Comitatives or Reciprocals
By Alexandre Kimenyi

The suffix -an- has been given many labels by different linguists working with Bantu languages such as associative by Belgian linguists (Coupez, Meeussen), reciprocal by others such as Bresnan, Mchombo and comitative. In this chapter, I show that this morpheme stands for an abstract case called here COMITATIVE which licences different types of arguments. This will explain why its complements fail to behave in a unified way. This type of asymmetry should not be surprising if it is treated like other case assigning suffixes such as the applicative morpheme -ir- which is polysemantic and polyfunctional.
In this chapter, I will present its different uses in section one. In section two, I will show the distinctive syntactic properties of each case. Section three presents the multiple comitative suffixation. Section four deals with the combination of this suffix with other grammatical verb extensions namely the applicative and the causative and presents the kinds of problems that this kind of complex structures creates for both the native speaker and the linguist and the final section attempts to find out what the underlying representation of this morpheme is. Is it indeed an abstract case or a predicate?

I. Different uses of the suffix -an-

The suffix -an- has been given different labels, most of the time, unfortunately without any justification or explanation as to why the label should be used when the analysts are aware of the fact that this morpheme has different functions. The most known of these labels are "reciprocal" and "associative". The most appropriate would be the latter because it entails indeed the use of a cover term to refer to different meanings and functions. The only problem with the usage of this label, however, is that the same term is also used to refer to the morpheme -a which is found with head nouns for modification purposes. The comitative use of this morpheme although more common than the reciprocal and known to Bantuists is rarely or never used. Since the comitative is more used than the reciprocal and since the term associative is used to refer to other constructions, the label comitative will be selected.
This morpheme is used to refer to unspecified objects, to reciprocals, to comitatives and to manners, animate and inanimate.

1.1. The unspecified object

The suffix -an- seems to stand for an unspecified complement. It is an argument absorbing morpheme. It occurs in complementary distribution with the complement: The complement is not allowed if -an- is present . This is what led Guthrie to conclude that -an- stands for a direct object. The following examples support this claim.

1a. Uyu mwáana a-ra-túk-an-a.
this child s/he-pres-insult-suff-asp
This child insults (people).
b. Uyu mwáana a-ra-túk-a abaantu
this child s/he-pres-insult-asp people
'This child insults people'
2a. Umugabo wa Máriyá y-ará-sur-an-aga.
man of Mary he-pst-visit-suff-asp
'Mary's husband visited (people)'.
b. Umugabo wa Máriya y-a-súr-aga abaantu.
man of Mary he-pst-visit-asp people
'Mary's husband visitied people'.

Not all verbs, however, behave this way. It is a distinct class of them which allows the suffix to stand for a generic object. The following list presents some of those verbs.

3. gukúunda/gukúundana 'to like/love'; kwáanga/kwáangana 'to hate'; guseka/gusekana 'to laugh/to make fun of'; gusuuzugura/gusuuzugurana 'to despise'; gucyoocyoora/gucyoocyoorana 'to tease'; kugaya/kugayana 'to have a low opinion of somebody'; kuroga/kurogana 'to poison'; kwíima/kwíimana 'to be stingy'; kwíiba/kwíibana 'to steal'; kurása/kurásana 'to shoot'; gukúbita/gukúbitana 'to hit'; gushootoora/gushootoorana 'to seek an argument'; gusoma/gusomana 'to kiss'; kurúma/kurúmana 'to bite'; kwúubaha/kwúubahana 'to respect'; gufásha/gufáshanya 'to help'; kubóna/kubónana 'to see'; kureeba/kureebana 'to look'; gukeba/gukebana 'to cut (knife); gutéma/gutémana 'to cut with a machete'; kuramutsa/kuramukanya 'to greet'; guceenga/guceengana 'to trick'; gutéga/gutégana 'to trap'; gushuka/gushukana 'to tempt'; kubéshya/kubéshyana 'to lie'; gucúra/gucúrana 'to have more than others'; kuréga/kurégana 'to accuse'; kwaakiira/kwaakiirana 'to receive'; guhima/guhimana 'to dispute'; kwíigaana/kwíigaanana 'to imitate'; kuvuura/kuvuurana 'to cure'; kunéena/kunéenana 'to despise and discriminate'; guhuguza/guhuguzanya 'to cheat';
kugoonga/kugoongana 'to hit (vehicle)'; guhoobera/guhooberana 'to hug'; gupfúumbata/gupfúumbatana 'to cover with arm while in bed'; guhirika/guhirikana 'to push'; gutérura/gutérurana 'to lift'; etc.

