Ila (Chiila) is a language of Zambia. Maho (2009) lists Lundwe (Shukulumbwe) and Sala as distinct languages most closely related to Ila. Ethnologue reports that Sala is mutually intelligible with Tonga. Ila is one of the languages of the Earth included on the Voyager Golden Record.
ch in fact varies from "k" to a "weak" version of English "ch", to a "strong" "ch" to "ty".
j as the voiced sound corresponding to this therefore varies "g"/English "j"/ "dy" / and "y".
v is reportedly like English "v", but vh "lips more rounded with a more distinct emission of breath".
zh is the j in French bonjour.
ng is the sound as in (southern British) English "finger", while ng' is as in "singer" - a similar distinction is observed in Swahili.
Tonality and stress
We are told that quasi-musical pitch or tone is important as in many other languages, and is used to distinguish words from another. Stress is demonstrated by contrasting aze with stress on the first syllable ( = "with him") with aze with stress on the second syllable (= "he also").
Some words and phrases
ing'anda - house
imboni - pupil of the eye
ipezho - brush
indimi - tongues
lemeka - honour (verb)
bamba - arrange
Bambambila - they arrange for me
Balanumba - they praise me
bobu buzani - this meat
Bobu mbuzani - this is meat
chita - to do, same is used to mean 'I have no idea'
chisha - to cause to do
katala - to be tired
katazha - to make tired
impongo - a goat
Ila: ishishi - dimness; Sotho: lefifi - darkness; Xhosa: "ubufifi" - dimness; Nyanja: chimfifi - secret;
Bemba: IMFIFI - darkness; Kisanga: mfinshi - darkness; and Bulu (Ewondo): "dibi" - darkness.
Words in English such as "Splash!", "Gurgle", "Ker-putt" express ideas without the use of sentences. Smith and Dale point out that this kind of expression is very common in the Ila language:
You may say Ndamuchina anshi ("I throw him down"), but it is much easier and more trenchant to say simply Ti!, and it means the same.
Some examples:
Muntu wawa - A person falls
Wawa mba - falls headlong
Mba! - He falls headlong
Mbo! mbo! mbo! mbò! - (with lowered intonation on the last syllable) He falls gradually
Mbwa! - flopping down, as in a chair
Wa! wa! wa! wa!- The rain is pattering
Pididi! pididi! pididi! - of a tortoise, falling over and over from a great height
Ndamuchina anshi - I throw him down
Ti! - ditto
Te! - torn, ripped
Amana te! - The matter's finished
To-o! - So peaceful!
Wi! - All is calm
Ne-e! - All is calm
Tuh! - a gun going off
Pi! - Phew, it's hot!
Lu! - Yuck, it's bitter!
Bu-u! - Erh, it's sour!
Lwe! - Yum, sweet!
Mbi! - It's dark
Mbi! mbi! mbi! mbi! - It's utterly dark
Sekwè sekwè! - the flying of a goose
nachisekwe - a goose
As in many other languages, Ila uses a system of noun classes. Either the system as presented by Smith and Dale is simpler than that for Nyanja, ChiChewa, Tonga, or Bemba, or the authors have skated over the complexities by the use of the category "significant letter":
Class 1. singular: prefix: mu-; s/l. (= "significant letter" verb, adjective, etc. prefix appropriate to the class:) u-, w-
Class 1. plural. prefix: ba-; s/l. b-
Class 2. sing. prefix: mu-; s/l. u-, w-
Class 2. pl. prefix: mi-; s/l. i-, y-
Class 3. sing. prefix: i-, di-; s/l. l-, d-
Class 3. pl. prefix: ma-; s/l. a-
Class 4. sing. prefix: bu- abstract nouns; s/l. b-
Class 4. pl. prefix: ma-; s/l. a-
Class 5. sing. prefix: ku- often nouns of place; s/l. k-
Class 5. pl. prefix: ma-; s/l. a-
Class 6. sing. prefix: ka- a diminutive sense; s/l. k-
Class 6. pl. prefix: tu- diminutive plural; s/l. t-
Class 7. sing. prefix: chi- "thing" class; s/l. ch-
Class 7. pl. prefix: shi-; s/l. sh-
Class 8. sing. prefix: in-; s/l. i-, y-
Class 8. pl. prefix: in-; s/l. y-, sh-
Class 9. sing. prefix: lu-; s/l. l-
Class 9. pl. prefix: in-; s/l. y-, sh-
Class 10. sing. prefix: lu-; s/l. l-
Class 10. pl. prefix: ma-; s/l. a-
The locatives form a special category:
mu- - at rest in, motion into, motion out from;
ku- - position at, to, from
a- - rest upon, to or from off (Compare pa- prefix in Sanga, etc.)
