Rukiga-Runyankore
Focus Construction in Rukiga
Focus construction words are words that are used to emphasize a connection between one thing and another in a concise way. They are often about participating in something else. They hold meaning such as: “I am”, “you are”, “s/he is”, as well as “it is” or “they are” (for the various Rukiga non-human noun classes). These are often say in response to questions such as “who is going to the store” and you can hear the response “Nitwe” meaning “We are”.
As with much of the Rukiga language, noun class is key for which relative pronouns are used in a sentence. There are both positive and negative emphatics with the negatives taking on the negative “ti-“ prefix common in Rukiga.
The following are the Rukiga focus construction words for all of the noun classes:
| Emphatics | |||||||||
| Noun Classes | |||||||||
| Mu/Ba | Ki/Bi | Ku/Ma | Bu/Ma | Mu/Mi | Ri/Ma | Ru/N | Ka/Bu | N/N | |
| Positive | |||||||||
| I am | Niinye | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| You are | Niiwe | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| S/he / it is | Niwe | Nikyo | Nikwo | Nibwo | Nigwo | Niryo | Niryo | Niko | Niyo |
| We are | Nitwe | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| You (pl.) are | Niimwe | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| They are | Nibo | Nibyo | Nigo | Nigo | Niyo | Nigo | Nizo | Nibwo | Nizo |
| Negative | |||||||||
| I am not | Tiinye | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| You are not | Titwe | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| S/he / it is not | Tiwe | Tikyo | Tibwo | Tibwo | Tigwo | Tiryo | Tirwo | Tiko | Tiyo |
| We are not | Tiitwe | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| You (pl.) are not | Tiimwe | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| They are not | Tibo | Nibyo | Tigo | Tigo | Tiyo | Tigo | Tizo | Tibwo | Tizo |
