I'
vapwere
A syllable that does not have high tone is said to have

low tone. A low toned syllable may be indicated either by a
grave accent mark, or by the absence of any accent mark over
the vowel:
, I' I' , ,
vapwere or vapwere
The student will have noted that acute and grave accents
are not the only marks which appear over the vowels in the basic
dialogue. The reason is that, although all speakers of Shona
use high and low tones, they do not all agree in the tone to be
assigned to each syllable. Variations in use of the tones con-
stitute one of the most interesting set of differences among
the Shona dialects.
In a course of this kind, it would be impossible to

represent all of the tonal patterns that may be heard in various
parts of Mashonaland. In order to increase the usefulness of
the book, however, an attempt has been made to show at least
two major systems of tone use. One of these is characteristic
of a relatively central area, while the other is more typical
of eastern practice.
In interpreting the marks v and A , the student should

imagine a line running vertically through the center of the
symboli

If the tutor is from the eastern area, he is likely to use

the tone indicated by the right-hand half of each of these
symbols (respectively high and low). If he is from the more
central part of the country, he is likely to pronounce the
tones indicated by the left half of each symbol (respec-
tively low and high). Thus, the word /varara/ would be pro-
nounced /varara/ farther west, and /varara/ farther east.
The word /nechlpo/ rand a gift f would be /nechlpo/ or
/nechlpo/.
To put the same matter in another way, students working

with eastern tutors will , find that there are two different
symbols for high tone: and v j and that there are two symbols
for low tone: '(or absence of tone mark) and A . Students
whose tutors come from farther west ,
willA also find two symbols
for high tone, but these will be and , while the symbols
for low tone will be '(or absence of tone mark) and v.
In a few words, tonal variation is known to exist, but

for some reason cannot be reliably referred to the rough east-
west dichotomy. Such syllables are marked with the symbol *
The line dividing the area where the pronunciation

/varara/ is used from the area where /varara/ is used does not
coincide exactly with the line that separates /nechlpo/ from
' , '/
/ nechipo. So these double markings (V and A) for tone must
be used with caution, the student noting in every instance what
his own tutor says. It is thought, however, that this system
of tone writing will be usable with only small modifications
with a very large number of Shona speakers.
3. A note on the representation of dialect variation in

vowels and consonants.
To a large extent, the vowels and consonants remain

constant throughout the Shona area, but there are a few excep-
tions. Thus, the word that means iyou (pl.) sleptt is pro-
nounced /mwarara/ in some places and /marara/ in others. The
fact that the sound for which /w/ stands is omitted by some
speakers is symbolized by placing a t under the letter: mwarara.
,
Another variation in the use of consonants may be illus-

trated by the word /varara/ rthey sleptt. In Manyika, this
word is pronounced exactly like /warara/ the sleptt. The
7
VNIT 1 SHONA BASIC COURSE
letter /v/ (when not adjacent to another consonant letter)

stands for the same sound as /w/ in Manyika. In other dialects,
Iv/ stands for a sound which is absent from Manyika. The
phonetic nature of this sound will be discussed in a later note.
A third kind of dialect variation is illustrated by the

word /nomwana/ land a child.! In some areas, including Manyika,
the pronunciation is /nemwana/. The fact that two different
vowels (or consonants) may be used is symbolized by placing
a ~ under the letter: nQmwana.
4. A note on velarized consonants.
The student should listen again to the words /mangwanani/,

/mwarara/ (if pronounced with the /w/), and /vapwere/. The
sounds represented by /ngw/, /mw/, and /pw/ are like the sounds
written /ng/, /m/, and /p/ except that there is an extra element
which may be called tvelarization. t The precise phonetic value
of velarization depends on the consonant which it accompanies.
Thus, in /ngw/ it is pretty much what one might call a

Iw sound t • In /pw/, it may sound like a /k/ or a scraping
sound (a voiceless velar fricative). In /mw/ it may sound like
the last sound in English tsong l , or like a w-sound, or it may
even include a slight tsmacking l of the lips. In general,
velarization consists of some kind of backing and raising of the
tongue toward the soft palate (velum), with or without resul-
tant stoppage or friction. The letter w written after another
consonant letter is the symbol for velarization.
5. A note on the pronunciation of /v/.
When the letter v is not adjacent to some other conso-

nant letter, it may stand for any of three sounds, depending
on dialect.
In a major part of the central area, it stands for a

voiced labiodental sound which is not a stop and, if a frica-
tive, has very light friction. It contrasts both with the
velar /w/ and with the voiced and voiceless labiodental frica-
tives written/vhland/f~
Other speakers use a sound much like the one just de-
scribed except it is bilabial instead of labiodental.
8
In the Manyika area, this letter stands for the same

sound as the letter w.
6. A note on the pronunciation of zv.
Perhaps the most difficult sound in the basic dialogue

for Unit 1, from the point of view of the European student,
is the one written zv. This sound contrasts with z, with zh
(similar to the middle consonant sound of measure), and with zw.
The consonant zv is produced by pronouncing simultaneously
Shona v (see Note 5 above) and Shona z. That is to say, the
lips are brought very near to one another, but without touching
one another, during the pronunciation of z.
This same kind of articulation, with simultaneous friction

at the tongue tip and at the lips, is found with all Shona
consonants whose spelling includes either s or z followed by v.
7. A note on the pronunciation of !h!.
The student should listen carefully to the pronuncia-

tion of h in the word !here!. The English sound at the be-
ginning of the word hair is an unvoiced sound. The Shona
sound in !here! is like it except that it is voiced and that
it always has low pitch. These characteristics may cause it
to impress the student as theavyt.
The letter h stands for this kind of sound except in

the combinations sh, zh, ch, vh.
8. A note on a tonal alternation.
It was stated in Note 2 that ~he rules governing the

tones of syllables are somewhat complex in Shona. One such
rule is illustrated by the difference between the tonal pat-
terns of the first words in the phrases !mwarara here! and
!ndarara zvangu!. If pronounced by itself: !ndarara! has the
same tones as !mwarara!, i.e. !ndarara!. If the sentence
!ndarara zvangu!'is pronounced very slowly, with a pause be-
tween the words, !ndarara! may still have this tone pattern.
But when a verb form ends with two or more consecutive high
tones, and is followed immediately by a word that begins with
a high tone, then the last high tone of the verb is replaced
9
SHONA BASIC COURSE
UNIT 1
by low tone:
/ndarara/ plus /zvangu/ Is pronounced /ndarara zvangu/.