Thus:
Mung'anda mulashia - The inside of the house is dark.
Kung'anda kulashia - Around the house it is dark.
Ang'anda alashia - Darkness is upon the house.
The root is the part of the verb giving the primary meaning. To this can be added prefixes and suffixes: many elements can be united in this way, sometimes producing long and complex polysyllabic verb words. For example, from the root anga, "to tie", we can derive such a form as Tamuchinakubaangulwilanzhi? meaning, "Why have you still not untied them?"
Prefixes can show:
tense
subject
object
voice (exceptional)
Suffixes can show:
voice
tense (exceptional)
mood
Here are some of the forms of the verb kubona, "to see". (Note that there are also negative forms, e.g. ta-tu-boni, "we do not see", that there is also a subjunctive mood, a conditional mood, a jussive mood and the imperative. Many subjunctive forms end in -e.
The root of the verb is in two forms:
(i) simple stem: bona : code - SS
(ii) modified stem: bwene : code ₴
-SS tubona we (who) see
-₵ tubwene we (who) have seen
-A-SS twabona we saw, see, have seen
-A-CHI-SS twachibona we continue seeing
-A-YA-BU-SS twayabubona we are engaged in seeing
-DI-MU-KU-SS tudimukubona we are seeing
-CHI-SS tuchibona we continue to see
-LA-SS tulabona we are constantly (usually, certainly) seeing
-LA-YA-BU-SS tulayabubona we are being engaged in seeing
-LA-YA-KU-SS tulayakubona we are habitually in the act of seeing
-DI-₵ tudibwene we have seen
-CHI-₵ tuchibwene we have been seeing
-A-KA-SS twakabona we saw
-A-KA-CHI-SS twakachibona we continued seeing
-A-KA-YA-BU-SS twakayabubona we were engaged in seeing
KA-SS katubona (Notice the position of tu here) we saw
KA-₵ katubwene we did see
-A-KU-SS twakubona we were seeing
-A-KU-CHI-SS twakuchibona we were continuing to see
-A-KU-YA-BU-SS twakuyabubona we were engaged in seeing
-A-KU-₵ twakubwene we had seen
-KA-LA-SS tukalabona we shall soon see
-KA-LA-CHI-SS tukalachibona we shall continue seeing
-KA-LA-YA-BU-SS tukalayabubona we shall be engaged in seeing
The above English renderings are approximate.
Certain suffixes add new dimensions of meaning to the root. Although these follow some logic, we again have to feel a way towards an adequate translation into English or any other language:
simple verb: bona - to see
relative or dative form: -ila, -ela, -ina, -ena: bonena - to see to, for somebody, and so on
extended relative: idila, -elela, -inina, enena: bonenena - to see to, for somebody, etc. ididila - to go right away
causative: -ya + many sound changes: chisha - to cause to do, from chita - to do
capable, "-able": -ika, -eka: chitika - to be do-able
passive: -wa: chitwa - to be done
middle (a kind of reflexive that acts upon oneself - compare Greek): -uka: anduka - to be in a split position, from andulwa- to be split by somebody
stative; in fixed constructions only: -ama: lulama - to be straight; kotama - to be bowed
extensive: -ula: sandula - turn over; andula - split up
extensive, with the sense of "keep on doing": -aula: andaula - chop up firewood
equivalent of English prefix "re-": -ulula: ululula - to trade something over and over again, from ula - to trade
or the equivalent of the English prefix "un-", also: -ulula: ambulula - to unsay, to retract
reflexive - a prefix this time - di- : dianga - to tie oneself, from anga - to tie; dipa - to give to each other, from pa - to give
reciprocal: -ana: bonana - to see each other
intensive: -isha: angisha - to tie tightly
reduplicative: ambukambuka - keep on turning aside, from ambuka - to turn aside
These can be used in composites: e.g. langidizha - to cause to look on behalf of.
A text given by Smith and Dale, Sulwe Mbwakatizha Muzovu ("How Mr. Hare managed to scare Mr. Elephant") presents what might be called a "classical fabliau", with animals talking like people, just as in the Fables of Aesop or the Brer Rabbit stories in the African Diaspora. Is it fanciful to see the model for the mischievous, resourceful Brer Rabbit in the Sulwe of this story? It seems that slaves destined for the southern United States were captured and purchased in this area of Zambia. There is at least a statistical possibility that the Brer Rabbit cycle, with its use of ideophones or sound imitations, had an origin in the Ila language.