All these verbs constitute a semantic class because they seem to be semantically related. The suffix stands for a benefactive or malefactive complement.
Ditransitive verbs lose the dative case and keep the accusative case when they are suffixed with this morpheme:

4a. Umugoré a-r-éerek-a abáana amashusho.
woman she-pres-show-asp children pictures
'The woman is showing pictures to the children'.
b. Umugoré a-r-éerek-an-a amashusho.
woman she-pres-show-suff-asp pictures
'The woman is showing pictures'.
c. *Umugoré a-r-éerek-an-a.
woman she-pres-show-suff-asp
'The woman is showing'.

5a. Umwáana y-iim-ye abaándi ibiryó.
child he-refuse-asp others food
'The child refused to give food to others'.
b. Umwáana y-iim-an-ye ibiryó.
child he-refuse-suff-asp food
'The child refused to give food'.
c. *Umwáana y-iim-an-ye abaándi.
child he-refuse-suff-asp others
'The child refused to give to others'.

This type of analysis presupposes therefore an unspecified object in the underlying structure with a comitative case. This unspecified object is not 'spelled out 'at the phonetic level after verb raising and case-incorporation.
This analysis is not farfetched because locatives also allow argument absorption.

6a. Abáana ba-yi-ica-ye hó. (intebe) 'chair'
children they-it-sit-asp on
'The children are sitting on it'
b. Abáana b-iica-ye hó.
children they-sit-asp (it) on
'The children are sitting on it'.

Agentive nominals can be derived from these verbs. The nominalizer is the suffix -yi and the prefix belongs either to class 1/2 (umu-/aba-) or class 9 (in-).

7. kwíica > kwíicana > umwíicanyi 'a killer'
kurása > kurásana > umurásanyi 'a shooter'
kubá > kubáana > umubáanyi 'a neighbour'
kwáanga > kwáangana > umwáanganyi 'a hater' but umwáanzi 'an enemy'
gucyoocyoora > gucyoocyoorana > incyoocyooranyi 'a teaser'
kubéeshya > kubéeshyana > imbeeshyanyi 'liar'
kuréga > kurégana >indéganyi 'an accuser'

These nominals are semantically different from regular nominals without suffixation. The ones with the suffix indicate generality or habituality whereas the unaffixed ones show specificity. Thus umwáanzi (u-mu-áang-yi) is 'an enemy' but umwáanganyi (u-mu-áang-an-yi) 'a hater'; umwíishi (u-mu-íic-yi) 'murderer' and umwíicanyi (u-mu-íic-an-yi) '(serial) killer'; etc.

The following verbs with the -an- suffix have been lexicalized in the sense that they have acquired specific meanings.

8. kuryá 'to eat' >kuryáana 'to eat people'/'to bite' (dog)/'snake).
kunywá 'to drink' > kunywáana 'to be buddies with'
kubá 'to be/live' > kubáana 'to be friendly'
kwíica 'to kill' > kwíicana 'to fight with horns' (cows)

1.2. Reciprocals

Reciprocals entail two distinct referents whose actions affect each other. Syntactically they are both subjects and objects of the same verb.
The reciprocals appear either as both subjects of the verb with the suffix -an- incorporated into the verb or one of the reciprocals shows up as an oblique object marked by the preposition na.

1a. Yohaáni na Máriyá ba-ra-kúund-an-a.
John and Mary they-pres-like/love-rec-asp
John and Mary love/like each other'.
b. Yohaáni a-kuund-an-a na Máriyá.
John he-like/love-rec-asp with Mary
2. Abahuúngu ba-ra-vúg-an-a.
boys they-pres-talk-rec-asp
'The boys talk to each other'.

There are many verbs which are inherently reciprocal which always appear with the reciprocal suffix. The suffix is part of the stem because without it, the stem does not have any reference.

