Zambezia (1982), X (il).SOME ASPECTS OF THE IDEOPHONE IN NDEBELEJ. ZONDODepartment of African Languages and Literature, University of ZimbabweMANY LINGUISTS HAVE written on the ideophone; and the major emphasis seemsto be laid on its phonological and morphological features, to the consequent neglectof semantic and syntactic features. Von Staden, however, has thrown considerablelight on the ideophone in Zulu; and, because of the close relationship of Zulu toNdebele, most of the features of the ideophone that he analyses in Ms article arerelevant to any discussion of Ndebele ideophones.1 But rather than repeat VonStaden's approach this article will discuss a feature which Von Staden seems not tohave examined to maximum effect, the syntactic feature of the ideophone. Somelight will be thrown on the semantic feature of the ideophone in Ndebele alongsidethe syntactic analysis. A socio-linguistic treatment will be given towards the end ofthe article, and an appendix, less detailed, will also be given on the phonologicaland morphological features of the ideophone in Ndebele.SYNTAXThere are many constructions in which ideophones are used in Ndebele, Some ofthe constructions have been pursued by Von Staden in Ms article on Zuluideophones. The constructions which he has left out and which seem to be widelyused in Ndebele will be discussed below.1. One of the commonest constructions in Ndebele in which ideophones are usedis when a descriptive stem inflected by a subjectival concord of noun class 17 fkufprecedes an ideophone:(1) Kumnyama tshu. (It is really dark.)Kubomvu gebhu. (It is really red.)Kumhlophe nice. (It is really white.)Kuluhlaza tshoko. (It is really green.)The subjectival concord of class 17 fkul bears a high tone in each of the fourcombinations above where it is a constitutent. The inherent high tone is aninflectional mode. The inflection process turns the whole expression into acopulative. The ideophone in the expression has a copulative usage. It serves therole of highlighting and dramatizing, in each respective example, darkness,redness, whiteness or greenness; the ideophones used for these three items are,respectively, /tshu/, /gebhu/, /nke/ and /tshoko/.1 P.M.S. von Staden, 'Some remarks on ideophones in Zulu', African Studies, (1977), XXXVI,195-224,111112IDEOPHONE IN NDEBELEIn each of the instances where an ideophone appears in the above examples, itis an expression of quality, somewhat defining the substance that the speaker orhearer is confronted with. It can be said then that the ideophone in the constructionis an intensity morpheme clearly delineating the quality of the features underdescription, adding a punch and clarity of expression not provided by any othergrammatical feature. The vividness of expression can easily be noticed in theexamples below as the intensity of description mounts from the identificativecopulative, to a reduplicated ideophone appearing after the same descriptive:(2) a. Kumnyama. (It is dark.)b. Kumnyama tshu. (It is really dark.)c. Kumnyama tshu tshu. (It is extremely dark.)(3) a. Kubomvu. (It is red.)b. Kubomvu gebhu. (It is really red.)c. Kubomvu gebhu gebhu. (It is bright red.)The type of darknessŠthat known by a rural population unacquainted withthe blessing of electric lighting, expressed by (2) b and (2) c, is so obvious and soconcrete when expressed through the medium of an ideophone that it cannot escapeeven the most casual reader. Examples (2) b and (2) c are expressions usedrespectively of a summer night when storm clouds are either quietly or threaten-ingly floating in a rural sky. Prefixing the class 17 subjectival concord to thedescriptive stem and adding an ideophone after the inflected forms makes the wholeexpression an identificative copulative ideophonic clause.2. The copulative inflection of a descriptive is still the base for the secondappearance of an ideophone to be treated here. The ideophone in the construction isintroduced by the verb l-thil. The radical l-thil has an element of perpetual 'doing*in it, be it in the past, present or future tense; in fact, it appears in many instanceswhere ideophones are used, and it seems to carry the function of introducing,stating the dramatic element within the ideophone. It is to be noticed also that theverb l-thil carries all forms of inflection on behalf of the ideophone. It is themedium through which the mood, the tense, aspect, positive and negative nature ofthe ideophones are expressed. Since it has the undeniable cordial relationship withthe ideophone the verb l-thil is therefore used in the copulative inflectedideophonic clauses.