Modern Bantu

Modern Bantu is an attempt to revive Proto-Bantu for modern use. Instead of attempting to fit the typology of modern Bantu languages or act as an auxiliary language, Modern Bantu is like other proto-language revival attempts.

Modern Bantu does not try to be exactly what Proto-Bantu was, for this task is impossible. As with any reconstructed proto-language, we do not know many of the characteristics that were present in Proto-Bantu, and we likely retain only a fraction of its vocabulary. Therefore, Proto-Bantu is not what Modern Bantu strives to be. Instead, Modern Bantu attempts to be what Proto-Bantu would have be like if it still existed in a form similar to its ancient counterpart. Modern Bantu is set out as a highly conservative language that accepts only a scant few borrowings, but still has much of the terms necessary to be spoken in the modern world.

Vowels
Modern Bantu has a 7 vowel system. Sources are contradictory on whether Proto-Bantu had vowel length. It clearly had double vowels, but whether they were two separate syllables or long vowels is in doubt. If they are analyzed as long vowels, it follows that one must postulate a rising tone and falling tone for the Proto-Bantu tone system, because the doubled vowels need not have the same tone. Since Proto-Bantu is always analyzed as having a simple two-tone system, an analysis where long vowels are phonemically two identical vowels doubled makes sense, though phonetically they were likely still pronounced as long vowels.

Consonants
Modern Bantu has 12 basic consonant sounds, with an additional 8 prenasalized sounds.
 * /d/ is realized as [d] before high vowels and when prenasalized, and [l] in all other environments. Although they are the same phoneme, the difference is expressed in writing.
 * /s/ is realized as an alveolar fricative in all environments, but it is placed in the palatal column for historical and morphophonological reasons (e.g. the alteration between muyájú "yawn" and -yásama "to yawn").
 * /d͡ʒ/ has stronger evidence for being palatal among modern Bantu languages than /s/.
 * /j/ and /ɟ ~ d͡ʒ/ are made separate phonemes, despite not being separate in many reconstructions of Proto-Bantu. This is because there are many modern reflexes in many Bantu languages that are difficult to explain without this split, and would likely require a complex system of phonemic rules. However, there are no minimal pairs for these two sounds.
 * Although it is phonetically a palatal nasal, from a phonemic perspective /ɲ/ can be considered a prenasalised version of /j/, as it appears whenever /j/ is prenasalised.

Tone
Modern Bantu has two tones: high and low.

Orthography
The orthography of Modern Bantu mostly reflects the protoforms. Aside from the prenasalised sounds, there is one digraph: ⟨ny⟩ for /ɲ/. It is considered a separate letter in Modern Bantu. The one redundancy is with the phoneme /d/: it is written as ⟨d⟩ when realized as [d] and ⟨l⟩ when realised as [l]. The vowels are also represented slightly strangely, in modern terms: /i/ and /u/ are written as ⟨i̧⟩ and ⟨u̧⟩ with cedillas, while /ɪ/ and /ʊ/ are written as regular ⟨i⟩ and ⟨u⟩; this is done for historical reasons. Tone is written with an acute above the vowel, and the low tone is left unmarked.

Ditema Syllabary
The Ditema Syllabary, used to write some Southern Bantu languages, can also be adapted to write Modern Bantu. As a featural script designed to write Bantu languages, it is uniquely suited among the scripts of Africa to write Modern Bantu.

Grammar
Note that nearly all of this section is applicable to Proto-Bantu as well as Modern Bantu; despite deviating from Proto-Bantu in terms of vocabulary, Modern Bantu attempts to stick as close as possible to what can be reconstructed for Proto-Bantu grammar. As a language, Modern Bantu is generally head-initial. The basic word order is SVO, and all descriptors follow what they modify. Modern Bantu is prepositional, though it only has one true preposition. There are two main structures that define the grammar of Modern Bantu: the noun class system, and the verb system.

Parts of Speech
There are seven primary parts of speech in Modern Bantu: nouns, verbs, adjectives, numerals, demonstratives, pronouns, and particles. Particles may be subdivided into prepositions, clitics, and adverbs, though there are so few of each that it makes sense to combine them into one part of speech.

The Root
Before going into the rest of the grammar, the prototypical Bantu root will be discussed. There are almost no vowel-initial roots; the only one in the language is -í̧ "what". The structure CV(N)(C)V is by far the most common root, for nouns, adjectives, as well as verbs, though the final V is replaced by a final vowel for verbs. Though the prenasalised prefix makes prenasalised consonants common, prenasalised roots are very rare; there are only a scant few roots that begin with voiceless prenasalised consonants, while no roots begin with voiced prenasalised consonants. While some noun roots are longer, almost all verb roots that are longer than CVCV can be explained via extensions, though some of these are dubious, e.g. -táku̧na "to chew". There are also CV verbs, though those will be discussed later.

