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

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Resources for Self-Instructional Learners of Less Commonly Taught Languages Copyright © by University of Wisconsin-Madison Students in African 671 is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.