Attributive Verb - Bantu Languages

Bantu Languages

In the Bantu languages, attributive verbs are formed by the addition of the 'pre-prefix' (or 'initial vowel'). For example, in Luganda:

• Abasajja batambula 'The men walk' (predicative)
• Abasajja abatambula 'The men who walk' (attributive)

This is similar to the behaviour of attributive adjectives:

• Abasajja bagagga 'The men are rich' (predicative)
• Abasajja abagagga 'The men who are rich' (i.e 'the rich men') (attributive)

The attributive verb formation is the usual way of forming relatives in Luganda when the antecedent is the subject of the subordinate verb, and is sometimes called the 'subject relative'. Relative pronouns do exist, but they're only used for 'object relatives', i.e. relative clauses where the antecedent is the object of the subordinate verb.