Noun Classes
Modern Bantu nouns are built from noun roots with the addition of the noun class prefixes. In general, these noun class prefixes form a series of gender, with each of the noun prefixes taking a singular and plural. Although there many schemes have been devised to define the semantics of the noun classes, it is generally accepted that the noun class system is somewhat arbitrary. The classes will be detailed by their prefixes, and some of the most likely Proto-Bantu forms will be listed. Any nouns not reconstructable for Proto-Bantu will be bolded:

Mu-Ba Class
The mu-ba class, known numerically as class 1 in the singular and class 2 in the plural, is the most semantically coherent class in Modern Bantu. It refers exclusively to people, though not all nouns that have human referents are placed in this class: There are also derived agent words in this class, and this is usually done by the addition of the suffix -i̧ to a verb: There is also a subset of nouns in this class known as class 1a. They do not take the normal mu- prefix but they do take the same agreements as the mu class and the ba- prefix in the plural. Almost all of these are kinship terms:

Mu-Mi class
The mu-mi class is one of the most semantically varied classes in Modern Bantu, and is class 3/4 numerically. Though it's prototypical meaning is listed as "trees", its primary semantic field is long objects: Trees also fall into this category. Though there are few reconstructable roots for trees, roots for trees and other plants can be regularly derived from fruits by changing their class to the mu-mi class. Because very few fruits are reconstructable for Proto-Bantu proper, this rule is mostly applied to loans: Intangible or diffuse substances are another primary semantic field that falls into the mu-mi class: Finally, there are several miscellaneous nouns that fall into this class:

I̧-Ma Class
Known as classes 5 and 6. Although the traditional semantic field of this class is stated to be fruits, this is slightly misleading. Only two fruits can be truly reconstructed for Proto-Bantu: i̧konde "banana" and i̧tanga "melon", and they are both indeed in this class (this is somewhat complicated by the fact that the word for fruit itself, kibu̧má, is in the ki-bi class). However, the primary semantic field of this class is much more broad, and generally comprises objects that are rounded or protruded in some way: There are many liquids which are plurale tantum in the ma class: Like the mu-mi class, there are many miscellaneous nouns:

Ki-Bi̧ Class
Although the semantic field of classes 7 and 8, the ki-bi̧ class, is said to be inanimates, most inanimate objects in Modern Bantu do not fall into this class. Though its primary semantic field is utilitarian objects, it also includes words for despised objects or people: A more modern use is to derive new inanimate objects from verbs. Though some of these are attested in a few Bantu zones, many of these are calqued from modern Bantu languages:

N Class
The N Class, known as classes 9 and 10, is the largest class in Modern Bantu. Its prefix is a homorganic nasal, realized as m, n, or ny depending on the first consonant of the root. It is unique in that its prefix does not change for singular and plural, though verbs and other parts of speech do inflect differently. Some reconstructions of Proto-Bantu, however, include the class 10 plural di̧-, which precedes the prenasalised initial of class 9 instead of replacing it. To reconcile this, this prefix is optional in Modern Bantu; it may be used to pluralize class 10 nouns, or it may not. Either way, all class 10 agreements are the same.

The primary semantic field of this class is animals. The vast majority of animals are in this class, and much of this class is composed of animals: Other than animals, this class appears to be the default class for nouns not assigned to other classes, and as such there are numerous miscellaneous nouns in this class:

Lu-N Class
The Lu-N is the first of the polyplural classes in Modern Bantu. Although its singular is known as class 11 numerically, any lu class nouns take the N class in the plural.

Although it is one of the small classes, the the lu-n class is one of the most semantically coherent. Like the mu-mi class, it refers to long objects, though they are generally curved:

Ka-Tu Class
The ka-tu class deviates from the other class in that it is primarily used in derivation. It also breaks the pattern of odd-singular/even-plural; numerically they are class 12 and 13 respectively. It is the first "secondary" class, distinguished from the primary classes in that its main use is to derive nouns. There are only nine nouns naturally within the ka-tu class; three are loanwords and two are plurale tantum: The primary purpose of the ka-tu class is to derive diminutives from other nouns by replacing its normal noun prefix. This can in theory be applied to any noun to create a diminutive, though there a few items that are lexicalised:

Bu-Ma Class
The Bu-Ma Class, numerically 14-6, is once again a primary class, and the second class to be polyplural, though nouns that take the plural are generally rare. They can all be listed here, and there is little that unites them semantically: Mass nouns that are in this class, on the other hand, are generally round or lumpy substances: The primary semantic field of this class, however, is abstract nouns. They can be underived, or they can be derived from verbs or adjectives:

Ku-Ma Class
The Ku-Ma class, 15-6, contains five regular nouns, and the semantic field is rather clear: paired body parts. There is, however, one exception: The primary field of this class, however, is clearly verbal infinitives. All verbal infinitives take the ku- prefix with a final -a vowel. They cannot take a ma class plural. When following an auxiliary verbs take infinitives, and these infinitives can also stand as the subject of a sentence.

The Locative Classes
The locative classes are a unique set of three secondary classes. They are pa-, ku-, and mu-; 16, 17, 18 respectively. Unlike any other secondary classes, they do not replace the noun class prefix. Instead, they are added onto the existing noun prefix. There are two obvious exception to this: the locative prefixes can be added to the general root -ntu to mean "place" and the question root -í to mean "where". They each represent a different notion of location: pa- expresses directly location on or against, ku- expresses location by or near to, and mu- represents location inside. The class 17 prefix ku- can also express direction towards.

Though these prefixes can be applied to any noun, the following nouns are reconstructable for Proto-Bantu as having often taken these prefixes to express a locational meaning:

Pi̧-Tu Class
Classes 19-13, or the pi̧-tu class, is the last class commonly reconstructed for Proto-Bantu. There are no nouns that are inherently in this class. It is another diminutive class, signifying an even smaller thing than the ka-tu class. It can also be used to make the nouns that are naturally in the ka-tu diminutive, e.g. pi̧yuni "a small bird", pi̧nua "a small mouth".