(4) Kumnyama kuthe tshu. (It is extremely dark.)Kubomvu kuthe gebhu. (It is extremely red.)Kumhlophe kuthe nke. (It is extremely white.)Kuluhlaza kuthe tsfaoko. (It is extremely green.)What can be noticed from the outset is the verb l-thil adds to theintensification in the meaning of the ideophone in the four expressions above. Inother words, the ideophone together with the verb l-thil expresses all there is toJ. ZONDO113blackness, redness, whiteness, etc. The quality of each of the colours is made morevivid and made far more obvious than if there was no usage of the two constituents.Once again the ideophone can be repeated adding even further colour to thequalities under description. One can notice in the examples below the mounting ofthe descriptive quality from a minimal to a maximal quality:(5) a. Kumnyama. (It is dark.)b. Kumnyama tshu. (It is really dark.)c. Kumnyama kuthe tshu. (It is extremely dark.)d. Kumnyama kuthe tshu tshu. (It is excessively dark.)(6) a. Kubomvu. (It is red.)b. Kubomvu gebhu. (It is really red.)c. Kubomvu kuthe gebhu. (It is extremely red.)d. Kubomvu kuthe gebhu gebhu, (It is excessively red.)In terms of structure this construction consists of the following constituents:copulative descriptive + /-thi/ + ideophone.The verb I-thi I and the descriptive are in concordial agreement. The concordanceis brought about by the subjectival concord of noun class 17 l-kul. The openingdescriptive and the accompanying verb make a clause which is eventuallycompleted by an ideophone.The verb I-thi I in the expressions above is in the perfect tense using one of theallomorphic forms of the perfect tense, the vowel l-el. The verb phrase /kuthe/ ineach of the expressions above thus describes the ideophone, in the perfect. The'extreme' or the 'excessive' nature of each quality under description is in a state ofcompleteness. It is a state that has obtained, perpetuating itself in the context ofobservation.To emphasize the vividness of description of the perfect tense verb /-the/bears a high tone in its two elements Iku-I and /-the/. The inflected verb cantherefore be described as a sequence of high tones. It bears the emphatic pitch that Isa major feature of introducing ideophones. After the articulation of the verb/kuthe/ there is a general pause made by the speaker before the ideophone can beuttered. It may be noticed that prosodically ideophones bear their own tones anddisplay their own pitch variations in any form of expression. If, for example, theyare high-toned and utterance-final, they will still bear their high tone, so violatingthe general rules of tone in Ndebele:(7) a. Kumhlophe kuthe. (It is extremely white.)b. Kumnyama kuthe tshu. (It is extremely dark.)c. Kuluhlaza kuthe tshoko. (It is extremely green.)Each of the examples in (7) has an ideophone bearing a high tone. Theideophones are utterance-final yet each one of them bears a high tone. The generalrule in Ndebele is that an item that is utterance-final in any sentence experiences a114IDEOPHONE IN NDEBELEdowndrift intonation in the process of articulation. In other words the ideophones in(7) ought to be bearing some form of realization of low tone, or a high tone graduallybecoming lower if the utterance is more than one syllable.3. The subjectival concord of class 17 is not used only with descriptives tocombine with an ideophone, but also appears with verbs in the perfect tense. It willstill be prefixal in nature:(8) Kugcwele. (It is full.)Kuthule. (It is quiet.)Kuqondile. (It is straight.)Kuyalekile. (It is shut.)As is evident in the examples in (8), the IkuŠI carries a high tone which, as has beenstated earlier, is an inflectionary mode. All the verbs are in the perfect tense, usingthe terminal morphemes, /-He/ and l-el. To dramatize the degree of finality ofaction, quality, state, etc. in most forms of the perfect verb, an ideophone can beadded immediately after the copulative inflected perfect verb. It is also possible tointroduce the ideophone with the perfect form of the verb l-thil i.e. I kuthe I:(9) Kugcwele phamu. (It is really full.)Kuthule zwi. (It is very quiet.)Kuqonde nta. (It is So straight.)Kuvaleke ngci. (It is totally shut.)Kugcwele kuthe phamu. (It is full to the brim.)Kuthule kuthe zwi. (It is deadly quiet.)Kuqonde kuthe nta. (It is excessively straight.)Kuvaleke kuthe ngci. (It is undeniably shut.)The examples in (9) once again show the emphasis in meaning that is brought aboutby the inclusion of the perfect /kuthe/ in the expressions.However, IkuŠI is not used only with the perfect form of the verb. It can beused with the participial mood of the verb in the present tense, after which anideophone is added:(10) Kugcwala phamu ... (It fills up . . .)Kuthula zwi ... (It becomes quiet . . .)Kuqonda nta ... (It becomes straight. . .)Kuvaleka ngci ... (It closes up . . . ).Naturally, the verb l-thil can follow the participial clause, and in this case it willalmost always be in the present tense:(11) Kugcwala kuthi phamu ... (It fills to the brim . . .)Kuthula kuthi zwi ... (It becomes deadly quiet. . .)Kuqonda kuthi nta ... (It becomes really straight. . .)Kuvaleka kuthi ngci ... (It closes tight . . .).J. ZONDO115Most other forms of verbs can appear before an ideophone with or without theverb l-thil. In each appearance of the verb in its mood and tense, the verb l-thilwill change prosodically according to that mood and tense before the ideophonecan be introduced:(12) a. Kwdgcwala phamu. (It filled up.)Kwdgcwala kwdthi phamu, (It really filled up.)b. Kuzagcwala phamu. (It will fill up.)Kuzagcwala kuthi phamu. (It will fill to the brim.)c. Kusagcwala kusathi phamu, (It is filling up.)Kusagcwala phamu, (It is filling up to the brim.) * brim.)d. Kusagcwala phamu, (When it was still filling up.)Kusagcwala kusathi phamu. (When it was still really filling up.)24, Another construction where an ideophone is used is after an inflected form ofthe absolute pronoun. Fortune has made an interesting note on the form in Shona,to the effect that, 'Irrespective of the topic being discussed ... the invariable formndiye is used, never ndiro, ndiyo, &., as one might have expected, with thesubstitutes agreeing with the topics.'3 He goes on to point out that the ideophoee inShona can appear also after the inflected form ndiko, an inflected form of theabsolute pronoun substitute of class 15.What might be true for Shona does not seem to hold for Ndebele. Each of theseventeen noun classes in Ndebele has an equivalent inflected form of the absolutepronoun substitute. An ideophone can be used after each one of the absolutepronoun inflections. The absolute pronoun can be inflected in several ways inNdebele, by an associative morpheme /la-/:(13) laye (with him)lazo (with them)laso (with it)lakho (with it)or by a locative morpheme Iku-I \(14) kubo (where they are)kulo (where it is)kuye (where he is)kuwe (where you are)cp. vena (Mm)cp. zona (them)cp. sona (it)cp. khona (it)cp. bona (them)cp. lona (it)cp. yena (Mm)cp. wena (you)2 Ooe might notice as well, after looking closely at the examples above, that Iku-I, when used withdescriptives, does not show any aJlomorphic forms. But when it is used with verbs it displays severalaJlomorphic forms, /few-/ before vowel-commencing radicals of la-/, le-l, liŠl shapes and before pasttense verbs, lk~l before radicals commencing with hi, and /«/; Iku-I before most forms of radicals ofany syllabic form:Kw- agcwala phamu. (It filled up.)KwŠ eqa ntshompo. (It is jumping.)K- oma qha. (It is drying up.)Ku- gewele phamu. (It is really full.)3G. Fortune, Ideophones in Shona (London, Oxford Univ. Press, 1962), 11.116iDEGPHONE IN NDEBELEor with copulative morphemes lyi-l and Ingu-I:(15) Nguye. (It is him.)Yiso. (It is it.)Nguwe. (It is you.)Yizo. (It is them.)cp. yena (him)cp. sona (it)cp. wena (you)cp. zona (them).In each of these examples, when the absolute pronoun is inflected by, for anexample, lla-l of association, Iku-I of location, Ingu-I or lyi-l copulativemorphemes, it loses, elides or drops one of its essential elements l-nal, which is apronoun 'stabilizer' that helps the pronoun to form a phonological word of twosyllables capable of carrying the penultimate accent.The last of these three inflections summarized above is also used as anideophonic base. Where Shona uses ndiye for nearly all the topics beingdiscussed, Ndebele uses all the substitutes that agree with the topic:(16) Persons: Yimi lothu. (I stood up; lit., it was I, standing up.)Nguye hiasi. (He grabs; lit., it is him, grabbing.)Yiyo lavu. (It burns; it is burning.)Nguwe zwi. (You keep quiet; lit., it is you, keeping quiet.)