Finesse of Tenses in Olukabarasi, A Bantu Language of Western Kenya

Abstract

This study is basically a description of the tense system in the Lukabarasi dialect of Oluluyia. Oluluyia is a language mainly spoken in Western Kenya. This is a synchronic study that examines the forms that mark tense, their position(s) in the verb morphology of Olukabarasi, and the time distinctions that they draw. To achieve this, interviews were conducted and tape recordings carried out to corroborate introspection data for the tense analysis. A morphological breakdown of the Lukabarasi verb was done, to isolate the forms that mark tense, which were then described to establish their form and meaning. Declerck’s theory of tense was used to illustrate the tense forms. The study found out that there are nine absolute tenses in Olukabarasi. These usually occupy the second position in the Lukabarasi verb morphology. They divide the past time-sphere into four sectors and the non-past time-sphere into five. The time distinctions drawn by these tenses are, however, not rigid- there are several overlaps in the use of adjacent tense. Language typologists can benefit from this study.