Other Classes
A number of other classes have been hypothesized for Proto-Bantu. The most common are another locative class or a series of augmentative classes. Data for these classes is too sparse to current include them in Modern Bantu, meaning that Modern Bantu currently has 19 classes total; 10 singular-plural genders (some of which are polyplural) and 3 locative classes.

Noun Class Derivation
Often, a change in the noun class prefix can derive nouns from other nouns. This has been discussed already in several places; the derivation of abstracts with class 14, the derivation of inanimates with 7/8, the derivation of trees with 3/4, and the diminuitives. However, some derivations are more idiosyncratic. The most striking example of this is the root -ntu, which derives the most prototypical meaning of the noun class using several different noun prefixes: Other than this, usually there are only two words that are derived from a single root:
 * muntu "person"
 * kintu "thing"
 * pantu/kuntu "place"
 * i̧gulu "sky"/lugulu "hill"
 * mayí̧ji "water"/luyí̧ji "river"
 * kiledu̧ "chin"/ndedu̧ "beard"
 * nyí̧ki "bee"/buyí̧ki "honey"
 * nyumbá "house"/kiyumbá "room"
 * butáa "bow"/bi̧táa "war"
 * butí̧ku "night"/i̧tí̧ku "day"

Noun Class Agreement
Important as the noun classes themselves is noun class agreement. The subject and object of verbs, adjectives, numerals, demonstratives, pronouns, and the connective particle all agree with the noun in class. There are five main instances of each prefix. The nominal prefix is used on nouns and adjectives, the numeral on numerals, the pronominal in many environments, and the subject and object for non-relative verbs. Classes 1 and 2 are divided into 1st, 2nd, and 3rd person as well. Not listed here is the unique reflexive prefix, -í̧-, which will be further discussed later. Note that the "pronominal" stems given for the first and second person pronouns are actually used to form their independent form, and may not be pronominal in the sense of the other concords.

Classes 2, 7, 8, and 11–19 are entirely regular: a low tone for the nominal prefix, and the same form with a high tone for all other prefixes. Class 5 is almost regular, but all forms other than the nominal prefix use lí-''. ''The most irregular paradigms are those of the prefixes that begin with nasals, class 18 exempt. They all reflect a rather similar pattern: the initial consonant is lost in the numeral and there is a different consonant (either g or y) in the pronominal.

Verbs
Along with the noun class, the verb is the center of Modern Bantu grammar. Much of the information present in a sentence is given by the verb, and there is a complex template to which verbs adhere. Each verb belongs to one of two tonal classes based on the tone of the first vowel in the root: high or low. Though for most tenses this does not come into play, for non-indicative verbs it does influence how the tonal pattern of the verb.

Several prefixes also differ based on whether the verb root is CV or not. There are several CV verbs in Modern Bantu, listed here for reference:

Tense and Aspect
In the indicative mood, several tenses and aspects are distinguished in Modern Bantu. Though many modern Bantu languages have many degrees of difference in their expression of their tense, only one degree of tense is completely reconstructable for Proto-Bantu. As such, each tense only has one degree. None of the indicative tenses have special tone patterns associated with them.

The basic present tense has no prefix, uses -a as the final vowel. When unmarked, it implies a perfective aspect. This concept is somewhat difficult to explain, but it basically means that the action is seen as a complete whole, rather than as a series of distinct part. The perfective aspect is also used in modern Bantu for the general present.

Unlike in most modern Bantu languages, only 2 other tenses are reconstructable for Proto-Bantu: a past and a future. The basic past tense is indicated with the prefix a-, and the future with the prefix laa-, and each uses -a as the final vowel.

The imperfective aspect is kí. It contrasts the perfective aspect; it shows that the speaker views the action as a series of ongoing parts, rather than as a completed whole. It also can convey the meaning of "still" when used in the positive and "no longer" when used in the negative.

The prefix ka encompasses both the andative and narrative aspect; the narrative is used in the indicative and the andative in the subjunctive and imperative. The narrative tense is most often used to express the notion of "and then." As such, it is often used in the telling of stories, where sequences of events are common.

The anterior aspect indicates the completeness of an action. It is not to be confused with the perfective aspect; the perfective shows how a speaker conceptualizes an action, while the anterior aspect indicates its completeness. It is represented by the suffix -i̧(le), which can replace the final “-a” in the past and present. It has two forms in complementary distribution: -i̧ occursThe anterior aspect often plays a very important role in distinguishing action that is ongoing in inchoative verbs. While -láala without the perfect can mean something like “falling asleep”, marking it with -i̧ unambiguously conveys the state of being asleep. When used with a dynamic verb, it can also refer to something that started in the past and is still relevant.

The habitual aspect, encoded with the suffix -ag-, is used to encode an action that one does often or, as the name would suggest, habitually. This aspect can occur with the past or future as well as the present. It can often act more like an extension than a true tense; it can be used with all the tenses as well as the perfect aspect.

The progressive aspect is familiar to English speakers, expressed with the structure “be -ing”. It indicates a currently ongoing action. It is unique in Modern Bantu in that it is not encoded by using a tense prefix. Instead, it is formed by using the verb -li + the verbal infinitive with the class 18 locative prefix.

This is a table summarizing many of the possible positive indicative tense forms, using a sample paradigm involving the word tulima "we farm" (blank spaces are not reconstructable as being in Proto-Bantu): In the basic present negative, the final vowel is replaced by -i, e.g. nkílimi "I don't farm", nkálimi "he doesn't farm".

Moods
Aside from the indicative, which is the default mood in Modern Bantu, there are three other moods: imperative, subjunctive, and infinitive. Unlike with the tense and aspects, each mood has a specific tone pattern.

