Sotho Verbs - Verbal Derivatives - Compounding of Extensions

Compounding of Extensions

A verb may assume more than one extension, giving it a correspondingly more complex meaning.

-sheba watch X ⇒ causative -shebisa cause Y to watch X ⇒ causative-applied -shebisetsa cause Y to watch X on behalf of Z ⇒ causative-applied-reciprocal -shebisetsana cause Y to watch X on behalf of each other

Though it may appear that the possibilities are endless, the truth is that the depth is limited by various factors. Apart from the obvious constraints of semantics (whether a complex meaning actually makes any sense and serves any possible purpose) and markedness (how strange and complex the verb sounds to the native speaker), there are also restrictions on the order of the extensions.

If an extension increases the valency of a verb, any objects of the original verb are demoted and the new object is made principal.

ke sheba masimo I watch the fields ⇒ ke shebisa bana masimo I cause the children to watch the fields ⇒ ke shebisetsa nkgono bana masimo I cause the children to watch the fields on behalf of the old woman (highly marked)

If an objectival concord is used instead of an object, the concord agrees with what would have been the principal object. Additionally, if the original object was also only indicated by an objectival concord, then it becomes demoted to an absolute pronoun (Sesotho verbs may only have one objectival concord).

ke a a sheba I watch them (masimo fields) ⇒ ke ba shebisisa ona I cause them (bana children) to watch them (masimo) ⇒ ke mo shebisisetsa bona ona I cause them (bana) to watch them (masimo) on behalf of her (nkgono grandmother, old woman) (highly marked)

(Note how the infix -a- disappears when the verb is followed by a direct object, even if it is not the object indicated by the concord.)

Like all other Bantu languages, Sesotho has inherited certain restrictions on the order of the extensions. The most basic rule (which is broken by very few languages) is that the passive and the short causative always follow all the other extensions (including the perfect -il-, which is always used with the final vowel -e). Although it is probable that Proto-Bantu had fairly strict restrictions on the order of the other extensions, these rules have been relaxed somewhat in modern Bantu languages.

For example, since the causative -is- is normally ordered closer to the verb stem than the reciprocal -an- (or indeed, most other extensions), to form the causative of the reciprocal the (dead) short causative (Proto-Bantu *-î-) is usually used instead, therefore palatalizing the reciprocal to -ny-. Various other unexpected palatalizations and alveolarizations brought on by combinations of the causative with other extensions may be similarly explained by the action of the short causative either replacing the normal causative, or being used together with the long causative around another extension (causative + other extension ⇒ -is- + other extension + *-î- ⇒ -is- + modified extension).

Certain extensions (intensive, perfective, associative, reversive, and augmentative) are obviously fossilised compound extensions. Often a derived verb may continue being used while the original verb disappears from the language.

Note that, since prefixes are of the shape CV or V (where C represents a consonant and V a vowel), verb roots end without the final vowel, prefixes are of the shape (VC)* (* indicates possible repetition) and the final vowel simply has shape V, this and other structures reinforce the open syllable structure of the Bantu languages, and very few languages have broken it.