(17) Animals Yilo phoqo. (It [the stick] breaks; lit, it is the stickbreaking.)Yithi goje. (We [the dogs] drink; lit, it is us, drinking up.)Yiso fohlo. (It [the basket] breaks; lit, it is it, breaking.)Yizo xhafuxhafu. (They [the dogs] eat; lit, it is them,eating.)When used in the examples in (16) and (17) the ideophone, through the inflectedform of the absolute pronoun, directs particular attention to the subject(s)performing a particular action. The centre of attraction becomes the subject, andthe activity of the subject, through the agent of the ideophone, tops the attraction.In many uses of this form of construction, a verb in the participial mood is oftenplaced after the ideophone. The ideophone as usual would be dramatizing theaction described by the verb it precedes:(18) Nguye, mpuntshu, ephuma. (He jumps out)Yizo fahla, zisephuka. (The sticks break.)Yithi gojegoje, sinatha. (We drink the beer.)Yini zwi, lithula. (You keep quiet.)Two verbs in the participal mood can be used after the ideophone. The firstverb earns its vividness from the ideophone. The second verb is usually a statementof what takes or has taken place after the initial dramatic activity:J. ZONDO117(19) Nguye lothu, esukuma ehamba, (He stands up and leaves.)Yizo muu, zikhala zingena esibayeni. (The cows low, and get intothe kraal.)Yithi ntshobe, singena sisithela. (We get in and disappear into thecave.)Yiwo lavu, ulumatha ubhebha. (The fire catches, crackles and burns.)In many other cases, the participial verb coming after the ideophone, takes itsown adjuncts and complements which aid in defining and clarifying the drama thathas been introduced by the ideophone in terms of time, place, manner, and so on asthe situation demands.Since in the majority of cases ideophones are used after the verb /-thi/, theverb seems to intrude now and then in the construction under description:(20) Yizo zisithi mini. (They [the cows] are lowing.)Nguye esithi lothu. (He is standing up.)Yiwo usithi lavu. (The fire is burning.)Yithi sisithi ntshobe. (We are getting in.)After the ideophone, the verb in the participial can come in with its variousobjects, adjuncts and complements. What one notices about the usage of theintroduction verb lŠihi/ is that it comes immediately after the inflection of theabsolute pronoun. The verb in this instance is inflected by the participial subjectconcord and the infix /-si-/:(21) S(f + Si + Rthi (lit., him, doing)(hi (lit., them, doing)(hi (lit., it, doing)thi (lit,, us, doing).The introduction of the verb further directs attention to the action, pin-pointing thedrama within the action which is finalized in the ideophone.It is interesting to note that the ideophone can be used after the copulativelyinflected noun where it takes the place of a verb:(22) Ngumuntu lothu. (The person stands; lit., it is the person standing.)Yinja xhaka. (The dog, it bites; lit., it is the dog biting.)Yimvu mee. (The sheep bleats; lit, it is the sheep bleating.)Ngumvundla ndzwe. (The hare dodges; lit, it is the hare dodging.)In each of the cases where an ideophone is used after a copulatively inflectednoun, attention is directed both to the subject in action and to the action performedby that subject. After the ideophone a wide range of adjuncts and complements cancome but the most variously used is the verb in the participial mood. As has alreadybeen pointed out, the participial verb can be in many forms, as in the examplesin (19).eziusisisisisi118IDEOPHONE IN NDEBELEThe absolute pronoun substitute, inflected, cannot be assigned to a specialclass for use with a variety of topics in Ndebele. Instead, the inflection of any otherclass combines with a wide variety of ideophones to express the topic underdiscussion. The possibilities are as wide as the number of pronoun prefixes. And, ashas been noted, in a wide variety of cases the copulatively inflected noun canprecede an ideophone in the third type of ideophone construction that has beenisolated.5. Another construction in Ndebele in which ideophones appear is oneintroduced by a demonstrative copulative, second position:(23) Nampo gozololo. (They sit down.)Nanso hlephu. (The bread breaks; lit., there is the bread breaking.)Nanko mbo. (It covers; lit., there it is covering.)Nanzo bhazalala. (The sheep sleep; lit., there they are the sheepsleeping.)Since the ideophone takes the place of the verb in this construction, it doeseverything that a verb would have done in that context. In other words, the contextof the activity performed by the subject of the expression can be deduced only fromthe ideophone. The demonstrative copulative identifies the subject and theideophone embellishes the identification by stating the action of the subject.The demonstrative copulative