The imperative mood is used for bare commands. When there is no object, the suffix is a high -á. Any extensions take the opposite tone of the verb root. If an object prefix is used, a final -é is used instead, and all extensions are high: There is an exception: when the object is the first person singular, the final vowel is once again á: When the command is being addressed to multiple people, the suffix -ní̧ is added to the imperative: The andative ka- can also be appended to an imperative to add the meaning "go and". The tonal pattern remains the same, but the final vowel is changed to é if it is not already: There is no negative imperative; this role is filled by the negative subjunctive, which will be discussed below.
 * táku̧ná! "chew!"
 * limá! "farm!" vs. limílá! "farm for!"
 * túmá! "send!" vs. túmilá! "send for!"
 * bí̧tákú̧né! "chew it!" (e.g. food)
 * gúlimé! "farm it!" vs. mulimílé "farm for him!"
 * kítúmé! "send it!" vs. mutúmílé "send for him!"
 * nlimílá! "farm for me!"
 * ntúmílá! "send for me!"
 * tákú̧nání̧! "(you all) chew!
 * limílání̧! "(you all) farm for!"
 * mulimíléní̧ "(you all) farm for him!"
 * kítúméní̧! "(you all) send it!"
 * mutúmíléní̧! "(you all) send for him!"
 * kalimé! "go and farm!"
 * kakítúmé "go and send it!"
 * kamulimíléní̧ "you all go and farm for them!"

The subjunctive mood is used in a much wider variety of situations than the imperative. It is used for polite requests (in addition to all negative commands) and hortatives, as well as obligation or wishes. It is also used after the imperative when making multiple commands in sequence.

In the positive form, the subjunctive can only occur in the present tense. The final vowel of the subjunctive is -é. The subjunctive has a clear tonal pattern. When there is no object prefix, the ordinary subject prefix is made high, and all tones in the verb are made low, even if the verb's tone class is high. When there is an object prefix, the tone pattern is the same as the imperative with an object except that the subject prefix is high. Because the second and third person singular prefixes would be homophonous, the class 1 subject prefix is á- in the subjunctive. The negative form of the subjunctive, on the other hand keeps the same tone pattern, but the prefix -tí̧- is inserted between the subject and object. The -tí̧- prefix exhibits tonal harmony; between two high tones it is low, otherwise it is high: The ka- andative can be used with the subjunctive, and it generally has the same meaning that it does in the imperative: The infinitive mood has been discussed prior, and is indicated by the class 15 prefix ku-. The infinitive is generally tenseless, and the only aspect marker that can occur with it is the habitual -aga, likely due to its status as a quasi-extension. Infinitives can take objects; in addition, they can also be negated, though instead of nka- or tí̧-, they take tá in the negative slot:
 * tútumé "let's farm"
 * túbátúmílé "let's farm for them"
 * tútí̧tumé "let's not farm"
 * túti̧bátúmílé "let's not farm for them"
 * túkatumé "let's go and farm"
 * túkabátúmílé "let's go and farm for them"
 * tútí̧katumé "let's not go and farm"
 * túti̧kabátúmílé "let's not go and farm for them"
 * kutuma: "to farm" vs. kutátuma "to not farm"
 * kumutumila "to farm for him" vs. kutámutumila "to not farm for him"

Relatives
Relatives in Modern Bantu are also expressed by modifying the verb. There are two types of relative in Modern Bantu, depending on whether there is a free object or not. For positive verbs, the pronominal prefixes are used instead as the subject prefixes, and the final vowel takes the same tone as the prefix. Note that these sentences are ambiguous: the second sentence, for example, can mean either "the dogs who chase after the men" or "the dogs who the men chase after". This can be resolved by using the passive voice, or simply through context.
 * mulúme yukúnda mukálí "a man who loves a woman"
 * mbúa yí̧bi̧ngá balúme "dogs who chase after the men"

Indirect relatives are relatives where the subject is an embedded prefix. It has a low relative prefix (that acts as a pre-initial and agrees with the head noun), while the subject is high. The final vowel takes the same tone as the subject, rather than the relative prefix: For both types of relative, the negative is formed by using the prefix tá- like the infinitive:
 * mulúme juúkúndá "the man who she loves"
 * muntu jubálindilá nyumbá "the person that they guard the house for"
 * bantu babálindilá nyumbá "the people who they guard the house for"
 * mulúme yutákúnda mukálí "a man who does not love a woman"
 * mbúa yí̧tábi̧ngá balúme "dogs that do not chase after men"
 * mulúme juútákúndá "the man who she doesn't love"
 * muntu jubátálindilá nyumbá "the man who they do not guard the house for"
 * bantu babátálindilá nyumbá "the men who they do not guard the house for"

Extensions
Extentions are a variety suffixes that can be appended to a verb to change its meaning. Some are highly productive, and can be added freely to almost any verb, while other largely seem to be fossilized, restricted to a few pre-defined lexical items. They are as follows:

Productive Extensions
These extensions can generally occur on many or even most verbs:
 * -i̧-/-i̧si̧-: causative
 * The causative suffix is realized as -i̧- following a consonant and as -i̧si̧- following a vowel. It confers the meaning of "cause (someone/something) to do"
 * -búudi̧a "to ask (someone a question)" from -búula "to tell"
 * -gendi̧a "to make go; drive" from -genda "to go"
 * -líi̧si̧a "to feed; to lead to pasture" from -lía "to eat"


 * -il-/-el-: applicative
 * The applicative is one of the extensions that undergoes vowel harmony. While it is -il- in most environments, if the final vowel of the root is -e- or -o- it is realized as -el-. It has a wide variety of functions in both fossilized and productive stems, and its original function in Proto-Bantu is debated. Though it can often a benefactive function, this was likely not its original function in Proto-Bantu. Instead, its original function was likely to introduce a goal or location.


