Copula and Predicative Nominal

ZERO COPULA — the verbs TO BE or TO BE in the PRESENT indicative have NO morphological form of their own in Umbundu. The copular relationship is expressed by JUXTAPOSITION: subject and predicative stand side by side, with no word between them. RULE 1 — Present indicative with nominal predicate (be + noun): utima wange ove = my heart is yours (lit. heart my — yours) eye ulume = he is a man (lit. he — man) eye osoma = he is a king (lit. he — king) ame ngende = I am a traveler (lit. I — traveler) o-kuete oliesi = thou art lazy (lit. thou hast laziness = thou art lazy) RULE 2 — Predicate with a QUALIFYING ADJECTIVE: In this case the pronominal concord prefix of the noun's class is used (NOT zero copula): onjo i-ua = the house is good (Class 5, prefix i-) omu-nu u-ua = the person is good (Class 1, prefix u-) o-ngombe i-titu = the ox is small (Class 5, prefix i-) e-kapa li-nené = the potato is large (Class 3, prefix li-) RULE 3 — The verbal particle HA as copula (subject not expressed): ha ukai uange = it is my wife / she is my wife ha-li = it is / is here ha-ii = it is / is there ha-io = it is / is yonder RULE 4 — The verb KALA (oku-kala = to be / to be situated / to become) — use in: - PAST (proximate and remote): ame ndi-kala = I was; eye wa-kala = he was - LOCATIVE (be in a place): u-lume o-li-po = the man is there - BECOME (change of state): ndi-kala = I become / I remain Examples with kala: ame nd'-a-kala = I was / I used to be eye u-a-kala = he was etu tu-a-kala = we were o-lume o-li-po = the man is there o-mbua i-li-mo = the dog is here SUMMARY: Present + noun/pronoun -> zero copula (juxtaposition) Present + qualifying adjective -> class concord prefix Past / locative / become -> kala conjugated Subject omitted (it is ...) -> particle ha