does identify the subject of the expression, but,to further emphasize the subject of the topic in the clauses, a noun is sometimesplaced after the ideophone. The noun has an initial vowel which particularizes thesubject of reference:(24) Nanso hlephu, isinkwa. (The bread breaks.)Nanko mbo, umthombo. (The well covers up.)Nanzo bhazalala, izimvu. (The sheep go to sleep.)Nanto ntshobe, igwababa. (The lizard goes in.)The copulative demonstrative is made up of a copulative indicator NaN plus theprefix-proper of a noun class and a second position morpheme l-ol. This use of theideophone in fact makes the noun redundant, as is evident in the examples in (23).However, the noun is hinted at and can be guessed from the prefix-proper within thedemonstrative copulative. It might be noted that the prefix-proper will be in severalallophonic forms which are determined by the morphophonemic changes broughtabout by the combination of the second nasal in NaN and the commencingconsonant of the prefix-proper:e.g. NaN + PP + 0(0 = position 2 morpheme)(25) a. nan Šsi Š o (cl. 7) nanso (there it is) with elision of/-/-/,b. nan Š mu Š o (cl. 1) nango (there he is) with consonantali-zation of l-m-l into l-g-l and elisionof l-u-l.J. ZONDO119c. nan Š mu Š o (d. 3) nanko (there it is) with consonantali-zation of l-m-l into l-k-l and elisionof/-«-/.d. nan Š zi Š o (cl. 10) nanzo (there they are) with elision ofThe phonemes I-si-1 in 'a', l-g-l in V, l-k-l in 'c', and l-z-l in 'd' all hint to thepossible noun that can be used with any sentence involving these demonstrativecopulatives. One can use isitha for 'a', umuntu for 'b\ umuzi for 'c', and izinto for'd'. The respective phonemes Is/, Igl, Ikl, and /zl will all be allomorphic formsof the class affixes l-sil in isitha (cl. 7), f-mu-l in umuntu (cl. 1), /-mu-/ in umuzi(cl. 3), and f-zi-l in izinto (cl. 10). The ideophone, appearing after a demonstrativecopulative, can be followed by a radical in the participial mood, and usually in thepresent tense:(26) Nango pfaunyu, ezihambela uMvundla. (Mr Hare slips and goes away.)Nanso bhazalala, izilalela inyoka. (The snake sleeps.)Nanto ntshobe, lingena ebhalwini igwababa. (The lizard gets intothe cave.)Nanzo vadla, zisephuka izigodo. (The sticks break.)What can be of particular interest in the examples in (26) is that each one of thesentences has a postponed subject: respectively, uMvundla (Hare), inyoka(snake), igwababa (lizard) and izigodo (the sticks). All four subjects have beenrelegated to the extreme right. Usually in Ndebele, the four elements would havebeen given a position of prominence since they are the headwords of the fourexamples above. But they have been delayed in realization adding a punch to thefact that, in each one of the examples of the type in (26), prominence is being placedon the ideophone and its ability to clarify the activity of the subject. There is nodoubt that in the examples in (26) there is more of the dramatization of action than aqualification of the four respective delayed or postponed subjects. It is becomingmuch clearer at this stage that there is more predication within an ideophone thanhas been recognized previously. This is clearly demonstrated in the first exampleabove, where there is greater emphasis on how the hare 'slips' than on what it is, andin the second, where there is more emphasis on how the snake 'sleeps' than on whatit is; and so on.6. A further construction in which ideophones appear is in the infinitive usage.The verb in this usage is inflected by the infinitive morpheme luku-f meaning 'todo'. The ideophone is usually placed immediately after the verb in the infinitivemood:(27) Ukudingadinga nya, umvundla, (To look for the hare [is] never to findit.)Ukuzonda, zwi abantu ukuphendula. (He gets angry but the peoplekeep quiet and do not answer him.)120IDEOPHONE IN NDEBELEUkuphunyuka, phunyu, ezihambela. (He becomes free from the gripand moves away.)Ukuhlasela falase! (To attack!)Ukuthi lothu, umfana. (The boy stands up.)Ukuthi dlepfau! (Scratching.)Each of the examples needs some form of comment.In the first, the noun umvundla (hare) is the postponed subject of thesentence. Prominence is given to the search and the subsequent climax of thatsearchŠnot finding the hare. The ideophone in the expression helps to highlight thenegative result of the search. In its context in the story from which the example wastaken, the ideophone helps toward revealing the desperate and highly chargedemotions resulting from the