 * -an-: reciprocal
 * The reciprocal suffix basically adds the meaning of "each other" to the verb. Though this extension can in principal be added to most transitive verbs, there are a few verbs that are used frequently with this suffix:
 * -gabana "to share, divide up" from -gaba "to divide"
 * -pangana "to agree" from -panga "to plan, intend to"
 * -pú̧ana "to resemble" from -pú̧a "to be fitting"


 * -u-/-i̧bu-: passive
 * This extension expresses the passive voice. It it likely the most productive extension in Modern Bantu, as one can apply it to almost any transitive verb. Like the passive, it has a form that occurs following consonants and a form that follows vowels.

Unproductive Extensions
These extensions are not productive, and generally occur in lexicalized words.
 * -ik-/-ek-: neuter
 * The neuter derives an intransitive verb from a transitive like the passive, though it does not imply an agent. In Proto-Bantu, it generally appeared with verbs of destruction or verbs of experience, and was not that common in Bantu. However, it may be slightly more common in Modern Bantu due to calques from other languages, so it is likely the most productive unproductive extension.
 * -bóneka "to appear" from -bóna "to see"
 * -bú̧nika "to break (intr.)" from -bú̧na "to break (tr.)"


 * -ik-/-ek-: impositive
 * Although it is homophonous with the neuter, the impositive is a different suffix. The impositive is an extension that expresses the meaning: "to put in a position". Very rarely does it derive verbs from other verbs; it most often occurs on verbs for which a suffixless form does not exist.
 * -kú̧nika "to cover" (cf. -kú̧nula "to uncover")
 * -di̧ika "to bury" (ultimately derived from -di̧ "root", cf. -di̧ula "to uproot")
 * -tí̧ndika "to push"


 * -ul-/-ol- or -uk-/-ok-: conversive
 * The conversive suffix is unique in a number of ways. Firstly, its vowel harmony: it is asymmetrical, as the vowel becomes -o- following o but not e. It generally gives the verb (usually a verb of motion) the opposite meaning. In addition, it has a transitive and intransitive form, ending in l and k respectively.
 * -dú̧ula "to take off (clothes) from -dú̧ala "to wear"
 * -somoka "to be pulled out" from -soma "to pierce"
 * -yi̧gula "to open" from -yi̧gala "to close"


 * -am-: positional
 * The positional suffix basically acts as an intransitive version of the impositive suffix. It confers the meaning "to assume a position." Words with it are rarely derived from existing verbs, though there are exceptions:
 * -di̧ama "to sink into the earth" (ultimately derived from -li "root")
 * -kíngama "to lie across" from -kínga "to obstruct"
 * -lungama "to be straight" from -lunga "to put straight; adjust"


 * -al-: extensive
 * Though this suffix canonically confers the meaning “to be in a spread-out position", though there are many exceptions, all of which are lexicalized:
 * -lémala "to be injured" from -léma "to be lame"
 * -tí̧gala "to remain" from -tí̧ga "to abandon"
 * -yi̧kala "to sit" from -yi̧ka "to descend"


 * -at-: tentive
 * The tentive suffix is one of the least productive in Modern Bantu. "Making contact" is the meaning it confers, but very few of these are derived from other verbs:
 * -kúata "to seize" (cf. -kúula "to pull out")
 * -kú̧mbata "to hold in hand" from -kú̧mba "to bend"
 * -liata "to tread on"

Order
There are two general rules that determine the order of suffixes. One is the default order for the four productive suffixes: Causative-Applicative-Reciprocal-Passive, represented by the acronym CARP. The other is the Mirror Principle, which is based on the order in which syntactic operations apply, and this can violate the CARP order. The unproductive suffix is often considered part of the root, so when a word has an unproductive suffix it generally precedes all the productive extensions.

Structure
The overall structure of a verb can be summarized through this chart: Pre-SM: nka- (indicative/absolutive negative), indirect relative marker

SM: subject marker

NEG: tí̧- (subjunctive), tá- (relative/infinitive)

TA: ∅- (present), a- (past), laa- (future), kí- (persistive), ka- (narrative, itive)

OM: object marker, may be ∅

Root: Verb Root

Extensions (multiple can occur, in some possible orders): -at-, -am-, -ul-/-uk-, -ik-, -i̧-/-i̧ci̧-, -an-, -il-, -u-/-ibu-

TA: -ag- (may be considered an extension)

Final: -a (indicative), -á (imperative), -é (imperative, subjunctive), -i (present indicative negative), -i̧(le) (anterior)

Post-Final: -ní̧ (imperative plural)

Copular Particles
Though they are not verbs in the strict sense, the copular particles ní "is", tí̧ "isn't" occur exclusively in the 3rd person. They are invariable and only used in equative constructions, that is when two nouns are being equated with one another. When the subject would be a dummy "it" in English, no pronoun is required: These copular particles largely supplant the normal copula -li in equative contexts, though it is still not used in adjectival or locational structures: In all tenses, aspects, and moods of the equative other than the present indicative, the normal -li is used.
 * ní mugeni "it is stranger"
 * tí̧ muyána "it is not a child"
 * mulúme ní mugeni "the man is a stranger"
 * mukálí tí̧ mulumbe uángú "the woman is not my sister"
 * mulúme ní mulai̧ "the man is tall"
 * mukádí̧ tí̧ munéne "the woman is not big"

Independent
The independent pronouns have somewhat irregular forms. The 1st and 2nd person are formed with the addition of the pronominal prefix to -e. The class 1 3rd person form is irregular, while for the rest of the class forms it is a regular paradigm of adding -o to the pronominal prefix: There are also two special affixes which can attach to each of the pronouns: -nka "alone" and -nse "all", each of which can attach to the independent forms of the pronouns. When this happens, the initial í̧- of the plural first and second person is dropped: túenka "we alone", nyúenka "you all alone", túense "us all", nyúense "you all".

