Ila language
| Ila | |
|---|---|
| Lundwe | |
| Native to | Zambia |
|
Native speakers
|
106,000 (2010 census) |
| Dialects |
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | Either: ilb – Ila shq – Sala |
| Glottolog |
ilaa1246 (Ila)sala1266 (Sala)
|
M.63,631–633 |
|
Ila (Chiila) is a language of Zambia. Maho (2009) lists Lundwe (Shukulumbwe) and Sala as distinct languages most closely related to Ila. Ethnologue reports that Sala is mutually intelligible with Tonga. Ila is one of the languages of the Earth included on the Voyager Golden Record.
We are told that quasi-musical pitch or tone is important as in many other languages, and is used to distinguish words from another. Stress is demonstrated by contrasting aze with stress on the first syllable ( = "with him") with aze with stress on the second syllable (= "he also").
Bemba: IMFIFI - darkness; Kisanga: mfinshi - darkness; and Bulu (Ewondo): "dibi" - darkness.
Words in English such as "Splash!", "Gurgle", "Ker-putt" express ideas without the use of sentences. Smith and Dale point out that this kind of expression is very common in the Ila language:
You may say Ndamuchina anshi ("I throw him down"), but it is much easier and more trenchant to say simply Ti!, and it means the same.
Some examples:
As in many other languages, Ila uses a system of noun classes. Either the system as presented by Smith and Dale is simpler than that for Nyanja, ChiChewa, Tonga, or Bemba, or the authors have skated over the complexities by the use of the category "significant letter":
The locatives form a special category:
Thus:
The root is the part of the verb giving the primary meaning. To this can be added prefixes and suffixes: many elements can be united in this way, sometimes producing long and complex polysyllabic verb words. For example, from the root anga, "to tie", we can derive such a form as Tamuchinakubaangulwilanzhi? meaning, "Why have you still not untied them?"
Prefixes can show:
Suffixes can show:
Here are some of the forms of the verb kubona, "to see". (Note that there are also negative forms, e.g. ta-tu-boni, "we do not see", that there is also a subjunctive mood, a conditional mood, a jussive mood and the imperative. Many subjunctive forms end in -e.
The root of the verb is in two forms:
The above English renderings are approximate.
Certain suffixes add new dimensions of meaning to the root. Although these follow some logic, we again have to feel a way towards an adequate translation into English or any other language:
These can be used in composites: e.g. langidizha - to cause to look on behalf of.
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