ABSTRACT
In most European grammars, the first thing learned is the conjugation of the verbs ‘to have’ and ‘to be.’ In Bantu there is no verb ‘to have,’ and ‘to be’ is relegated, comparatively speaking, to the background. ‘Have’ is expressed by’ be with/or simply by ‘with,’ with the ‘be’ understood. ‘I have a house’ is in Swahili nina nyumba : literally ‘I with house’ ; in Zulu ‘we have maize’ is sinombila (si-na-umbila). This one fact shows how necessary it is for those who draw up grammars to take the language as they find it, instead of trying to fit it into the framework of any pre-conceived scheme. The late Dr. Henry began his Chmyanja Grammar—in many respects an excellent piece of work—by conjugating the non-existent verb ‘to have’
