Conditional constructions in the EkeGusii language of southwestern Kenya

Evans Gesura Mecha

doi:10.51867/ajernet.7.2.135

Authors

Evans Gesura Mecha Kisii University, Kenya https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1875-7998

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.51867/ajernet.7.2.135

Keywords:

Agreement, Bantu, Conditionals, Counterfactuals, EkeGusii, Periphrasis

Abstract

This paper describes how EkeGusii (Bantu, JE42), a language of south-western Kenya, forms and interprets conditional constructions. Using a descriptive linguistic approach and author-generated linguistic examples, it examines the grammatical forms and interpretations of conditionals In EkeGusii there is no single dedicated conditional conjunction, so protases are introduced by the invariant conjunction onye, the subject-agreeing form -ise, or a periphrasis of the verb ‘be’ plus an infinitive with no conjunction. Apodoses may carry kanga ‘would’, nabo ‘may’, or the modal goika ‘must’, and a fixed phrase, tangori ndero, expresses a counterfactual wish about the present. The agreement paradigm of -ise is given for all noun classes in the data. Further, the paper shows that reality and predictive conditionals share their protasis markers, that kanga occurs only in unreal conditionals, and that no dedicated form separates hypothetical from counterfactual readings. The findings establish that EkeGusii expresses conditionality through multiple grammatical resources. Further research using systematic elicitation and natural discourse data is recommended to clarify these patterns.

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