obvious trickery that the hare has played on the searchparty.The second uses an ideophone zwi. But its infinitive counterpart is the secondverb ukuphendula (to answer). The ideophone explains the sudden keeping quietof the people. It serves to show the sharp contrast between the man confronted bythe seemingly mute crowd. His deep anger is contrasted with the seeminglyemotionless stance of the crowd.The ideophone phunyu in the third example is the basis for the infinitive verbukuphunyuka by the suffixing of l-kal. Its inclusion in the sentence helps todramatize the manner in which the boy, man, etc. has freed himself from the grip.Notice that the ideophone in the expression is followed by a verb ezihambela(going), in the participial mood.The ideophone Mase (attacking) in the fourth example is also the basis for theinfinitive verb ukuhlasela (to attack) and works toward intensifying the 'attack'action.The two remaining examples use the infinitive form of the verb lŠthil which,as has been noted earlier, invariably introduces a wide range of syntacticappearances of ideophones. A postponed subject can be used, as in ukuthi lothuumfana. The visual impression, and the conceptual impressions, brought about bythis usage, can elude even the most casual reader in the actual context ofideophonic usage.Since an ideophone can appear after the above mood, the nonfiniteinfinitive, it can also appear after another of the nonfinite moods, the imperative:(28) Valeka ngcl! (Close tightly!)Manzisa te! (Wet completely!)Vuleka gengelezi! (Open widely!)Bopha mfi! (Tie tightly!)In each of the examples in (28), the ideophone has an adverbial usage, where it isactually an adverbial modifier of the preceding imperative verb. There seems to bea major emphasis on the ideophone when it appears in the imperative context. ItJ, ZONDO121seems to express the high pitch of command and can be called the height ofimperative expression.In the syntax where the ideophone has been analysed, it seems to give itselfprominence as a means of highlighting an action: it dramatizes and gives particularcolour to the activity of which it is a predicate. It is, therefore, that element ofgrammatical drama that enriches the expressive system of the Ndebele language. Itis the boiling point of action. It is a predicate of profound effect on the stracture ofthe language.THE SEMANTIC FEATURE -IYAN1(E)Von Staden has given about three short paragraphs on the form -iyani(e). Heprefers to call it an intensity morpheme because he feels that it 'has a semanticaspect of intensity'.4 It never appears with verbs and can, therefore, be called anideophonizing morpheme. From a number of examples considered in Ndebele, themorpheme does not seem to have the semantic aspect that Von Staden has used ofit. The item 'intensity' suggests some magnitude of strength, force, or energy.Indeed, Von Staden seems to have the same idea in mind. He gives two examples ofthe -iyani(e) forms compared to their verbal counterparts: -phela (get finished),-pheliyani (get completely finished); -bona (see), boniyani (of seeing well). Hegoes on to suggest thatpheliyani and boniyani, as ideophones, can be consideredas deverbative derivatives, the intensity morpheme -iyani being suffixed to theverbal root. True enough, the items will be seen to be deverbative since Šiyani(e) isattached to the radical minus its terminal vowel. But the idea of intensity does notappear to go at all well with this form of ideophone.Whenever an -iyani(e) ideophone appears in Ndebele, it always has thesemantic aspect of suddenness. It always indicates an element of surprise in theturn of events and the -iyani(e) form has always been used as the grammatical formwhich best captures the essence of the turn. The suddenness of the occasion, turn ofevents, etc., is always accompanied by an element of ease. There is a possibility of'swiftness' in the action. Thus -iyani(e) is an element expressing a total contrast tocrowd, audience, hearer, expectationsŠintroducing ease to an action which mighthave otherwise been thought of as taxing, difficult to achieve and/or perform.In fact the examples given by Von Staden in illustration of his viewpoint andthe present author's understanding of those examples plainly indicate that the-iyani(e) form has, to a large extent, been labelled somewhat carelessly. Pheliyaniand boniyani in the context in which they are used by Von Staden mean 'getsuddenly finished' and 'seeing swiftly', and not 'get completely finished' and 