Chichewa (also but less commonly known as Chinyanja, Chewa or Nyanja) is the main lingua franca of central and southern Malawi and neighbouring regions. Like other Bantu languages it has a wide range of tenses. In terms of time, Chichewa tenses can be divided into present, recent past, remote past, near future, and remote future. The dividing line between near and remote tenses is not exact, however. Remote tenses cannot be used of events of today, but near tenses can be used of events earlier or later than today.
The Chichewa tense system also incorporates aspectual distinctions. Except for the Present Simple, nearly every tense in Chichewa is either perfective (for example, "I went") or imperfective in aspect (for example "I was going", "I used to go"). In the present tense only, there is a distinction between habitual ("I usually go") and progressive ("I am going now").
Another aspectual distinction in Chichewa is that between perfect and past. A perfect tense is one which carries an implication that the result of a past action still holds at the present time, for example "he has come (and is still here)". The past tenses in Chichewa tend to be discontinuous, for example, "he came (but has now gone)". They differ from the English past tense, which is neutral in this regard.
The distinction between one tense and another in Chichewa is made partly by changing the tense-marker, which is an infix such as , , etc. added to the verb, and partly by the use of tone. Often two different tenses, such as "I was going" and "I go", have the same tense-marker but are distinguished by their tonal pattern.
Compound tenses are also found in Chichewa to express more complex meanings, such as "I was about to go" or "I have been going".
In addition to ordinary tenses, Chichewa also has tenses to express obligation ("I should go"), potentiality ("I might go"), and persistence ("I am still going"). There are also tenses with meanings such as "while I am going", "after I had gone", "before I went", as well as a series of conditional-clause tenses meaning "if..." such as "if I go", "if I had gone", "if I were to go" and so on.
Formation of the tenses Basic tense formation The distinction between one tense and another in Chichewa is made partly by varying the tonal pattern (each tense having its own particular tonal melody) and partly by the use of infixes such as . These infixes which distinguish the tenses are known as "tense-markers".
Three tenses (the Present Simple, Present Subjunctive, and Present Imperative) have no tense-marker. The Present Simple in most verbs has a near future meaning: "I (will) help" "I should help" "help!"
Hyphens and tonal accent marks have been added for clarity, although they are not used in standard Chichewa orthography.
All other tenses have a tense-marker, which is added directly after the subject-marker. For example, the Present Continuous is made by adding the tense-marker . There are six possible subject-markers mostly referring to persons:Maxson (2011), p. 40.
"I am helping" "you (sg.) are helping" "he or she is helping" "we are helping" "you (pl. or polite) are helping" "they are helping / he or she (polite) is helping"
In modern standard Chichewa there is no difference between the 3rd person singular "he/she" and the 3rd person plural "they" except in the Perfect tense, although there are some dialects such as the Town Nyanja spoken in Lusaka, Zambia, where the 3rd person plural is still , and thus differs from the singular.Gray et al. (2013), p. 16. The singular and plural also differ in the Perfect tense (see below).
Freestanding pronouns such as "I", "you", "he, she" are available and may be added for emphasis, but are usually omitted: "I am helping".Maxson (2011), p. 19.
In addition to the above subject-markers mostly referring mostly to persons there are also other subject-markers usually referring to things, animals, or the impersonal "it" or "there" of place or time: "it is helping" (e.g. "the chicken") "it is helping" (e.g. "maize") "they are helping" (e.g. "my goats") "it is cold"
The Perfect tense is exceptional in that the subject-marker is shortened when followed by the tense-marker . It is also exceptional in that the 3rd person singular has instead of , and is thus different from the 3rd person plural: "I have helped" "you (sg.) have helped" "he/she has helped" "we have helped" "you (pl. or polite) have helped" "they have helped" (or "he/she (polite) has helped")
Other elements can be added between the tense-marker and the verb-stem, such as aspect-markers and object-markers. For example the object-marker "him" or "her" can be added to any of the above verbs: "I have helped him/her".
Tonal patterns
The second way in which one tense is distinguished from another in Chichewa is in the use of tones, that is, in the rise and fall in pitch of the speaker's voice. Each tense is associated with a particular tonal melody, and in some cases two tenses which share the same tense-marker can be distinguished by tones.
In their book, The Phonology of Chichewa, Downing and Mtenje identify eight different patterns for positive verbs, in addition to further patterns for negative and relative clause verbs.Downing & Mtenje (2017), pp. 139–205. Their list is, however, incomplete.
