Auxiliary verb in Xhosa

Abstract

The auxiliary verbs in Xhosa are usually verbs which can also be used in most cases as normal autonomous verbs. They can therefore be termed halfway verbs. Only the deontic -ma, músa, and -kha which have a limited use in the verbal conjugation, -nga with a potential modality, and the copulative -ba ‘be or become’ can be classified as being primary auxiliaries in relation to the conjugation of the predicative. Auxiliary verbs still belong to the verbal category and dominate their complement. However, when pragmatic focus comes to bear on the auxiliary verb fronting takes place, i.e. the auxiliary verb is fronted and separated from its complement by the subject nominal.