'ofseeing well', as Von Staden suggests.The -iyani(e) forms can be considered in the light of this article as a seventhform of construction in which ideophones are used. As Von Staden has said, the4 Yon Staden, "Some remarks on Ideophones in Zulu', 207.122IDEOPHONE IN NDEBELE-iyani(e) form is suffixed to a verbal root. The verb will usually be in the imperativemood. The ideophone of this nature is a stable form. It conveys a complete thought.It is used independently without any aid of object, subject, modifier, or verb etc. Inits context, it expresses all there is to the turn of events independently of any otherforms. It is sentential in its own way.It is very difficult in Ndebele to point out with absolute certainty thoseideophones which have been derived from verbs. With the l-iyani(e) suffix,however, it becomes possible to identify absolutely deverbative derivatives. Everyverb in Ndebele is capable of being turned into an ideophone by suffixing/-iyani(e)/ to it, but in context:(29) pheliyane (get surprisingly finished)dobhiyane (pick suddenly)dluliyane (pass easily)fihliyane (hide swiftly)tshayiyani (hit swiftly)balekiyani (run away easily)valiyani (close suddenly)dubuliyani (shoot surprisingly)cp. phela (get finished)cp. dobha (pick)cp. dlula (pass)cp.fihla (hide)cp. tshaya (hit)cp. baleka (run away)cp. vala (close)cp. dubula (shoot).The l~iyani(e)l forms are definitely an effective means of identifying themorphemic element within deverbative derivatives.SOCIO-LINGUISTIC ASPECTS OF IDEOPHONESIdeophones can be considered as an element of discourse. Wherever they appear ina discussion, the narration of an event, a story, or an incident in a sermon, in adrinking session, in fact in a wide variety of situations where language is used, theideophones are an essential part of that speech event.It is obvious, therefore, that the use of ideophones in any speech eventrequires a certain sophistication of linguistic competence of both speaker andhearer. The speaker or hearer needs to know when to bring in the ideophone whichis the linguistic variable within the discourse. The acquired linguistic rules ofideophone usage need to be put into appropriate use with, of course, a wide varietyof other rales that make the innate grammar of a community.At the same time both ought to know the social situation when any form ofideophone may be applied. The status of each individual engaged in the discourseought to be known or presumed with safety. The profound influence of outlook andpersonality of each ought to be mutually recognized and appreciated before anyeffective usage of an ideophone can be established. The social skills which permitan appropriate choice of code elements so as to facilitate the process ofcommunication should be known. Most of all, the ideophone in usage should to alarge extent be known to both speaker and hearer: it should be within the repertoireof both. Thus, all that each needs to do in an information-exchange situationJ, ZONDO123involving ideophones is to see to it that the ideophone to be used is possible,appropriate to the situation, and feasible. The success of the ideophone in its importwill, therefore, be dependent on the individual systems of speaker and hearer, andon the shared socio-linguistic systems of both. There is a need, therefore, for aconvergent communication.To a wide extent, the convergent system depends on the gestures thataccompany the use of ideophones. The gesture, which almost always accompaniesan ideophone, is a direct indication that socio-linguistic competence, is not all thatis needed in ideophone usage, i.e., communicative competence, but para-linguisticcompetence as well. Gesture and body movement are of vital importance to theoverall semantic import of an ideophone. It is of profound necessity, therefore, forthe speaker and hearer to be imbued with adequate competence to know that thegesture is possible, appropriate, and feasible in an information-exchange situation.The element of gesture has been pursued by Kunene.5 The gesture can even replacean ideophoneŠa clear-cut indication of the necessity of adequate knowledge ofboth ideophone and social etiquette prior to actual application of the knowledge.The gesture element clearly suggests that speaker and hearer are both actorsand observers in an information-exchange situation in which ideophones are used.As a predicative element that colours, dramatizes, clarifies an action, an ideophone,therefore, demands a situation that calls for