This alternation will be written /ndarara' zvangu/. (Practice
on this point will be found in Unit 2.)
10

UNIT 2
BASIC DIALOGUE In this dialogue, a woman (Role A) and a

man (Role B) are greeting one another in the morning. These
greetings are a bit more formal than those in the dialogue
of Unit 1.
Remember that the student should:
Listen first, book closed.

Then imitate without knowing the
meanings of the new sentences.
Then imitate as he learns the meanings.
Then open his book and read aloud.
Then learn to take both roles.
,
shewe courteous form of
address used by
women
[ - , , -, - ]
A Mangwanani shewe. Good morning!
,
chirombowe courteous form of
address used by
men
[ - - - - ]
B Mangwananl chIrombowe. Good morning'
[ - ]
,
" " here?
A .
Mwarara [How] did you sleep?
, ,
aiwa courteous expression
of diffidence or
dissent
, ,
zvitambo fit, having life
[ -"
" " zvitambo.
Aiwa ""
]
Oh, very well indeed.
B
rnhuri (9,10) family
11

[----- -]
B Mhurl yarara zvakanaka here? How did the family sleep?
A
[- =-
Varara'zvavo zvakanaka.
] They slept fine.
1. A note on the use of the macron as a tone mark.
The word /chirombowe/ when pronounced by itself has

low tone on the first syllable. In the second sentence in
this dialogue, it has high tone.
In general, when a word that ordinarily begins with

a series of two or more consecutive low tones is preceded by
a word that ends in a high tone, then the first syllable of
the second word has high tone:
/mangwananl/ plus /chlrombowe/ is /mangwananl

chlrombowe/
In such instances, the syllable at the beginning of the sec-
ond word is marked with a macron~ as in the second sentence
of the dialogue. This Iraising t of certain low tones will
soon become habitual with the student, so that the writing
of macrons will be discontinued in the later units.
In some forms of Shona, including Ndau, this raising

of low after high extends to all the low tones in a series
except for the very last:
Ndlrl kuenda kUmunda.
is pronounced:
, , " , " ,
Ndiri kuenda kumunda.
or: , , ", , " --.
Ndiri kuenda kumunda.
or:
12

2. A note on the pronunciation of !mh!.
The sound written mh as in !mhuri! is pronounced as

a sequence of/mlfollowed by the kind of/h/that was described
in Unit ~, Note 7. Like/hi, this sound has low pitch. The
sound written/nh/is pronounced analogously.
3. A note on subject prefixes.
Each of the verbs that have been met so far contains

a Isubject prefix t :
, ,
ndarara I slept
, ,
m~arara you (pl. or honorific) slept
they slept
The stem of the verb that means tto sleept is frara/. The
first fa! in each of these verb forms is characteristic of
past tense forms. The subject prefixes are represented in
thes e words by !ndl t I r, !mltJl !you (pl.) r, and !v'; t they i •
The form of these prefixes will be discussed more fully in
Unit S , Note 1
It should be noted also that the third person sub-

ject prefix has a high tone, while the first and second
person prefixes have low tone.
The personal subject prefixes for use in this tense

are the following:
Singular Plural
, ,
1 nd- t-
, ,
2 w- .
mw-
,
3 #(lack of any , v-
prefix) or w-
13
The noun /mhuri/ tfamilyt, even though it refers to

a group of persons, is not a member of the personal class.
Accordingly, there is a different subject prefix /y-i that
goes with it. Note that this prefix, like the other prefixes
for third person, has high tone.
4. A note on the use of the forms /zvangu/, /zvavo/, /zvayo/.
Both of the following sentences would be translated

into English as 'I sleptt:
, ,
Ndarara ..
, /\ ,
Ndarara zvangu.
The usual equivalent that is given for /zvangu/ as it is

used here is las for me, in my fashion. t The effect of
using it in the above example is to make what one says more
gentle or more respectful. The same is true for /zvayo/,
/zvavo/, and the corresponding forms for other persons,
numbers and classes.
In Manyika, the corresponding words used in this

way begin with /h/, instead of /zv/.
5. A preliminary note on the principle of concord.
In the second group of materials for systematic

practice, the following sentences appear:
" "v
Vapwere varara zvavo.
V\ "
The children slept.
The family slept.
The differences between the second words, and between the

third words in these sentences represent ways in which these
words agree with, or are tin concord with t the first word of
the sentence. This kind of agreement plays a very large
part in the grammar of Shona.
14
Exercise 1. Reading aloud without the help of tone marks.

First, the student should read each of the words and phrases
aloud and the tutor should tell him whether the tones are
right.
, If they are, , the student should write them, using
for high tone and for low tone. Other tone marks
(V, A, -) should not be written by the student.
mangwanani aiwa
zvitambo baba
zvavo mhuri yarara
varara varara here?
.
mwarara mwarara here shewe?
Materials for systematic practice. Group 1.
A procedure for use with substitution drills.
A large number of the practice materials in this book

are organized in such a way that each sentence is partly like
the one that immediately precedes it. An example is to be
found below in the first group of sentences for systematic
practice.
1. The tutor says each sentence. The students repeat it

after him until they are able to do so easily and correctly.
20 The class goes through the same sentences again, making

sure that everyone understands the meaning of each sentence.
3. The tutor says the first sentence, and then the word
from the column of tcue words t , opposite the second sentence.
One of the students should reply with the second sentence.
The tutor then gives the cue word from the third line, and
so on through the entire series. Thus:
, , ,
Tutor: M~arara here?
, , ,
Class: M~arara here?
Tutor: .
Senyi.
15
., ,
Student A: .
MwararaI' senyi?
•
, ,
Tutor: Zvakanaka.
, , , , ,
Student B: M~arara zvakanaka here?
, ,
Tutor: Ndarara.
, , , ,
Student c: Ndarara zvakanaka.
,
Tutor: Zvangu.
, ,,, ,
Student D: Ndarara zvangu.
etc.
The drill has been completed when the student can

respond in this way, easily and correctly, to all the items
from the column of tcues t •
For review of the same material without a live tutor,

the student may make use of an opaque card with a notch cut
out of one corner:
, ,
, ,
.
Mwarara senyi? .
zvakanaka
When the card is in this position the student is

expected to produce the sentence which is concealed by
the top of the card. When he has done so, or attempted to
do so, he then pulls the card downward just far enough to
expose the sentence that he was to have produced:
, , ,
senyi Mwarara senyi?
II
• •
, , , , , , ,
zvakanaka Mwarara zvakanaka here?
4
, ,
ndarara
16

