regions
had changed to the modern form of _Ha-_. In S.W. and N.W. Cameroon the
initial _p_ of the 16th prefix reappears in two or three dialects; but
elsewhere in North-West Bantu Africa and in the whole basin of the Congo,
except the extreme south and south-east, the form _Pa-_ is never met with;
it is _Va-_, _Wa-_, _Ha-_, _Fa-_, or _A-_. In the _Secuana_ group of
dialects it is _Fa-_ or _Ha-_; in the Luyi language of Barotseland it
assumes the very rare form of _Ba-_, while the first prefix is weakened to
_A-_.

The pronouns in Bantu are in most cases traceable to some such general
forms as these:--

I, me, my .....................ngi, mi,[16] ngu.

Thou, thee, thy................gwe, ku; -ko.

He or she, him, her, his, &c...a-, ya-, wa- (nom.); also ngu-
(which becomes yu-, ye-, wu-,
hu-, u-); -mu (acc.); -ka,
-kwe (poss.); there is also
another form, ndi (nom. and
poss.) in the Western Bantu
sphere.

We, us, our....................isu, swi-, tu-, ti-; -tu- (acc.);
-itu (poss.).

Ye, you, your..................inu, mu-, nyu-, nyi-, -ni;
-nu, -mu- (acc.); -inu
(poss.).

They, them, their..............babo, ba-; -ba- (acc.); -babo
(poss.).

The Bantu verb consists of a practically unchangeable root which is
employed as the second person singular of the imperative. To this root are
prefixed and suffixed various particles. These are worn-down verbs which
have become auxiliaries or they are reduced adverbs or prepositions. It is
probable (with one exception) that the building up of the verbal root into
moods and tenses has taken place independently in the principal groups of
Bantu languages, the arrangement followed being probably founded on a
fundamental system common to the original Bantu tongue. The exception
alluded to may be a method of forming the preterite tense, which seems to
be shared by a great number of widely-spread Bantu languages. This may be
illustrated by the Zulu _tanda_, love, which changes to _tandile_, have
loved, did love. This _-ile_ or _-ili_ may become in other forms _-idi_,
_didi_, _-ire_, _-ine_, but is always referable back to some form like
_-ili_