Language/Lingala/Vocabulary/Contractions

Contractions – Learn the Lingala Language

As with most languages, Lingala speakers often use contractions. The most common verbs for these verbal shortcuts are kozala and kozala na.

People often shorten kozala by dropping the ‘-la’ at the end. So you’ll hear naza instead of nazali, oza instead of ozali, aza instead of azali and so on. The same holds for the kozala part of kozala na, although the na remains. So you’re likely to hear naza na or oza na or aza na, etc.

I started using the contraction forms of kozala and kozala na soon after I started to learn Lingala but came to regret it and it took me a while to break what became a bad slang habit. I would suggest sticking with the correct forms when you’re learning and then using contractions later on.

Source

https://lobalingala.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/23042014-loba-lingala.pdf

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