Having done so, he receives immediate confirmation or cor-

rection of his own response and is simultaneously presented
with the next cue (ndarara).
If the card is turned over so that the notch is on

the right hand side, the English sentences may be used as a
second set of cues.
The general purpose of these sentences is to provide the

student with an occasion to practice new sentences which
contain no new words.
In going through this drill, the student must be

careful to distinguish between the tonal patterns /rara/
before low tone and /rara/ before high tone.
"
Mwarara here?
, Did you (pl.) sleep?
, · , ,\
.
/
senyi Mwarara senyi? How did you (pl.) sleep?
• •
, , , , , , ,
zvakanaka Mwarara zvakanaka here? Did you (pl.) sleep well?
•
, , , , ~ ,
ndarara Ndarara zvakanaka. I slept well o
, , " ,
zvangu Ndarara zvangu. I slept.
, , , , , ,
zvakanaka Ndarara zvakanaka. I slept well.
, , "
warara Warara " here?
zvakanaka , Did you ( ) sleep well?
sg.
,
Warara
/, ,
se~yi? How did you
(
sg.
)
sleep?
, ,
here "
Warara here? Did you ( sg. ) sleep?
, , "
zvakanaka Warara " here?
zvakanaka , Did you ( ) sleep well?
sg.
, , , , , ,
tarara Tarara zvakanaka. We slept well.
17
A procedure for use with transformation drills.
The second group of material for systematic practice

consists of three columns. Column 1 consists of cues,
Column 2 contains one series of sentences, and Column 3
contains a different series of sentences.
In drill with materials of this kind, Columns 1

and 2 should be used as a substitution drill (see the pro-
cedure outlined above for substitution drills). Then
Columns 1 and 3 should be used together in the same way,
omitting Column 2. Finally, the tutor gives the cue, one
student gives sentences from Column 2, and another replies
with the sentences from Column 3. In this way, sentences
from the substitution drills are combined into a series
of little two-line conversations.
In this series of sentences, the student must pay

special attention to the use of /yarara/ and /zvayo/ in
sentences with /mhuri/, but /varara/ and /zvavo/ in the
other sentences.
IDid the children sleep?t tThe children slept.!

" , Y: ' " , Y: " , "
Vapwere varara here? Vapwere varara zvavo.
,
baba
mal
, ~(
Baba, na mal
' ( ' Y:"" "
varara zvavo.
baba na mal
, Y: V" ,
mhuri Mhuri yarara zvayo.

, , " , Y: v, "
vapwere Vapwere varara zvavo o
18

SHONA BASIC COURSE
UNIT 3
UNIT 3
BASIC DIALOGUE
[---- --]
"
Masikati ,
muzvare. ~
A Good (mid-)day, (Miss).
[--, - -, -
, -]
B Masikati shewe. Good (mid)day.
[ -
,
- -]
B M~aswera here" shewe? [How] have you spent the
day?
[ , , - - - ]
A Ndaswera zvangu kana Fine, and you? (tI have
spent the day if you have
[ -, - ,- -] spent the day also.')
waswerawo.
[ - - - - ]
, " ,
A Baba vaswera se~yi? How has your father spent
the day?
r-" , , - ---]
, ,
B Vaswera zvavo zvirinane. He is better [thank you].
(tHe spent the day better. t)
1 0 The tonal classes of verbs.
Compare the sentences:

"
M~arara
,
here?
, ,
.
Mwaswera here?
Speakers of Shona from the extreme eastern and south-

eastern parts of Rhodesia are likely to say / m~aswera
" here'/ .
For such speakers, the two phrases cited above will not
illustrate the point being made in this note, but the isolated
.
words /mwarara/ and /mwaswera/ will. .
The forms /m~arara/ and /m~aswera/ are only one out of
hundreds of pairs of forms of these same verbs which differ
19

in tone. About half of the verbs in the language behave

tonally in one way, while almost all the rest behave in
another way. One group (illustrated by /mwarara/) are called
thigh verbs 1 ; the other (illustrated by /m~aswera/) are 'low
verbs. i
In citing verbs, it is customary to use the infinitive

form, which for high and low verbs alike begins with /ku/.
2 0 A note on the courteous formula fif you also l •
In the dialogue and in Exercise 1 are found the

sentences:
~, "
Ndaswera zvangu kana mwaswerawo.
~
, ~ ",
Ndaswera zvangu kana mwararawo.~
Literally, these sentences would be translated II slept (or

spent the day) if you slept (or spent the day) also. t This
formula is widely used in reply to polite inquiries.
The forms /m~aswera/ and /m~arara/ used in the sec-

ond half of this formula are tonally and grammatically dif-
ferent from /mwaswera/ and /mwarara/ which are used in the
• •
questions. This difference will be discussed in greater de-
tail in Units 27 rr
In the meantime, these forms, if
pronounced as shown above, provide another example of tonal
difference between corresponding forms of a high verb (/kurara/)
and a low verb (/kuswera/).
Some speakers in the east will pronounce high verbs and

low verbs alike in this form:
/mltaswerawo/, .
but also /mwararawo/ •
3. A note on the honorific use of the plural.
The noun /baba/ is ~in9ular both in its form and

in its meaning. The verb /vaswera/, however, begins with
the third person plural subject prefix Iva-I.
20
Similarly, only one person is being addressed in

the third line of the basic dialogue for this unit, yet the
second person plural subject prefix /m~/ is used.
In both the second and the third person, the plural

may be used as a mark of respect when speaking to or about
one person.
Sentences for systematic practice, Group 1.
The following paired questions and answers should

be learned thoroughly, since they will be heard very fre-
quently in everyday life. If the tutor uses different
sentences in place of the ones shown here, then those sen-
tences should be learned also.
The question and the answer in each pair imply that

the person inquired about has not been completely well recently.
The alternative answers to the first two questions

reflect the fact that verb forms with /mwa-/, while literally
plural, may be used as a mark of respect·when talking to only
one person o
The third person forms of the high verb in this exer-

cise are pronounced either /varara/ (easterly) or /varara/
(westerly). This dialectal variation is symbolized by writing
/varara/ (Unit 1 Note 2 ).
But even in those geographical areas where the pro-

' , '/ is used before low tone or at the end of
nunciation / varara
a sentence, the pronunciation before a high tone is /varara/
(Unit 1 Note 8)0 For this reason, /varara/ before a high
tone is written /varara/.
In the easterly pronunciation, then, these forms

of high verbs turn out to have tones identical with the
corresponding forms of low verbs.
" ,
vaswera .
senyi?
varara .
senyi?
21
SHONA BASIC COURSE
UNIT 3
"
Aiwa tarara zvedu . ( ,
ZVlrlnane.
"
{ Aiwa "
ndarara , ,
zvangu zvirinane.
, , (' , " "
M~aswera s.e:g.yi? Aiwa taswera zvedu zvirinane.
{ "
Aiwa "
ndaswera , ,
zvangu zvirinane.
Baba varara " ' vardra

Aiwa y "
zvavo "
zvirinane.
, " ,
Baba vaswera se~yi? Aiwa vaswera zvavo zVirlnane.
Mupwere warara senyi? . . .

