Sanibona bakwethu!
Have you ever tried to express a comparison (ukuqhathanisa) ngesiZulu?
It’s a trap! 🪤
There’s only one truly comparative adjective in the whole language:
–ngcono (better, improved from sickness)
{PS. it’s actually a relative, not an adjective}
So how does isiZulu do the whole ‘big, bigger, biggest’; ‘good, better, best’ thing?
Firstly, it’s important to note ukuthi not all languages have the same ‘slots’ for concepts.
e.g. Mandarin doesn’t have a slot for tense. it uses a basic verb that it modifies with time adverbs (I eat today, I eat tomorrow, I eat yesterday)
Secondly, the important concept to understand first is the idea of the adjective ngesiZulu, and description more generally. Go to this link to see this covered in more depth: it will help you, especially if you scroll down to point 2.a.
Third: Once you understand the basic descriptions that are possible with isiZulu, you can use adverbs with those descriptions:
- le nto inkulu = this thing is big
- inkulu kakhulu = it is bigly big
- inkulu kancane = it is a little big
- lezi zinto zincane = these things are small
- zincane kakhulu = they are bigly small (very small)
- zincane kancane = they are a little small
In place of -k(h)ulu and -ncane you could just as easily use the other adjectives:
- inde kakhulu = it’s a very long thing
- imfushane kakhulu = it’s a very short thing
- zinhle kakhulu = they are very good things
- zimbi kakhulu = they are very bad things
Kakhulu can then indicate the superlative in terms of comparison:
- inde kakhulu = it’s the longest thing
- zinhle kakhulu = they are the best things
However, kancane does not indicate that something is less than the quality, only that it is that quality, but to a lesser extent.
So… how does isiZulu do ‘less than’ or ‘more than’?
It uses a construction which you might recognise if you have already looked at the notes about NA*. Specifically, it uses kuna*. Here are a few examples:
- le nto inkulu kunaleyo nto = this thing is bigger than that one [literally: this thing it-is-big it-plus-that thing]
- le nto incane kunaleyo nto = this thing is smaller than that one [literally: this thing it-is-small it-plus-that thing]
Here are some other examples with a less exploded view:
- inkulu kunami = it is bigger than me
- inja yami inkulu kuneyakho = my dog is bigger than yours
- inde kunawe = it is taller / longer than you
- imoto yami imfushane kuneyakhe = my car is shorter than hers
- mahle kunazo = the things are better / prettier than the other things
- zimbi kunabo = the things are worse / uglier than the people
If you’re paying attention, you’ve probably noticed that this construction uses a lot of small pieces of the language that carry a lot of referential power – these are called izabizwana (pronouns), and deserve an entire post all to themselves. In the list above, they are underlined.
You can see that this construction is clunky, and that it takes a lot of practice to make sure it makes the right references to the right things. But it is not impossible to get right, and it is actually very useful. Or at least, more useful than not having a slot for this particular concept. See what I did there? I’ll see myself out.
Stay tuned for more posts dealing with izabizwana and such things.