performance. The speaker is as much aperformer in the circumstances as a hearer is an observer. There is more to it,therefore, than uttering an ideophone. Apart from a possible appropriate gesture,the ideophone might be accompanied by an equally appropriate tone pattern. Thevoice-quality directly contributes toward the overall effect of the ideophone. Inthe situation, event, or context in which it is used, the ideophone might carry a greatweight of meaning on its own, in total isolation, because an appropriate voicequality would have been used in the circumstances.It becomes possible, therefore, in an article on the ideophone in Ndebele, notto give the most appropriate meaning to an ideophone. Its exact meaning might bedependent on context. The appropriate mental response, the feedback, expected ofthe hearer is as much determined by the ideophone as it is by the situation and thespeaker in any information-exchange situation.CONCLUSIONSpeakers able to exploit a wide range of ideophones, therefore, are effective incommunicating the semantic and dramatic aspects of a language situation whichdepend on a repertoire shared by speaker and hearer, and on the linguistic andsocial competence, and the para-linguistic competence, of both. Notably, theideophone provides such an element of drama, colour and intensity in predication,5D.P. Kunene, 'The ideophones in Southern Sotho:l', Journal of African Languages (1965),IV, 19-39.124IDEOPHONE IN NDEBELEthat it can be termed the grammatical element that dramatizes the familiar life-situation. The element of dramatization is so imbued with ideophone, and is so wellexpressed by ideophone that Kunene has decided that they should be called'dramalogues'.6 And what better term can be used of them?AppendixA BMEF SURVEY OF NDEBELE IDEOPHONESPhonologyIdeophones are of a varied syllabic nature:Monosyllabic forms:du (keeping quiet)zwi (keeping quiet)nta (straightness)ntwe (gliding)pho (hitting on the head)mbo (covering).Disyllabic forms:bhidi (falling)chifi (bashing)cibi (treading on foot)ntshobe (disappearing)takla (falling)gebhu (redness).Trisyllabic forms:gamanxa (filling up to three-quarters of)chaphatsha (splashing)phaphapha (flapping of wings)yekethi (weakness).Quadrisyllable forms:botoboto (softness)bhalakaxa (falling sprawling out)chaphachapha (splashing)vutshalala (falling weak)xhafuxhafu (chewing)bhadalala (falling).Exotic forms:bham (bang, e.g. of gun)prrrr (flying, e.g. of a bird)mprrrr (flying, e.g. of a bird)brrrr (flapping of wings, etc.).Onomatopoeic forms:nyewunyewu! (meowing)o-i-o-i-o-i-o-i-o-i! (braying)., 33.J. ZONDO125kikiligili! (crowing)wowu wowu wowu! (barking)dududu! (roaring, e.g. of motorcycle)tshiyo tshiyo! (cackling, e.g. of chicken).Tendency toward assonance:phaqa (breaking)wathalala (spreading out)pheqe (turning)khehlekhehle (noisy passage, e.g. of old cart)dinsi (sitting down heavily)nikilili (spreading all over)phoqo (breaking)votshololo (sitting down heavily)vumbu (emerging)dluthudluthu (snatching).MorphologyReduplication:khihlikhihli (concerted crying)vumbuvumbu (incessant emergence)xhafuxhafu (rapid chewing)t ha la t ha la (sudden looking in all directions)nephunephu (concerted struggle)didididi (running in all directions).Ideophonizing morpheme:/-i/ with verb derivationdlali (playing)futhi (throwing away)dobhi (picking)hlasi (looking)Šiyani(e) with verb derivativesdobhiyane (picking)boniyani (seeing)dubuliyane (shooting)bondiyani (stirring)hlomiyane (sticking in)valiyani (closing)cp. dlala (play)cp.futha (throw away)cp. dobha (pick)cp. hlasela (look).cp. dobha (pick)cp. bona (see)cp. dubula (shoot)cp. bonda (stir)cp. hloma (stick in)cp, vala (close).Derivation of verbs from ideophones (by suffixing of l-kal, l-zal', or /-la/ to theideophonic stem:bhansula (slap) cp, bhansu (slapping)chifiza (bash) cp. chifi (bashing)fotoza (press) cp.foto (pressing)dazuka (be split) cp. dazu (splitting)nyomuka (pull out) cp. nyomu (pulling out).126IDEOPHONE IN NDEBELEDerivation of nouns from ideophones (by adding or prefixing a noun class prefix to anideophonic stem):umbani (lightning, cl. 3) cp. bani (flashing)imbobo (holes, cl. 9) cp. bhobo (making a hole)isibhamu (gun, cl. 7) cp. bham (sound of a gun).Most of the nouns derived from ideophones use the noun class 14 prefix /ubu-~/.The stem is almost always reduplicated:ubukhehlekehle (noise of a cart)ububihlibihli (stoutness)ubunyemfunyemfu (laziness)ubunembunembu (slipperiness)ubugebhugebhu (extreme redness)ububotoboto (softness).