Aiwa warara zvake zVirlnane.
" , "
."" " " zvirinane
,,, •
/ /
Mupwere ~aswera s~nyi? Aiwa waswera zvake
, , ", , , . ('
Warara se~yi? Aiwa ndarara zvangu ZVlrlnane.
(" ", , ,
Waswera se~yi? Aiwa ndaswera zvangu zvirinane.
,,/ , , , ",
M~arara here? Aiwa, kana m~ararawo.
, , , , "
M~aswera here? Aiwa, kana mwaswerawo.
o
( , " , ,
Aiwa vaswera zvavo o
,
here?
Exercise in the writing of tones.
Fill in the square brackets with short line segments

to represent the pitches of the individual syllables. Check
accuracy by reference to the sentences in the basic dialogues.
[ ] [ ]
ndaswera zvangu mangwanani chirombowe
[ ,
, , ] [ ]
baba vaswera se~yi mhuri yarara zvakanaka here
[ " , , , , ] ]
vaswera zvavo zvirinane aiwa zvitambo
22

SHONA BASIC COURSE
UNIT 4
UNIT 4
BASIC DIALOGUE
mwana (1,2) child, offspring
[-~ , -, ]
A Masikati mwanangu. Good (mid) day, my child.
[- -
, - -, - -,]
B Masikati baba. Good (mid) day, sir.
[ - - ]
B . ,
Mwaswera here" shewe? How are you, (sir)?
['"'\- - --]
A "
Aiwa, "
zvitambo. Oh, fine.
mUkunda (1,2) daughter
[ - - - ] -
,
B . "
Wakadini mukunda? How is your daughter?
,.., ,
penyu alive
his, her
[ - - -]
, , "
A Mupenyu zvake. She is all right. ('She
is a living [thing].t)
Read the dialogue aloud, using the right tones:
Masikati mwanangu. Masikati baba. M~aswera here shewei
Aiwa zvitambo. Wakadinl mukunda? Mupenyu zvake.
Supplementary Vocabulary.
tHow did your daughter sleepZt

" ')!" v\ ,
, ,
Muzvare ~arara se~yi? muzvare unmarried girl over 12
, ,
Vazvare varara se~yi? vazvare (plural of above)
23
,
,
. ,
Mukunda warara senyi?
")t! v, '
. mukunda
,
daughter
, , ")t! v, '
Vakunda varara senyi? vakunda (plural of above)
•
" , ")t! v," '

, ,
Mukorore warara
o
senyi?
•
mukorore son
"
Vakorore , "Jl v"
varara '
senyi?
, ,
vakorore (pl.
)
•
v, ' ,
Mhandara yarara senyi?
")t!
. mhandara (honorific term for

girl of 14 or more)
Mhandara dzarara"senyi?
o
(plural of noun is
identical with
singular)
, , a Y\ ,
,
Mujaha war ra senyi?
• 0
mujaha boy of 14 or more
, , v v, , ,
Majaha arara se:r:yi? majaha (plural of above)
1. A note on singular and plural nouns.
Compare these three singular-plural pairs:

, , . '
mukorore mUJaha mhandara
, , ,
vakorore majaha mhandara
In the first of these pairs, the difference between

singular and plural is the difference between Imul and Ivai.
(Most of the nouns that have been met thus far work like this.)
In the second pair, the singular again has Imul but the plural
has Ima/. In the third pair, neither the singular nor the
plural has Imul, and singular and plural are identical in form.
The most common forms of the prefixes used with nouns

of the various classes are as follows. Corresponding singu-
lar and plural classes are bracketed o
24
SHONA BASIC COURSE
UNIT 4
mu- mw- before vowels
va- v- before vowels in some words
mu- mw- before vowels
mi- mw- before vowels
(No prefix syllable, but the initial consonant

of the stem may be voiced).
ma-
chi- ch- before vowels in some words
zvi- zv- before vowels in some words
9 (No prefix syllable, but most members of this

class begin with a nasal consonant. The ini-
tial consonant of the stem may show evidence
of having changed from something else.)
10 (Identical with the corresponding singular from

Class 9 except that some speakers have /imba/
(9) thouse f /dzimba/ (10) thouses t •
11 ru- rw- before vowels
12 ka-
{13 tu- tw- before vowels
14 hu- or u- hw- before vowels
15 ku- kw- before vowels
16 pa
17 ku kw before vowels
18 mu mw. before vowels
(For practice in switching between singular and plural,

Classes 1 and 2, see Group 1 of the sentences for systematic
practice.) 25

2 0 A note on additional subject prefixes.
Compare the forms:
All these forms mean lthey slept f • The first is used

after plural nouns that begin with Ivai and in an honorific
sense with certain singular nouns (Unit 3, Note 3). The
second is used with plurals that are identical in form with
the corresponding singulars (e.g. /mhandara/). The third
is used with plural nouns that begin with /ma/.
Similarly, the singular forms
both mean the/she sleptt. Choice between them depends on

the identity of the noun that is the grammatical subject of
the verb.
For practice in using the appropriate SUbject prefixes

with various nouns, see Groupsl,l of the sentences for systema-
tic practice.
3. A third tonal class of verbs.
It was stated in Unit 3, Note 1 that most of the verbs of