Often the same tonal pattern is used by more than one tense.Mtenje (1987). For instance, the Present Continuous, Recent Past, and Imperfect all have a high tone on the syllable following the tense-marker: "I am helping" "I helped (just now)" "I was helping"
Another tonal pattern, used in the Present Habitual tense, is to place one high tone on the subject-marker and another on the penultimate syllable: "I (usually) help"
The Past Simple (Remote Perfect) has a tone on the tense-marker itself, which in some dialects spreads to the following syllable: or "I helped"
Some tenses, such as the Potential, are pronounced with every syllable low: "I can help"
The same tonal pattern is used in every verb. However, when the verb is a short one of one or two syllables only, certain adjustments may be made. For example, in the Present Habitual, the second tone is heard on the final when the verb stem has only one syllable: "I usually read" (second tone on the penultimate) "I usually eat" (second tone on the final)
But in certain tenses, a penultimate tone remains penultimate, even if the verb is monosyllabic: "he has not yet gone" "he has not yet eaten"
For further details concerning the tonal patterns of verbs of different lengths, see the article Chichewa tones.
In negative tenses different tonal patterns are used.For different negative tenses see Mtenje (1986), p. 244ff; Mtenje (1987), p. 183ff; Kanerva (1990), p. 23; Downing & Mtenje (2017), pp. 173–198. For example, in the negative subjunctive, the tone moves to the penultimate: "you should go" "you shouldn't go"
Some tenses have two different negative intonations, depending on the meaning. For example, the Simple Past (Remote Perfect) "I bought" has the following negatives with different meanings:Mtenje (1987), p. 184. Downing & Mtenje (2017), pp. 182–191, omits the second of these. (or ) "I didn't buy it" "I haven't bought it yet"
Certain tenses also have a different tonal pattern when used in a positive relative clause. For example, the potential tense is normally toneless, but in a relative clause it acquires a tone on the first and penultimate syllables. The tone of an object-marker such as below is lost:Downing & Mtenje (2017), p. 204. "they can explain to us" "who can explain to us"
Not all tenses change their tonal pattern in a relative clause. Negative tenses do not change, and those positive tenses which already have a tone on the first syllable do not change.
In addition to the tones added to the verb by the tonal pattern of the tense, some verb-stems and certain suffixes have their own tone, which is heard on the final syllable. This tone is not heard, however, in tenses such as the Present Habitual where the tonal pattern places a tone on the penultimate syllable. The distinction is also lost in the subjunctive, where the tonal pattern places a tone on the final even in low-toned stems: "I have helped" "I have run" "I usually help" "I usually run" "I should help" "I should run"
Another factor affecting the tones of a verb is that when a verb is followed by an object or a place-argument, the tone usually spreads:Louw (1987), vol. 3, p. 3. "you stay" "where do you live?"
Aspect-Markers Following the tense-marker it is possible to add one or more aspect-markers, which are infixes which modify the meaning of the tense. There are four commonly used aspect-markers, which when combined are usually added in the order: , , , .Hyman & Mtenje (1999a), pp. 94f. A fifth aspect-marker is less commonly found.
can be used in its own right as a tense-marker to make the imperfect tense: "I was helping" (with tone on the syllable following )
It can also be added to other tenses or to the infinitive to make the aspect habitual: "don't do", vs. "don't keep on doing"Salaun (1993), p. 77. "if I buy", vs. "whenever I buy"Maxson (2011), p. 88. "I'll help", vs. "I help regularly" "to help", vs. "to help regularly"
It is not combined with the perfect tense, or with any of the tenses with or , since these tenses are always perfective in aspect.
The meaning of is usually "go and...". "he went and bought some petrol"
Sometimes it can mean "go in order to":Paas (2016), s.v. "-ka-"; Maxson (2016), p. 115. "we will pray" vs. "we will go and pray"
In combination with the Present Simple tense it makes the Contingent Future (see below): "perhaps he'll help me (if I ask him)."
The infix has various meanings.Paas (2016), s.v. "-dza-"; Maxson (2016), p. 115. The first meaning is "come and...": "come and see!"
With an Infinitive or Subjunctive after a verb of coming, it can mean "in order to": "to help" vs. "I have come to help".
The second meaning is or "at a later time, in future": "it would have caused him problems" vs. "it would have caused him problems later"
When combined with the Present Simple tense, it converts it to the Remote Future: "I will help" (tomorrow or later)
The aspect-marker means "just".Paas (2016), s.v. "-ngo-". As it is derived from the Infinitive, the tone, as in the Infinitive itself, goes on the syllable following , and the final vowel is always , never : "I wanted", vs. "I just wanted".Maxson (2011), p. 168.
Another much less commonly used aspect-marker is or , which can be added to the present tense, subjunctive, or imperative. Mchombo gives this example:Mchombo (2004), p. 32. "You go ahead, while I (continue to) complete this job."
Downing and Mtenje call this aspect the "continuative", and write the infix as .Downing & Mtenje (2017), p. 154. The similarity in meaning suggests that it may derive from the idiom "I'll begin by finishing".
For examples of this aspect-marker used with the subjunctive and imperative, see below.
Time and aspect of tenses Chichewa makes distinctions which are sometimes not found in other languages, for example, the distinction between near and remote past, or between perfective and imperfect aspect. Some tenses, such as the toneless tense, are used only to make conditional or temporal clauses.
Near and remote tenses