3. gutóongana 'to quarrel'; kurwaana 'to fight'; gusáambana 'to commit adultery';
gutáandukana 'to depart from each other'; kubúurana'to have a legal dispute'; gukíirana 'to wrestle'; kuungana 'to be equal'; kugabana 'to share'; guhwáana 'to match each other'; kwaanduranya 'to seek quarrel';

When these verbs have a complement, the causative suffix -y- is added to them. They lose the reciprocal meaning, however, and the subject of the sentence becomes the agent who initiates the action or the event.

4a. Umugoré n'úmwáana ba-ra-tóong-an-a.
woman and child they-pres-quarrel-rec-asp
'The woman and the child are quarreling'.
b. Umugoré a-ra-tóong-an-y-a umwáana.
woman she-pres-quarrel-rec-caus-asp child
'The woman is reprimanding the child'.
5a. Abanyéeshuúri ba-ra-rwa-an-a na Leeta.
students they-pres-fight-rec-asp with state
'The students are fighting with the government'.
b. Abanyéeshuúri ba-ra-rwa-an-y-a Leeta.
students they-pres-fight-rec-caus-asp state
'The students are fighting the government'.
6a. Kagabo a-ra-kíir-an-a na Gáteté.
Kagabo he-pres-wrestle-rec-asp with Gatete
'Kagabo is wrestlingwith Gatete'.
b. Kagabo a-ra-kíir-an-y-a Gateté.
Kagabo he-pres-wrestle-rec-caus-asp Gatete
'Kagabo is wrestling Gatete'.

There is a handful of verbs which also inherently reciprocal lack this suffix and never get the suffix -an- when they are reciprocalized. These are:
guhúura 'to meet'; gusa 'to ressemble'; kwúuzura 'to be friends'; kureeshya 'to have the same height', kugaaniira 'to converse', etc.

7a. Yohaáni a-ra-húur-a na Máriyá.
John he-pres-meet-asp with Mary
'John is meeting with Mary'.
b. Yohaáni na Máriyá ba-ra-húur-a.
John and Mary they-pres-meet-asp
'John and Mary are meeting (each other)'.
8a. Uyu muhuúngu a-ra-sa n'uúyu mukoóbwa.
this boy he-pres-looks like with this girl
'This boy looks like this girl'
b. Uyu muhuúngu n'uúyu mukoóbwa ba-ra-sa.
this boy and this girl they-pres-look like
'This boy and this girl look like (each other).

1. 3. Comitatives

Structurally comitatives and reciprocals look the same. Like reciprocals, comitatives also have two NPs which appear one as subject of clause and the other as an oblique object introduced by the preposition na with the suffix -an- on the verb or these two NPs appear as conjoined subjects or collapse into one subject if it is a group of individuals.

1a. Umukoóbwa a-r-íig-an-a n'úmuhuúngu.
girl she-pres-study-com-asp with boy
'The girl is studying with the boy'.
b. Umukoóbwa n'úmuhuúngu ba-r-íig-an-a.
boy and girl they-pres-study-com-asp
'The girl and the boy they study with each other/together'.
2. Abáana ba-ra-kór-an-a.
children they-pres-work-com-asp
'The children work with each other/together'.

Semantically, comitatives are clearly different from reciprocals. Comitatives refer to referents "doing the same thing with each other" but not "to each other".
This label is well illustrated by the use of movement and location verbs. When this suffix is added to them, the only meaning this morpheme can have is "in the company of" or "with":

3. kuuza 'to come' >kuzaana 'to come with'/'to bring'
kujya 'to go/leave' >kujyaana 'to go with'/'to take'
kugeenda 'to leave/go'>kugeendana 'to go with'
kuzaamuka 'to go up'>kuzaamuukana 'to go up with'
kumanuka 'to come down'>kumanukana 'to come down with'
kwaambuka 'to cross'>kwaambukana 'to cross with'
gutaaha 'to come home'>gutaahana 'to come home with'
guhíta 'to pass (by)' >huhítana 'to pass (by) with'
kúurira 'to climb' >kúurirana 'to climb with'
kuguruka 'to fly' > kugurukana 'to fly with'
kwiicara 'to sit' > kwiicarana 'to sit wih'
guhágarara 'to stand up' >guhágararana 'to stand up with'
kwéegama 'to lean' >kwéegamana 'to stand up with'
kuryáama 'to lie down' >kuryáamana 'to lie down with'
kubá 'to be' > kubáana 'to live with'
gutúura 'to live'> gutúurana 'to live next to'
guhóra 'to stay at all the time' >guhórana 'to stay with someboy all the time'
kwíirirwa 'to spend the day' > kwíiriranwa 'to spend the day with'

The comitative can be used with any kind of verb but the reciprocal is limited to verbs with agent subjects only. Kinyarwanda doesn't have intransitive verbs. Any verb can have a complement.

The reciprocal deprives the verb of a complement but as examples show below, comitatives keep their complements.

4a Abanyéeshuúri ba-ra-som-an-a.
students they-prs-read-com-asp
'The students are reading with each other/together'.
b. Abanyéeshuúri ba-ra-som-an-a igitabo.
students they-pres-read-com-asp book
'The students are reading the book with each other/together'.
5a. Yohaáni na Máriyá ba-ra-kór-an-a.
John and Mary they-pres-work-com-asp
'John and Mary are going to work with each other/together'
b. Yohaáni a-ra-kór-an-a na Máriyá.
John he-pres-wrok-com-asp with Mary
'John will work with Mary'
c. Yohaáni na Máriyá ba-ra-kór-an-a akazi.
John and Mary they-pres-work-com-asp job
'John and Mary are going to do the work with each other/together'
d. Yohaáni a-ra-kór-an-a akazi na Máriyá.
John he-pres-work-com-asp job with Mary
'John will do the work with Mary'.

Another big difference between reciprocals and comitatives is that the latter can appear as either subjects or comitative objects but reciprocals can only be subjects. The following examples show cases of comitative objects .

7. Umugabo y-a-bon-an-ye umugoré n'úmukoóbwa.
man he-pst-see-com-asp woman and girl
'The man saw the woman and the girl with each other/together'.
8. Abapóolisi ba-ra-fuung-an-a abahuúngu n'ábakoóbwa.
policemen they-pres-jail-com-asp boys and girls
'The police are imprisoning boys and girls together'.

Object comitatives are structurally ambiguous, however, because the "comitated" object may be thought of a comitative subject. Thus (7) and (8) also mean 'The man , with the girl, saw the woman' and 'The police with the girls are imprisoning the boys', respectively.
Another evidence that reciprocals and comitatives are different is the fact that both can appear in the same verb. When they do, of course doubling of the -an- suffix takes place.

9a. Umugabo n'úmugore ba-a-gii-ye murí gerezá.
man and woman they-pst-go-asp in jail
'The man and the woman went to jail'.
b. Umugabo n'úmugoré ba-a-jy-aan-ye murí gerezá.
woman and woman they-pst-go-com-asp in jail
'The man and the woman went with each other to jail'
'The man and the woman took each other to jail'
c. Umugabo n'úmugoré ba-a-jy-aan-an-ye murí gerezá.
man and woman they-pst-go-com-com-asp in jail
'The man and the woman took each other to jail'

More evidence will be given to show that indeed reciprocals and comitatives are different not only semantically but syntactically as well.

This same suffix -an- can be added to any verb to derive nouns which show how something has been obtained.

10. amafaraanga y'ámaguzanyo 'borrowed money' <kuguza 'to borrow'
ibiryó by'íbisabano 'begged food' <gusaba 'to ask'
imfáshanyo 'aid' <gufásha 'to aid/help'
imyaambaro y'ímitiirano 'borrowed clothes' < gutiira 'to borrow'
abáana b'ábaazaanano 'children from a previous husband' < kuzaana 'to bring'
amáazi y'ámavoomano 'water from the well' < kuvooma 'to fetch water'
amatá y'ámagurano 'milk from the store' < kugura 'to buy'
igaáre ry'íryíibano 'stolen bicycle' < kwíiba 'to steal'

These nominals are most of the time used as modifiers of head nouns and agree with their heads.

11. Umwáana a-ra-geend-eesh-a igaáre y-iib-yé.
child s/he-pres-go-caus-asp bicycle he-steal-asp
'The child is riding a bicycle that he stole'
Umwáana a-ra-geend-eesh-a igaáre ry'íiry-íib-an-o
child s/he-pres-go-caus-asp bicycle of cl 5-steal-com-nom.
'The child is riding a stolen bicycle'.