Shona behave tonally either like /raral (high verbs) or like
Iswera/ (low verbs). One of the exceptions is the verb /dlnil
ito do or say what or howl. Two other verbs which share the
same tonal peculiarities are Idaro/ fto do or say like that'
and /dai/ ito do or say like this l • With respect to their
meanings and their grammatical function, these three verbs
stand in the same relation to other verbs that pronouns
occupy with respect to nouns. They may therefore be called
PRO-VERBS.
The most conspicuous feature of the tonal behavior of
the pro-verbs is that the first syllable of the stem has the
26
SHONA BASIC COURSE
UNIT 4
tone that is opposite to that of the preceding syllable, and

that the second syllable of the stem in turn has the tone that
is opposite to that of the first syllable of the stem~
, ,
Vakadini? (Exercise 3)
, ,
but .
Mwakadini?
Group 1. Sentences for systematic practice. Contrasting

singular and plural nouns. Follow instructions for trans-
formation drills, p. 17f.
, , , , , , "" , ,
muzvare Muzvare wakadini? Vazvare vakadini?
, , ·, , , ,,,
mukunda Mukunda wakadini? Vakunda vakadini?
, , , , ·, ( "" , ,
mukorore Mukorore wakadlni? Vakorore vakadini?
, , , , ·, , "" , ,
mupwere Mupwere wakadini? Vapwere vakadini?
, ·, ,
mujaha MUjaha wakadini? Majaha" akadlni?
(
,· , , ,
mhandara Mhandara yakadini? Mhandara dzakadini?
, ,
mhuri Mhuri yakadini?
, , , ,
baba Baba vakadini?
"(
,, , ,
mal Mai vakadini?
Group 2. Sentences for systematic practice. Alternate sub-

stitution of subject and verbs. Concord between noun subject
and subject prefix. Follow instructions on p. '~f
, , ,
.
waswera "
Muzvare ""
waswera .
here?
,
here?
,
mukunda
, ,
.
wakadini
, ,
MUkunda wakadini?
" , ,
mukorore Mukorore wakadini? .
27

SHONA BASIC COURSE
UNIT 4
, , " " ,
.
waswera .
Mukorore waswera here?
, , " ,
mujaha Mujaha waswera here?
•
muzvare Muzvare wakadlni?

•
Exercise 3. Paired questions and answers.
, , ,
.
Mwakadinl? Aiwa, kana mwakadiniwo.
•
, , ,
, f
Wakadinl? Aiwa, kana wakadiniwo.
, , , ,
MUkunda wakadlni? . Aiwa, mupenyu zvake.
, , f , ~ , , ~
,
Baba vakadlni? Aiwa, vapenyu zvavo.
, , , , , ,
Wakadini? Aiwa, mupenyu zvake.
" , , , , , ,
Vakorore vakadini? Aiwa, vapenyu zvavo.
, , ,
Majaha" akadlni?
f
Aiwa, mapenyu zvao.
, , , , , , ,
Mhandara yakadini? Aiwa, imhenyu zvayo.
Exercise 4. Reading aloud without tone marks.
Read the following sentences aloud with the proper

, tone
on each s~llable. Then write the tone marks, using for
high and for low.
Mangwanani mujaha.
Mangwanani maio
Mwarara here mai?

•
28

Ndarara zvangu.
Varara here baba?
Varara zvavo.
Exercise 5.
Read the following words aloud, making certain that

the tones are correct. Then mark the tones. Finally, write
the English equivalent opposite each word.
mukunda
vakunda
mukorore
mujaha
majaha
vakorore
vazvare
muzvare
mhandara
.
mwakadini
vakadini
mai
vana
mwana
A procedure for use with practice conversations.
The practice conversations which follow the systematic

practice material in Units 4 - ~O are intended to provide
29

opportunities for guided practice in short connected dia-

logues. These materials contain no new words or grammatical
features.
The first column consists of an English summary of one

side of the dialogue. The middle column contains the Shona
expressions that are needed for that side of the dialogue.
The third column contains the other side of the same con-
versation.
1.The student covers all of the page in his book except

the first column. The tutor leaves all three columns in his
book uncovered. The student gives a Shona expression which
carries out the first English instruction in Column 1. When
he has done so, the tutor replies with the next line from the
other side of the conversation. The student hears and under-
stands this, and goes on to reply in accordance with the second
English instruction. They proceed in this way to the end of
the dialogue.
2. The above procedure should be repeated until the

student can take the first side of the dialogue without
hesitation and without mistakes.
3. Then the tutor should take the first role, and

the student should take the role formerly given to the tutor.
Practice Conversation.
, , ,
You meet a ten year old girl Masikati mukunda.
at noontime and say hello
to her.
Mas:Lkat:L baba.
.
Mwaswera here
, ,
You reply to her series of Ndaswera zvangu.
polite inquiries.
"
Vaswera here" mai?
,
" , ,
Vaswera zvavo.
30

SHONA BASIC COURSE
UNIT 4
" ,
~aswera se~yi
, ,
mukorore?
.
Aiwa, waswera
( ,
zvirlnane.
Free Conversation.
A is a married man.
B is a married woman.
C is a boy of sixteen.
D is a girl of sixteen.
Practice greetings that would be appropriate between:
A and B
A and C
Band C
A and D
Band D
31

-------------------------------,;.-'----
UNIT 5
BASIC DIALOGUE
masanga (6) meeting; a greeting

from one traveller
to another
[- - , - - -_J
,
A Masanga ch1rombowe. Hello'
[ - - -, --, -]
B Masanga chIrombowe. Hello!
munhu (1, 2) person
ani who?
, ,
ndiani who is it?
A
[- , -, ]
Munhu ndiani?
" Who are you? (tWho is
the person?!)
[ ,,]
B f
Ndlnl John. ' I am John ('It is I John. t)
-gara to live, sit, stay
where?
[ - - - -:. ]
A Munogara pap'1? Where do you live?
, , )
(or: Munogarepi?
[ , "
]
B Ndinogara mwaRusapi. . I live in Rusape •
-ita to do
apo there
[ , , - - ]
A Muri kUite~yi apo? What are you doing there?
32
SHONA BASIC COURSE
UNIT 5
, ,
-sanda to work
B
[
"
Ndinosanda
-
, muPost Office.
]
I work in the Post Office.
Supplementary vocabularyo
The new words given below are proper nouns and other
words which have to do with place. In learnin9 the ~ords,
it is necessary also to learn the prefixes (kwa-, mwa-,
mu-, pa-) which go with some of them. These prefix~s cor-
respond roughly to certain English prepositions.
Munogara papr? }
Where do you live?
(Munogarepi?)
, , , ~
Ndinogara pano. pano (16) here

, , , , ,
Ndinogara kwaNyadire o Nyadire Nyadiri
, , ,
Ndinogara kwaMutare. Mutare Umtali
Ndinogara muguta. guta (5, 6) city

, ,
Ndinogara muSakubva. Sakubva area near
Umtali
, ,
Ndinogara muHarare. Harare Salisbury
, , ,
Ndinogara m~aRusapi. Rusapi Rusape
, ,
Ndinogara pahosipitari. hosipitari (9, 10) hospital
, ,
Ndinogara pakamba. kamba (9, 6) police camp
Ndinogara patyo. patyo (16) near
Ndinogara kure. kure (17) far
Ndinogara chinhambo. chinhambo (7) a short dis-

tance
33

Supplementary vocabulary. Some useful verbs.