Connective
The connective, realized as -a, basically acts a genitive. It is bound to a noun (this binding is represented by using a hyphen in the orthography) and takes pronominal prefixes based on the class of the noun that the connective phrase modifies. The tone of the connective also varies: it takes the same tone as the class prefix it modifies.

Examples can illustrate this somewhat:
 * mbúa yia-mulúme "the man's dog"
 * mugú̧í gíá-butáa "the bow's arrows"
 * i̧kú̧pa líá-mbúa "the dog's bone"

Possessives
The possessives are all formed with the prefix á-, whose resemblance to the connective prefix is likely not a coincidence. Like many other paradigms present in Modern Bantu, the forms for the personal pronouns are relatively irregular while the class forms are derived according to a regular scheme.

Demonstratives
There are four degrees of demonstrative in Modern Bantu, all formed using the pronominal prefixes. They are best translated as: this (close to speaker and addressee), this (close to speaker but not addressee), that (close to addressee but not speaker, referential) and that (far from both speaker and addressee) They are called proximal, medial, non-proximal, and distal. Each has a specific template:

Determiners
There are two determiners that occur with the pronominal prefixes: -ngí "other" and -ní̧ "which".

Numerals
As has already been discussed, basic numerals have their own unique prefixes. There are five basic numbers, and one interrogative that also takes the numeral prefix: There are also two numerals that are expressed as nouns: i̧kúmi̧ "ten", and i̧gana "hundred". Despite not being true numerals, they generally do follow the nouns in the same slot that numerals do.
 * -moi̧ "one"
 * -bilí "two"
 * -tátu "three" (í̧sátu class 10)
 * -nai̧ "four" (í̧nyai class 10)
 * -táano "five" (í̧sáano class 10)
 * -ngá "how many"

The numbers six, seven, eight, and nine with the phrase -táano na -moi̧ "five and one", -táano na -bilí "five and two", -táano na -tátu "five and three", and -táano na -nai̧ "five and four" respectively.

Ordinal numbers are formed by using the connective followed by the number. When it is a compound number, all the compounds are connected by a hyphen:
 * muntu jua-moi̧ "the first man"
 * mugú̧í gúá-táano-na-nai̧ "the ninth arrow"

Adjectives
Adjectives, as has been discussed, take the nominal prefix of the noun they agree with. There are few true adjectives in Modern Bantu, and they can all be listed here: Note that the adjective -yí̧pí is unique, in that it only appears in the locative classes 16 and 17.

Order
The word order of adjectives in relation to other noun modifiers is generally as follows: connective, adjective, demonstrative, then numeral.

Comparison
There are no comparative or superlative affixes, or even words for "more" or "most", in Modern Bantu. Comparisons are expressed through the use of the verb -píta "to pass". There are two formulae: one is used with adjectives and the other is used with nouns expressing quality.

For adjectives, "to be ___", followed by -píta in the infinite and then the object of comparison is used: For nouns, on the other hand, -píta is used following the subject being compared, which is then followed directly by the object of comparison, then the noun expressing quality:
 * ndi muyi̧já kupíta taatá "I am better than my father"
 * kikuá kipíta kínóo ikio bululu "this yam is more bitter than that one" (lit. this yam surpasses that one in bitterness"

Derivation
Derivation in Proto-Bantu was often somewhat irregular, though there are many clear patterns. The derivational system of Modern Bantu incorporates many calques from other Bantu languages, as long as both the root and the derivational affixes were present in Proto-Bantu. Changing of class prefixes and extensions are not covered here; only derivations that change the part of speech will be discussed:

Verb to Noun
Deriving verbs from nouns is the most derivational path. As such, it is done in a variety of ways. The derivation of agent nouns with the addition of the prefix -i. However, there are several more irregular derivations of people from nouns, which use a different final vowel: The most common way to derive other nouns from verbs the addition of a class prefix (most commonly 5, 7, 9) and a change in the final vowel. Many of these are irregular: However, the most common strategy is to replace the final vowel with -o:
 * mubí̧álá "cross-cousin" from -bí̧ala "to give birth"
 * mukú̧u "dead person" from -kú̧a "to die"
 * mubi̧mba "corpse" from -bí̧mba "to swell"
 * mudí̧mu "spirit" from -dí̧ma "to be extinguished"
 * i̧babá "wing" from -papa "to flag wings"
 * i̧búmba "pottery clay" from -búmba "to mold pottery"
 * i̧du̧mbá "odor" from -du̧mba "to smell"
 * i̧kú̧á "inheritance" from -kú̧a "to die"
 * i̧tóni "drop" from -tóna "to drip"
 * kití̧ma "well" from -tí̧ma "to dig"
 * mpété "ring" from -peta "to bend"
 * nsonge "point" from -songa "to prod"
 * lumuli "torch" from -mulika "to shine"
 * mumi̧lo "throat" from -mi̧la "to swallow"
 * mutégo "trap" from -téga "to set a trap"
 * muyóto "fire" from -yóta "to warm oneself"
 * i̧pú̧lo "foam" from -pú̧la "to froth"
 * i̧seko "laughter" from -seka "to laugh"
 * i̧tí̧mo "hole" from -tí̧ma "to dig"
 * i̧tú̧mo "spear" from -tú̧ma "to stab"
 * kikújo "shout" from -kúja "to shout"
 * kilóbo "fishhook" from -lóba "to fish"
 * kiyímo "stature" from -yíma "to stand"
 * mbúto "seed" from -búta "to bear fruit"
 * mpépo "wind" from -pépa "to blow"
 * ngabo "shield" from -gaba "to divide"
 * lugendo "journey" from -genda "to travel"

