1. The system of prefixes.—Every Kaffre noun is preceded by an adventitious syllable, apparently destitute of any separate meaning; just as if, in English, we said, instead of—
- Father, al-father.[174]
- Son, el-son.
- Mother, em-mother.
So far is this principle carried that the words introduced by the missionaries, from our own language, all become thus modified. Hence priest changes to um-priest; pharisee, um-pharisee. I imagine that without this prefix the simple root would be as impossible a form for a Kaffre or Bechuana as a word like ὀρνιθ- (i. e. a root without any concomitant inflection) would be to a Greek. Nevertheless, the Kaffre prefix is no sign of case or number.
In the following words the syllables in italics are the prefixes, wholly independent in origin from the root, and wholly non-radical:—
| ENGLISH. | KAFFRE. |
|---|---|
| Person | umtu. |
| Horse | ihashe. |
| Chief | inkosi. |
| Servant | isikaka. |
| Infant | usana. |
| River | umlambo. |
| Face | ubuso. |
| Ford | akutya. |
| People | abantu. |
| Words | amaswe. |
| Cattle | inkomo. |
| Trees | imiti. |
2. The euphonic or alliterational concord.—This is a point of Kaffre syntax, and occurs when certain words come together; e. g. in the case of a substantive governing another in the possessive case, or an adjective agreeing with a substantive. In either of these cases the secondary word changes its initial sound into that of the primary one, or into some sound allied to it.
If in English we expressed the relation between the nominative and possessive cases on the same principle that occurs in the Kaffre and Bechuana, we should say instead of—
- Man's dog—dan dog.
- Sun's beam—bun beam.
- Father's daughter—dather daughter, &c.
It may easily be imagined that languages thus characterised, taken along with undoubted points of physical difference, have supplied the grounds for a somewhat broad line of demarcation between the Kaffre and the other Africans. That such a line is natural, is certain; whether it has not been made too broad, is another question.