basa (5,6) work
Munolta basa~yi? What work do you do?
Low verbs.
Ndinor'!ma. kurima to plow, raise crops
Ndinochaira. kuchaira to drive (a vehicle)
Ndinow~za. kuweza to work wood, do

carpentry
Ndinor'fuisa. kurimisa to work as an agri-

cultural demonstra-
tor
Ndinorapa. kurapa to heal, do medical

work
Ndinop~tesa. kupetesa to tax, work in tax

office
High verbs o
, , , , ,
Ndinovaka. kuvaka to build
, ( ("
"
Ndinodzldzlsa. kudz { dzisa to teach
, "" muofisi.
, , ,
Ndinonyora kunyora to write
I do office work. ,
ofisi (9, 10) office
, (' , , { ,
Ndinofamblra zvikoro. kufamb ra to visit
I'm a superintendent ,
of schools. chikoro (7 ) school
,
zvikoro (8) schools
1. The en?! tense.
The non-initial prefix )no! is found in the sentences:
Munogara papY? Where do you live?

", ,
Ndinosanda muPost Office. I work in the Post
Office
34
SHONA BASIC COURSE
UNIT ~
-'
Verb forms which contain this prefix have either general

present or future meaning.
The sUbject prefix syllables used with the Inol tense

are compared with the subject prefix syllables used with the
tense of the verbs discussed in Unit 2, Note 3 and in Unit 4,
Note 2. Not all of the classes have been exemplified in the
sentences of Units 1-5, but this table will be useful for
future reference.
, ,
1 sgo I ndi- nda-
, ,
2 sg. you u- wa-
3 sg. he, she '"
a-
,
u- (Eastern)
a-
'"
wa-
} (Class 1)
,
1 pl. we tl- ta-
,
2 pl. you mu- ma- }
,
(Eastern) mwa-
,
3 pl. they va- va- (Class 2)
, ,
u- wa- (Class 3)
,
1- ya- (Class 4)
ri- '"
ra- (Class 5)
, ,
a- a- (Class 6)
,
chl- cha- (Class 7)
,
zv1- zva- (Class 8)
,
1- ya- (Class 9)
,
dzl- dza- (Class 10)
, ,
ru- rwa- (Class 11)
,
'"
ka- ka- (Class 12)
, ,
tu- twa- (Class 13)
, ,
hu- hwa- (Class 14)
, ,
ku- kwa- (Class 15)
, ,
pa- pa- (Class 16)
, ,
kwa- (Class 17)
ku-
mu-
,
ma-
,
mwa-
} (Class 18)
35
Comparison of these lists shows that in general the prefix

in the right hand list has the tone and the consonant of the
first list plus /a/) /u/ and initial /i/ in the first list are
matched by /w/ and /y/ respectively in the second list, except
that in some dialects /mu-/ is matched by /ma-/ and not by
/mwa-/.
The tone of the prefix Inol.

The prefix fno( has low tone between a high toned sub-
ject prefix and the stem of a high verb (including the pro-
verbs, Unit 4, Note 3):
, , ,
Vanosanda. they work
Otherwise, it has high tone:

" ,
Tinosanda. we work
,
Ndinogara "
mwaRusapi. I live in Rusape.
, ,
Vanogara apo. they live there.
Tones of verb stems in the fnoi tense.
In the )no( tense, the stems of high verbs have the

tones of the infinitive:
, , ,
vanosanda
" ,
ndinosanda
The tones of the stems of low verbs vary according

to dialect.
(1) Central/westerlys the tones of the stem syllables are

all low:
, ,
vanorima
,
ndinorima
,
ndinorimisa
36
SHONA BASIC COURSE UNIT
(2) Farther easta the tone of the first syllable of

the stem is high in first and second person forms; the rest
are Iowa
, ,
vanorima
, ,
ndinorima
, (
ndinorlmisa
(3) still farther east and southeast: all stem syl-

lables except the last are high,
, , (
vanorlma
, ,
ndinorima
. ' ( (
ndlnorlmlsa
The first and second of these sets of dialect alternates

are reflected in the tone writing to be employed in this course.
The third set of alternates are not overtly indicated, but
may be inferred.
The tonal differences between high and low verbs in

this tense, and between third person and non-third person
forms of the indicative, are of great importance if onets
Shona is to be easily intelligible. For this reason, most
of the systematic practice sentences in this unit are devoted
to these matters.
2. Locative prefixes with place names.
Compare these locative forms:

,
muHarare in Salisbury
, ,
m~aRusapi in Rusape
Some place names take locative prefixes in their simple

form (/mu/, /ku/, /pa/). Others take locative prefixes in
which these simple prefixes are combined with /-a-/. The
latter group consists of names of persons or rivers which
have come to be used as designations for places.
37
(For practice in choosing among the locative prefixes

used with various place names, see Group-18 of the sentences
for systematic practice.)
3. tWhere t questions.
'Where! questions may be formed by use of one of the

words /papl/ or /kupl/, which stand somewhere after the
verb in the sentence.
In some areas, the enclitic /-pi/ is very commonly

used in where questions. It is attached to the end of the
verb. The vowel that precedes it is /-e-/, which corresponds
to the /-a-/ of indicative forms that do not have this
enclitic:
but
(For practice in forming twhere l questions, see groups 19 and

20,)
Sentences for systematic practice.
Group 1. Low verbs, first and second person, /-no-/ tense.
kurima Unorlina here? Ndinorlina.

,
kupetesa Unop~tesa here? Ndinop~tesa.
,
kuchaira Unochaira here? Ndinochaira.
,
kurapa Unorapa here? Ndinorapa.
,
kuweza Unow~za here? Ndinow~za.
kurimisa Unorlinisa here? Ndinorllnisa.
38

SHONA BASIC COURSE
UNIT 5
Group 2. High verbs, first and second person, /-no-/ tense.

, , , " , , " ,
kunyora Unonyora here? Ndinonyora muofisi.
f f' , , f'
Unodzidzlsa here?
, , , "
kudzldzlsa Ndinodzidzisao
, "
kufambira
, f'
Unofamblra zvikoro here?
, , " "
Ndinofambira ,
zvikoro.
, , , " , , , ,
kuvaka Unovaka here? Ndlnovaka.
Group 3. Low verbs, third person, /-no-/ tense o

, , , , , , ,
mupwere Mupwere anorima here? Anorima.
/ /
" " , , ,
vapwere Vapwere vanorima here? Vanorima.
, , , , , , ,
mujaha Mujaha anorima here? Anorima.
, , , , ,
majaha Majaha anorima here? Anorima.
, , ,
mhandara (sg.) Mhandara inorima here? fnorima.
, , ,
mhandara (pl.) Mhandara dzinorima here? Dzlnorima.
Group 4. High verbs, third person, /-no-/ tense.