Noun to Verb
The derivation of verbs from nouns is a highly irregular process. In most cases, a variety of extensions are used, some of which aren't seen elsewhere. In many cases, it is unclear whether both the noun and the extended verb were derived from a single archaic verb:
 * -di̧ama "to sink into the earth" from mudi̧ "root"
 * -di̧ika "to bury, plant" from mudi̧ "root"
 * -di̧ula "to uproot" from mudi̧ "root"
 * -kú̧ndika "to tie a knot" from i̧kú̧ndo "knot"
 * -lambula "to pay tribute" from mulambú "tribute"
 * -su̧ba "to urinate" from masu "urine"
 * -túala "to carry on head" from mutúe "head"
 * -túula "to set down" from mutúe "head"
 * -yangupa "to hurry" from kiyangu "haste"
 * -yásama "to yawn" from muyájú "yawn"
 * -yímita "to be pregnant" from i̧yími̧ "pregnancy"
 * -yogupa "to fear" from buyóga "fear"

Verb to Adjective
A few adjectives are derived from verbs. The prefix -u is common, but does not always occur:
 * -lúme "male" from -lúma "to bite"
 * -pía "new" from -pía "to be burnt"
 * -píu "warm, red" from -pía "to be burnt"
 * -yélu "white" from -yéla "to be bright"
 * -yí̧lu "black" from -yí̧la "to get dark"

Adjective to Verb
The denominative is only derivational morpheme that is applied mostly to adjectives (though it can be applied to a scant few nouns as well). It is realized as -pa, and creates a verb from an adjective that means "to be ___". It is not freely productive, so its distribution is somewhat sporadic:
 * -bíipa "to be bad" from -bíi "bad"
 * -lai̧pa "to be long, be tall" from -lai̧ "long"
 * -nénepa "to be big" from -néne "big"

Question Words
There are relatively few question words in Modern Bantu, and the system is somewhat fragmentary. Note that the word -ní̧ takes the pronominal prefixes, while -ngá, which takes the numeral prefixes: The most obvious omission is the word for who. Though it is often reconstructed as ndai, this reconstruction is not widespread enough to be convincing for Proto-Bantu. Therefore, one can say muntu yuní̧ "which person" to signify "who".
 * kií̧ "what"
 * paí̧ "where", kuí̧ "whither", muí̧ "in where"
 * -ní̧ "which"
 * -ngá "how many"

Prepositions
There are two words (three if the connective is counted) that could be considered prepositions in Modern Bantu, it may make more sense to simply group them in with a small number of other classless forms and call them particles. They are na- "with, and" and nga- "as, like". The meaning of "na-" goes well beyond "and" or "with"; it can perform instrumental and agentive functions. Like the connective, each of these is written with a hyphen connecting it to the word following it.

Adverbs/Other Particles
There are only two words that function purely as adverbial particles: leelo "today" and tu "only". The particle jee "yes" can also be constructed. There are, however, several words, mostly time words or locatives, that can act as adverbs even though they are ultimately nouns: i̧gulo "yesterday", kalai "long ago", pamoi "together".

Vocabulary Building
The vast majority of the vocabulary of Modern Bantu is derived directly from Proto-Bantu. Vocabulary that is spread through at least 3 of Guthrie's Bantu regions is prioritized, though on occasion items present in a lower amount of regions is used. However, there are several strategies that allow for the creation of words that are not directly attested in Proto-Bantu:

Borrowing
There are already some words considered Proto-Bantu that likely have a foreign origin: i̧baata "duck" from Arabic baṭṭ, mpilipili "pepper" from Persian ''pelpel. ''Therefore, some more words have selectively been loaned into Modern Bantu. These loanwords have mostly originated in Arabic and spread by means of Swahili, and are few and far between. All loanwords can in fact be listed here: As can be seen, these words generally refer to food, crops, or goods. All other words in Modern Bantu are derived from Proto-Bantu in some fashion.
 * musu̧madi̧ "nail" from Arabic mismār
 * i̧nanási̧ "pineapple" from Portuguese ananás
 * i̧saa "clock, hour" from Arabic sāʿa
 * i̧tála "lamp" from Swahili taa
 * i̧yéma "tent" from Arabic ḵayma
 * i̧yembe "mango" from an Indo-Iranian language
 * madí̧ "money" from Arabic māl
 * kitábu "book" from Arabic kitāb
 * mésá "table" from Omani Arabic mēz
 * mbatata "sweet potato" from Portuguese batata
 * mbendéla "flag" from Portuguese bandiera
 * ndí̧mu "lemon" from Persian limu
 * ngadi̧ "vehicle" from Hindi gāṛī
 * ngamí̧la "camel" from Arabic jamal
 * nsabú̧ni̧ "soap" from Arabic ṣābūn
 * nsáni "plate" from Arabic ṣaḥn
 * kabati̧ "cupboard" from English cupboard
 * kapi "coffee" from English coffee
 * kapu̧tu̧la "shorts" possibly from Chichewa kubutula

Calquing
Calquing can be used to derive new words. These words are most often calqued from existing Bantu languages, or from European languages.

