Vowel Harmony

§23. VOWEL HARMONY

Umbundu exhibits a system of vowel harmony: suffixes adjust their vowel quality
to match the final vowel of the stem to which they are attached.

RULE: If the stem's final vowel is CLOSE (i or u), the suffix vowel is also close.

If the stem's final vowel is OPEN (a, e, or o), the suffix vowel is open.

APPLICATION TO VERB SUFFIXES:

Stem ending in a, e, or o → use suffix with e: feta (pay) → past remote: fet-ele tala (look) → past remote: tal-ele mona (see) → past remote: mon-ene

Stem ending in i or u → use suffix with i: tambula (receive) → past remote: tambul-ile lila (cry) → past remote: lil-ile tuma (send) → past remote: tum-ine

APPLICATION TO NOMINAL SUFFIXES:
The same principle governs the form of locative, causative, and relative suffixes.

oku-longisa (teach) → causative: -isa (close, because i is close) oku-feta (pay) → causative: -isa (adjusted)