, , , , I sa' here? ,
mujaha Mujaha anodzidz Anodzldzlsa.
, , , (" ,
majaha Majaha anodzldzisa here? Anodzldzlsa.
, ", ,
mhandara (sg.) Mhandara inodzidzisa here? fnodzldzlsa.
, , l' ,
mhandara (pl.) Mhandara dzinodzidz sa here? Dzlnodzldzlsa.
[After completing Group 4, take sentences at random from all

four groups.]
39

Group 5. Low verbs in the /-no-/ tense, first and second

person singular subjects.
, , , , ,
kugara .
Unogara mwaRusapi here? Ndinogara m~aRusapi•
,
kurapa Unorapa here? Ndinorapa.
kurimisa Unorlinisa here? Ndinorlinisa.
kurima UnorYma here? Ndinorlina.

,
kupetesa Unop~tesa here? Ndinopetesa.
kuchaira Unochaira here? Ndinochaira.
Group 6. Plural subjects.
kuchaira Munochaira here? Tinochaira.

,
kurima MunorYma here? Tinorlrna.
' , ,
kugara Munogara mwaRusapi here?
•
,
kurimisa Munorlinisa here? Tinorllnisa.
,
kupetesa Munopetesa here?
kurapa Munorapa here? Tinorapa.
[After completing Group 6, take sentences at random from

Groups 5 and 6.]
Group 7. High verbs in the /-no-/ tense, first and second

person singular sUbjects.
, , , " , , , ,
kuvaka Unovaka here? Ndinovaka.
, ( (' ,
kUdzldzlsa Unodzldzlsa here? Ndinodzldzlsa.
, "
kufambira Ndinofamblra zVikoro.
, , , ", , , " ,
kunyora Unonyora muofisi here? Ndinonyora muofisi.
40

, " " "
" , zvikoro , , ", ~
kufambira Munofambira here? Tinofambira zvikoro.

, , , " , " " ,
kunyora Munonyora muofisi here? Tinonyora muofisi.
, , , " , , , ,
kuvaka Munovaka here? Tinovaka.
, , " , , , "
kUdzldzlsa Munodzidzisa here? Tinodzidzisa.
[After completing Group 8, t~ke sentences at random from

Groups 7 and 8.]
Group 9. Low and high verbs in the /-no-/ tense, first and
second person singular subjects.
, , , " , , , ,
kuvaka Unovaka here? Ndinovaka.
kurima Ndinor'frna.
, { f' , , , "
kUdzldzlsa Unodz dZlsa here? Ndinodzidzisa.
, y ,
kuchaira UnochCiira here? Ndinoch~ira.
, , " , " f' ,
Unofambira zvikoro here? Ndinofamblra zvikoro.
kupetesa Unop~tesa here? Ndinopetesa.

, , , , , ~ , , ~
kuvaka Munovaka here? Tinovaka.
kurima Tinor'frna.
, , , ", , , " ,
kunyora Munonyora muofisi here? Tinonyora muofisi.
kurimisa MunorYmisa here? Tinorlmisa.
kUdzldzlsa , f
Munodzldz lsa
' here?
, , f "
Tinodzldzisa.
kurapa Munor~pa here? Tinor~pa.

Groups 9 and 10.]
41
Group 11. Low verbs in the /-no-/ tense, third person

singular subjects.
,
kurima Anorima here? Anorima.
,
kurapa Anorapa here? Anorapa.
~
kuchaira Anochaira here? Anochaira.

,
kupetesa Anopetesa here? Anopetesa.
, ~
,
kurimisa Anorimisa here? Anorimisa.
,
kuweza Anoweza here? Anoweza.
, ~ , , ~ , ,
kugara Anogara mwaRusapi here? Anogara mwaRusapi •
• •
kugara "
Vanogara "
mwaRusapi . "Vanogara
here? , "
mwaRusapi. .
, ~, , ,
kuweza Vanoweza here? Vanoweza.
, , , , ,
kurimisa Vanorimisa here? Vanorimisa.
, , , , ,
kuchaira Vanochaira here? Vanochaira.
, , , , ,
kurapa Vanorapa here? Vanorapa.
, , , , ,
kurima Vanorima here? Vanorima.

Groups 11 and 12.]
Group 13. Singular subjects.

, ,,~ ~, , , , ~
{ , " ,
kufambira Anofambira zvikoro here? Anofambira zvikoro.
, ~ { , , ~ ~ , ~
kuvaka Anovaka here? Anovaka.

" ~ , f' , ",
kudz { dzisa
{
Anodzidzlsa here? Anodzidzisa.
I I , ", , , " ,
kunyora Anonyora muofisi here? Anonyora muofisio
42
SHONA BASIC COURSE
UNIT 5
Group 14. High verbs in the /-no-/ tense, third person

plural subjects.
,. ,.,. ,. ,.,.,.
kudzidzisa Vanodzidzisa.
,. ,. ,. ,.,., ,. , ,.,. ,.
kunyora Vanonyora muofisi here? Vanonyora muofisi.
, , ,. ,.,. ,. ,. ,.,.
kuvaka Vanovaka here? Vanovaka.
,. ,,. , ,. ,., ,. ,. ,. , ,.,. ,.
kufambira Vanofambira zvikoro here? Vanofambira zvikoro.

Groups 13 and 14.]
Group 15. Low and high verbs in the /-no-/ tense, third
person singular subjects.
,. , ,
kuchaira Anochaira here? Anochaira.
,. , ( ,.,. ,. ( ,.,.
kuvaka Anovaka here? Anovaka.
~,. ,
kurapa Anorapa here? Anorapa.
,. ,. , , ,.,,, ,. ( ,.,.,.
kudzidisa Anodzidzisa here? Anodzidzisa.
( , ,,. , ,. , ,,.
kugara Anogara m~aRusapi here? Anogara mwaRusapi.
c
, "" ( ,. "" , ,. ( , ,,. ,

kufambira Anofambira zvikoro here? Anofambira zvikoro.
, ,. ,
kurimisa Anorimisa here? Anorimisa.