Repurposing
Redundant words that existed in Proto-Bantu can be repurposed to serve new functions. While kayuni is the most common general word for bird, the redundant word, ndege can be repurposed to mean "airplane", despite the fact that it had no such meaning in Proto-Bantu. Often, a word can keep both its ancient meaning and a more modern meaning. The word mupila, for example, meant rubber in Proto-Bantu, and it still means rubber in Modern Bantu. However, like in many modern Bantu languages, mupila can also refer to a ball used for sports.

Derivation
While many derivations do go back to Proto-Bantu, derivations from other Bantu languages can be freely taken into modern Bantu, even if the equivalent Proto-Bantu derivation was not widespread.

Vocabulary
For a dictionary, see: here.

Sources/Acknowledgements
The vocabulary, paradigms, and grammatical structures used to reconstruct Modern Bantu are owed to the sources below. Most of the vocabulary was found in the database Bantu Lexical Reconstructions 3. Most grammatical reconstructions were found in Bantu grammatical reconstructions and Tense and Aspect in Bantu.
 * Greenberg, Joseph H. (1948) The Tonal System of Proto-Bantu, WORD, 4:3, pp.196-208.[1 ]
 * Meeussen, A. E. (1967). Bantu grammatical reconstructions, Africana Linguistica, 3, pp. 79–121.[2 ]
 * Cole, D. T. (1967). The prefix of Bantu noun class 10, African Studies, 26:3, pp. 119–138.[3 ]
 * Ziervogel, D. (1971). The Bantu locative, African Studies, 30:3-4, pp. 371-384.[4 ]
 * Meeussen, A. E. (1973). Comparative Bantu: Test cases for method, African Language Studies, 14, pp. 6–18.[5 ]
 * Creider, Chet. A. (1975). The semantic system of noun classes in Proto-Bantu, Anthropological Linguistics, 17:3, pp. 127-138.[6 ]
 * Polomé, Edgar C. (1975). The reconstruction of Proto-Bantu culture from the lexicon, Patterns in Language, Culture, and Society: Sub-Saharan Africa,19, pp. 164–173.[7 ]
 * Güldemann, Tom (1999). The genesis of verbal negation in Bantu and its dependency on functional features of clause types. In Hombert, Jean-Marie & Larry M. Hyman (eds.), Bantu historical linguistics: theoretical and empirical perspectives, pp. 545-587.[8 ]
 * Lodhi, Abdulaziz Y. (2002). Verbal extensions in Bantu (the case of Swahili and Nyamwezi). In Africa & Asia, 2, pp. 4–26.[9 ]
 * Hyman, Larry M. (2003). Segmental Phonology. In Nurse, D. & Philippson, G (eds.), The Bantu Languages.[10 ]
 * Van de Velde, Mark (2005). The order of noun and demonstrative in Bantu.[11 ]
 * Nurse, Derek (2007). The Emergence of Tense in Early Bantu. In Payne, D. L. & Peña, J (eds.), Selected Proceedings of the 37th Annual Conference on African Linguistics, pp. 164–179.[12 ]
 * Nurse, Derek (2008). Tense and Aspect in Bantu. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
 * Devos, Maud & Van Olmen, Daniel. (2013). Describing and explaining the variation of Bantu imperatives and prohibitives. Studies in Language 37.[13 ]
 * Marlo, Michael R. (2013). Verb tone in Bantu languages: micro‑typological patterns and research methods, Africana Linguistica, 19. pp. 137–234.[14 ]
 * Dom, Sebastian (2014). The neuter in Bantu: a Systemic Functional analysis. [15 ]
 * Choti, Johnathan R. (2015). Phonological Asymmetries of Bantu Nasal Prefixes.[16 ]
 * Bostoen, Koen & Bastin, Yvonne (2016). Bantu Lexical Reconstruction. Oxford Handbooks.[17 ]
 * Gibson, Hannah et al. (2017). Patterns and Developments in the Marking of Diminutives in Bantu, Nordic Journal of African Studies 26:4, pp. 344–383.[18 ]
 * Pacchiarotti, Sara (2017). Bantu Applicative Construction Types Involving *-id: Form, Functions And Diachrony.[19 ]
 * Zeller, Jochen (2017). A Note on Bantu Extensions and Syntactic Word Formation. Nordic Journal of African Studies 26:4. pp. 256–276.[20 ]
 * Hyman, Larry M. (2018). Common Bantoid verb extensions. In John R. Watters (ed.), East Benue-Congo: Nouns, pronouns, and verbs, pp. 173–198. Berlin: Language Science Press.[21 ]
 * Hyman, Larry M. (2018). More reflections on the nasal classes in Bantu. In John R. Watters (ed.), East Benue-Congo: Nouns, pronouns, and verbs, pp. 223–236. Berlin: Language Science Press.[22 ]
 * Hyman, Larry M. (2018). Causative and Passive High Tone in Bantu: Spurious or Proto? UC Berkeley PhonLab Annual Report, 14.[23 ]
 * Idiatov, Dmitry (2018). Proto-Bantu Question Words.[24 ]