Page 29 - SoMJ Vol 74 - No 1, 2021

Chichewa words in the Polyglotta Africana 19

But the numbers tsimphi (dzimphi?) or tirimphi ‘seven’ and dwera ‘eight’ seem
22
to be without parallel in other Bantu languages.
A final non-standard feature is the two negative verbs sindavina ‘I do (did?)
not dance’ and sindasowere ‘I do (did?) not play’. Modern Chichewa always adds
-na- to the past or perfect negative: síndinasewére ‘I did not play’, síndinavíne ‘I
did not dance’, or uses the present simple tense síndívina ‘I do not dance’. These
forms seem to be an irregular negative perfect.

The Márawi word list
One mṓ·ts -módzi
Two wī̄́ri -wíri
Three tā̄́tu -tátu
Four nai· -náyi
Five sā̄́nu -sanu
Six ntā̄́nda –
Seven tírīmpi, tsī̄́mpi –
Eight dúe ̣̄ ra –
Nine múīnda –
Ten kū̄́mi khúmi
Eleven kū̄́mi níri mō·ts khúmi ndí limódzi
Twelve kū̄́mi ni tsiwī̄́ri khúmi ndí ziwíri
Thirteen kū̄́mi ni tsitā̄́tu khúmi ndí zitátu
Fourteen kū̄́mi ni tsinái· khúmi ndí zináyi
Fifteen kū̄́mi ni tsisā̄́nu khúmi ndí zisanu
Sixteen kū̄́mi ni ntanda –
Seventeen kū̄́mi ni duẹ ̄́ra –
Eighteen kū̄́mi ni muẹ ̄́nda –
Nineteen kū̄́mi nintsín·ku –
Twenty mākúmi āwī̄́ri makúmi awíri
Man mōánna, pl. wánna mwaná, aná
Woman n·kā̄́s, pl. wakā̄́s mkázi, akázi
Boy mọ ̄́anō mōánna mwaná wámwámúna
Girl mọ ̄́anó-n·kās, p. wánna mwaná wámkázi, aná
wā̄́kās áákázi
Father atā̄́te (atátuán·ga, atátuā̄́ko) ataté (ataté ángá, ataté
ákó)
Mother amai· (amaiwā̄́nga, amáyi (amáyi angá, amáyi
amaiwā̄́ko) akó)

22 There is some confusion in the numbers 17, 18 and 19, since dwera means ‘eight’ the
first time it occurs, but khúmi ní dwera is glossed as ‘seventeen’. Possibly tsimphi is related
to the ideophone tsimphi used of limping.