,. , ,. , ,.
kurima Vanorima here? Vanorima.
, , ,. , ,.
, "" zvikoro , , , ,. , ,.
kufambira Vanofambira here? Vanofambira zvikoro.
, ,. , ,. ,
kurapa Vanorapa here? Vanorapa.
,. , , ,. ,. , , ,. ,
kunyora Vanonyora here? Vanonyora o
43

, , " , , , ~ ~
kugara Vanogara m~aRusapi here? Vanogara m~aRusapi.

, , , , ,
kuchaira Vanochaira here? Variochaira.
, , , " , ~ "
kuvaka Vanovaka here? Vanovaka.

Groups 15 and 16.]
Group 17. The tense prefix /-no-/ with high and low verbs,
in first, second, and third persons.
, , , , ,
Vanorima here? Vanorima.
UnorYma here? Ndinor'fma.
Unorapa here? Ndinorapa.

, " , , , ,
Unovaka here? Ndinovaka.
( "
Anovaka ,
here? "
Anovaka.
(
( , ,
Anochaira here? Anochaira.
, , , , .,
Vanochaira here? Vanochaira.
, ~ , , ,
Vanopetesa here? Vanopetesa.
, v , , v
Munopetesa here? Tinopetesa.
, ", ,
Anodzidzisa here? Anodzldzlsa.
, , ,
Anorimisa here? Anorimisa.
, , , , ,
Vanorimisa here? Vanorimisa.
, , , , ,
Vanorima here? Vanorima.
44

SHONA BASIC COURSE
UNIT
Group 18. Choosing the right locative prefix for each

place expression.
, , "" " , , , , ,
pano Vapwere vanogara pano here? Vanogara pano.
""
Vapwere vanogara "
m~aRusapi
,
here?
I
Vanogara
I I ,
m~aRusapi.
guta "
Vapwere "
vanogara ,
muguta here?
/ I
Vanogara muguta.
, "" " , , I / '
Mutare Vapwere vanogara kwaMutare here? Vanogara kwaMutare.
" " "
, / ,
Harare Vapwere vanogara muHarare here? Vanogara muHarare.
kamba "
Vapwere "
vanogara ,
pakamba ,
here?
/ I
Vanogara pakamba.
,
, , , , , I I ~ I ,
hosipitari Vapwere vanogara pahosipitari here?Vanogara pahosipitari.

, I I' , I I
kure Vapwere vanogara kure here? Vanogara kure.
" , I I / I
patyo Vapwere vanogara patyo here? Vanogara patyo.
I I I' I I ~ /,
Sakubva Vapwere vanogara muSakubva here? Vanogara muSakubva.
, , " I' I I , ,
Nyadire Vapwere vanogara kwaNyadire here? Vanogara kwaNyadire.
" ,I ' "
/ I
chinhambo Vapwere vanogara chinhambo here? Vanogara chinhambo.
Group 19. tWhere t questions with high verbs.

, " I (' " , )
Anodz:Ldzlsa. Anodzidzisepl? Anodzidzisa papl?
, , (' , I ( , (' , I I )
Vanodzidzlsa. Vanodzidzlsepi? Vanodzidzisa papl?
, , " "(' ", ,
Ndinodzidzisa. Munodzidzlsepi? (Munodzidzisa papl?)
, ( "
Tinodzldzisa.
I " I
Munodzidzisepl? (Munodzidzisa papl?
" , , )

Group 20. 'Where' questions with low verbs.

, , ,
Anorimisa. Anorimisepi? (Anorimisa papl? )
, , , , 1
Vanorimisa. Vanorimisep ? ( etc. )
NdinorYmisa. MunorYmisepl? ( etc. )
Tinor'fuisa. Munormisepl? ( etc. )

Groups 19 and 20.]
Exercise 21. Read the following verb forms aloud, and

verify the tones. Then mark the tones as your tutor
uses them.
anovaka anochaira
vanovaka munochaira
vanorlma munodzidzisa
tinorima vanodzidzisa
tlnonyora vanogara
anonyora vanonyora
Practice Conversations.
, ,
Masanga baba.
, ,
You reply to a greeting Masanga mwanangu.
and ask the other per- , ,
sonts name. Munhu ndlani?
( , -
Ndlni Gomo.
46
, v (
You ask someone where Munogarepl?
he lives.
, v '
Ndinogara muHarare.
What does he do there? Munoltertyl apo?

, " ,
Ndinonyora muofisi.
Free conversation.
The following are five personal names:

, ,
Musana
,
Kachara
,
Shumba
Maw a
Beta
A asks B about each of the above persons, where he lives

and what kind of work he does.
47

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SHONA

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Shona is one of the two principal languages

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BASIC DIALOGUE In this dialogue, a married man (Role A) and

A procedure for use with each new basic dialogue.

1. The student should not look at the dialogue until

2. Listening to the dialogue.

The tutor should begin by reading the entire dia-

3. Learning to repeat the sentences after the instructor.

The tutor should say the first sentence at normal

a. If the sentence seems to be too long, the tutor

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The sentence /varara se~yi vapwere/ might be built up as

varara se~yi vapwere

Tutors Ndarara zvangu.

Each sentence should be treated in this way, until

Now, for the first time, students should open their

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6. Memorizing the dialogue.

students' books should again be closed. The tutor

A They slept well.

In the English equivalents for Shona expre~sions in this

1. A note on syllable accent in Shona.

In the sentences I of the basic dialogue, certain syllables

If one ignores the pitches of the syllables, one will

2. A note on tones and on ways of representing them in writing.

The third and fourth sentences in the dialogue are alike

Pitch differences of this kind are of great importance

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Even more important, and more complicated, is the part which

It will be noted that three or four different pitch

Any syllable is said to have high tone if it has no-

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A syllable is also said to have high tone if it has

A syllable that does not have high tone is said to have

In a course of this kind, it would be impossible to

In interpreting the marks v and A , the student should

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If the tutor is from the eastern area, he is likely to use

To put the same matter in another way, students working

In a few words, tonal variation is known to exist, but

The line dividing the area where the pronunciation

3. A note on the representation of dialect variation in

To a large extent, the vowels and consonants remain

Another variation in the use of consonants may be illus-

letter /v/ (when not adjacent to another consonant letter)

A third kind of dialect variation is illustrated by the

4. A note on velarized consonants.

The student should listen again to the words /mangwanani/,

Thus, in /ngw/ it is pretty much what one might call a

5. A note on the pronunciation of /v/.

When the letter v is not adjacent to some other conso-

In a major part of the central area, it stands for a

In the Manyika area, this letter stands for the same

6. A note on the pronunciation of zv.

Perhaps the most difficult sound in the basic dialogue

This same kind of articulation, with simultaneous friction

7. A note on the pronunciation of !h!.