Lesson: Putting Together Adjectives and Possessive Adjectives

A. Introduction:

For this exercise, we are going to focus on putting a pair of different pieces together from previous lessons. In this particular lesson, we are going to work on combining both adjectives and possessive adjectives through composing short phrases in Rukiga.  This would be relevant for both writing and speaking Rukiga for new learners.

Before we begin, the learner should review the two former lessons: Common Rukiga Adjectives and Possessive Rukiga Adjectives. These lessons will form the basis of this exercise.

A few points to remember:

• The noun class should be consistent throughout the phrases we will work on; the noun class is determined by the noun being used.
• The possessive adjective may go either after the noun or after the noun + adjective. Both are acceptable.
• Remember that the adjectives may have contractions based on the noun class.

B. Instructions:

1. Review the aforementioned lessons as well as the aforementioned points to remember.
2. Review the provided examples below.
3. Using the examples as well as the two former lessons noted above, complete the practice sentences through either writing in Rukiga or translating from Rukiga to English.

C. Examples:

1. Abaana barungi bangye 

•  Abaana means “children” and is in the “Mu-Ba” noun class. This noun class must be consistent, so “ba-” becomes the prefix for “-rungi”, meaning good/beautiful, as well as “-angye” meaning “mine” (either using “aa” or only “a” is acceptable in this construction).  Thus, we have the translation in English of “my good/beautiful children”.

2. Using the noun ebijuma (Ki-Bi class; meaning “fruits” or “seeds”), how would you say “your (singular) many fruits”?

• While if we have the noun already, we need to figure out what both of the possessive adjective and the adjective are. So, the root for “many” in Rukiga is “-ingi” and if we need it in the Ki-Bi class, recognizing that ebijuma is plural, this would add the prefix of “bi-” to “-ingi”. Thus we get “bingi” (the two “i’s” collapse into one”.). Next we look for the suffix for your (singular): -awe. And using the same noun class prefix “bi-” as well as the contraction rules (here I will share them bi+a(we) becomes “byawe“, we get the following as the complete sentence:
  • Ebijuma byawe bingi

Let us practice!