In the Boloki language there are eight classes of alliterative concord,[[7]] i.e. all the nouns in the language belong to one or other of these eight classes, and directly the class of a noun is decided its pronominal prefixes, its possessive and demonstrative pronouns, etc., are at once known also by the fixed rules of usage, or, as we should say, by the grammar of the language, and its plural form is also easily ascertainable.
[7]. On the Lower Congo there are fifteen classes.
| Class 1. Motu = person. | Batu = persons, people. |
| Class 2. Ndaku = house. | Mandaku = houses. |
| Class 3. Loboko = arm. | Maboko = arms. |
| Class 4. Linkeme = guinea fowl. | Mankeme = guinea fowls. |
| Class 5. Bopepe = pipe bowl. | Mapepe = pipe bowls. |
| Class 6. Lobeki = saucepan. | Mbeki = saucepans. |
| Class 7. Etanda = plank. | Bitanda = planks. |
| Class 8. Munke = eggs. | Minke = eggs. |
Collective noun, nke = a lot of eggs, and this makes its plural in manke = lots, as manke mabale = two lots of eggs, as a noun of Class 2.
It took us a considerable time to work out this classification, as it meant the collecting of a very large number of words and the writing down of their singular and plural forms. It was easy enough to see that all nouns beginning with “e” made their plurals by turning the “e” into “bi”; but it was not so easy to decide about the “lo,” for we found that some plurals were made by changing the “lo” into “ma,” and others by turning “lo” into “m”; and when it is remembered that there are sixteen ways of using every adjective, according as it is singular or plural and belongs to one or other of the classes, it will be recognized by the reader that an African language is something to study and not despise as being “only a nigger’s language.” Of course, it is easy to pick up a few words and phrases for ordinary daily use which, when eked out with gestures, will carry the traveller a long way if he has a factotum quick at sign and thought-reading; but for expressing the finer shades of meaning, and also for receiving the same, an intimate knowledge of the language is necessary. I have heard more than one white man blame the missionary for “making a grammar for the nigger”; whereas the missionary has simply found out the rules by which the “niggers” talk, and written them down in such grammatical terms that others might understand them.
I have inserted a short note on the verb[[8]] in the Appendix, and also a note on the Boloki method of counting.[[9]] But before closing this chapter I wish to write a few lines on the figurative mode of speaking which is peculiar to all Bantu languages, and by no means confined to the Boloki people. The phrases in italics are literal translations of the native terms for expressing their emotions, etc.
[8]. See Appendix, Note 2, p. 336.
[9]. See Appendix, Note 3, p. 339.
When a native is worried his heart is let down, and should he have a choice of two equally pleasant things his heart is pulled in opposite directions; but when the heart has recovered its normal condition after some violent outbreak it is said to be stopped, or after some perturbing grief they say the heart is stuck to the ribs, as there are no longer any flutterings.
A greedy, selfish person has a heart of leaves, and a person who is recklessly indifferent to all the consequences of his action has lost his heart, and one who is lying and treacherous in his ways has a heart that has broken loose, over which the owner has no proper control. Should you be kind enough to comfort a person in a great sorrow, your action will be described as sticking the heart to the ribs, and thus keeping it from moving about inside; or if you have soothed a person in distress you are regarded as having pushed his heart down into its place. When a person is irresolute in mind, and undecided as to the best course to pursue, he describes his state by saying, “My heart is rolling from side to side,” and the word used describes a canoe rocking in a storm.