Participle – Luo active masculine, neuter

ObjectivesLearning objectives

• The morphology of masc and neut participles.
• The syntax of participles as verbs, nouns, or adjectives
• The use of the participle to refer to habituals or events in progress

VocabularyVocabulary

Table 158 (continued)

GrammarGrammar Topic: Participle – Luo active masculine, neuter

Participles (abbreviated ptcp) are words formed from verbal stems that may be used as verbs, adjectives, or nouns. Since they can be used as adjectives and nouns as well as verbs, they need case, gender, and number endings to combine with the verbal stem. The verbal stem covered here is the Luo form, which we also sometimes term imperfective participles. Traditionally, they have been called present participles, but as we have said, this is a confusing label for the Luo stem (see 15.1.3). Luo participles do not have a certain tense, but they do have an aspect, namely imperfective.

MorphologyMorphology: Participle – Luo active masculine, neuter

• 3rd declension endings are used beginning with οντ-, except in the nom sg, which lacks the final τ (see similarly 9.3.3.1).
• In the nom masc sg, the normal ‘-ς’ drops out, so the ο lengthens to ω (ον-ς > ων)
• In the dat pl, the ντ drops out and the ο lengthens to ‘ου’ (οντ-σι > ου-σι)
• NOTE: This form is identical to the 3p form ἐσθίουσιν ‘they are eating’
• All accents are regressive

SyntaxSyntax: Participle (Nominal, verbal, and adjectival)

Participles have syntactic characteristics of verbs, nouns, and adjectives. Like verbs, they take subjects who perform the eventuality. On the other hand, participles are also marked for case and can serve as an argument to verbs, a hallmark feature of nouns. Finally, participles can modify nouns in attributive position, like adjectives. These features suggest that the participle itself does not have a grammatical category. The syntactic context determines its function.

When it is used as an argument of a verb and with a definite article, it is being used as a nominal (a word that functions like a noun):

SemanticsSemantics: Participle (1 – Nominal; habitual vs. event-in-progress)

Participle: all 7 parts on one page →Also in Lesson 19.2, Lesson 20.3, Lesson 27.1, Lesson 30.2, Lesson 36.1, Lesson 37.2

At its most basic level, the participle refers to an eventuality that describes someone or something, such as someone eating. It may refer directly to the entity who is in the middle of the event. This is the nominal use. It may also refer to the event itself. This is the verbal use. And finally, it may be used to describe an entity that is engaging in the event. This is the adjectival use. In each case, syntax determines the kind of meaningful contribution the participle makes.

Which part of the eventuality that is referred to is determined by its aspect. Because the Luo participle is built off the imperfective stem, it has the aspectual characteristics we have already explored with the Luo verb. Sometimes this manifests itself as a habitual interpretation: