Relatives
Relatives are qualificatives used with the relative concords.
In the Bantu languages, the relatives form an open class and are the primary qualificatives used. Relative clauses are also used with the relative concords.
There are two types of relative stems:
- Stems which seem to be radical in nature, and from which abstract nouns in class 14 may be formed.
- Certain nouns unchanged in form.
Examples of both types follow below:
| Type | Example | English meaning(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Radical | -hlaha | wild |
| -kgopo | wicked | |
| -thata | difficult, hard | |
| -tala | raw, unripe | |
| -batsi | wide | |
| Nouns | -metsi | wet (water) |
| -molemo | worthwhile (worth) | |
| -sebete | brave (liver) | |
| -bohlale | intelligent (intelligence) | |
| -boima | difficult, heavy (heaviness) |
The relative -tala is not to be confused with the adjective -tala.
E.g.:
- Mawa a tjhatsi Simple strategies
- Mokgahlelo o boholkwa An important phase/stage
- Malakabe a bohale Fierce flames
Verbs can be used in very short relative clauses, although these are not considered proper relative stems:
- ho tsofala to become old ⇒ monna ya tsofetseng an old man
Read more about this topic: Sotho Parts Of Speech
Famous quotes containing the word relatives:
“Every milestone of a firstborn is scrutinized, photographed, recorded, replayed, and retold by doting parents to admiring relatives and disinterested friends. . . . While subsequent children will strive to keep pace with siblings a few years their senior, the firstborn will always have a seemingly Herculean task of emulating his adult parents.”
—Marianne E. Neifert (20th century)
“When mother’s relatives visited,
delicacies were cooked.
When father’s guest arrrived,
mother swelled and had a fit.”
—Punjabi proverb, trans. by Gurinder Singh Mann.
“The relatives of a suicide hold it against him that out of consideration for their reputation he did not remain alive.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)