1. 4. Manners

Manners, structurally and semantically, differ from both reciprocals and comitatives. They are closer in meanings to comitatives, however. The only difference is the responsibility in the action or the event.
There are two types: concrete and abstract. Whereas comitatives and reciprocals are marked by both the suffix -an- and the preposition na, manners use either the na preposition or the suffix but not both of them at the same time.

1a. Umukoóbwa a-ra-kúbuur-a inzu n'ínkweeto.
girl she-pres-clean-asp house with shoes
'The girl is cleaning the house in her shoes'.
b. Umukoóbwa a-ra-kúbuur-an-a inzu inkweeto.
girl she-pres-clean-com-asp house shoes
'The girl is cleaning the house in her shoes'.

2a. Umwáana a-ra-vúg-a n'ágahiinda.
child s/he-pres-talk-asp with sorrow
'The child is talking with sorrow'.
b. Umwáana a-ra-vúg-an-a agahiinda.
child s/he-pres-talk-com-asp sorrow
'The child is talking with sorrow'.

Manners with movement verbs behave differently, however. They act like reciprocals or subject comitatives.

3a. Umugabo a-zaa-garuk-a n'íimódoká.
man he-fut-come back-asp with car
'The man will come back by car'
b. Umugabo a-zaa-garuk-an-a n'íimódoká.
man he-fut-come back-com-asp with car
'The man will come back by car'.
c. Umugabo a-zaa-garuk-an-a imódoká.
man he-fut-come back-com-asp car
*'The man will come back by car'
'The man will bring back the car'.

Manners differ from instruments also.

They are both marked by the preposition na but the suffixation is different.

4a. Umukoóbwa a-ra-som-a n'íindórerwamó.
girl she-pres-read-asp with glasses
'The girl is reading with glasses' (manner/instrument).
b. Umukoóbwa a-ra-som-an-a indórerwamó. (manner)
girl she-pres-read-com-asp glasses
'The girl is reading with her glasses on'.
c. Umukoóbwa a-ra-som-eesh-a indórerwamó. (instrument)
girl she-pres-read-caus-asp glasses
'The girl is reading with glasses'.

The difference between 4b (manner) and 4c (instrument) is that in the latter the glasses are needed whereas in the former they are not.

II. Syntactic properties of arguments licenced by the -an- suffix

The previous section has convincingly shown that the suffix -an- licences four distinct semantic roles: unspecified complement, reciprocals, comitatives and manners. This section shows also that each has distinct syntactic properties. Passivization is possible with some but not allowed with others, reflexivization and subjectivity are the same also.

2.1. Passivization

It is only comitatives and manners which can be passivized.

1a. Ibitabo by-iib-an-y-w-e n'ámakáramú.
books they-steal-com-asp-pass-asp with pens
'The books were stolen together with the pens'
b. Ibitabo n'ámakáramú by-iíb-an-y-w-e.
books and pens they-steal-com-asp-pass-asp
'The books and the the pens were stolen together'.
2a. Umugabo y-a-rás-an-y-w-e n'úmugoré.
man she-pst-shoot-com-asp-pass-asp with woman
'The man was shot together with the wife'
b. Umugabo n'úmugoré ba-ára-rásanywe.
man and woman they-pst-shoot-com-asp-pass-asp
'The man and the woman were shot together'.

The agent of the passive constructions cannot be expressed overtly, however, as (3) and (4) show.

3a. Abajuura b-iíb-an-ye ibitabo n'ámakaramú.
thieves they-steal-com-asp books and pens
'The thieves stole the books together with the pens'.
b. *Ibitabo n'ámakáramú by-íib-an-y-w-e n'ábajuura.
books and pens they-steal-com-asp-pass-asp by thieves
'The books and the pens were stolen by the thieves'.
4a. Abasirikare ba-á-ras-an-ye umugabo n'úmugoré.
soldiers they-pst-shoot-com-asp man and woman
'The soldiers shot the husband together with the wife'.
b. *Umugabo n'úmugoré ba-á-ras-an-y-w-e n'ábasirikare.
man and woman they-pst-shoot-com-asp-pass-asp by soldiers
'The husband and the wife were shot together by the soldiers'

The non-occurrence of agents in passives is probably due to the possibility of ambiguity since the preposition introducing the agent 'by' looks the same as the comitative preposition 'with'.
Manners passivize also.

4a. Abapóolisí ba-á-fash-e abahuúngu n'úrumogi.
police they-pst-catch-asp boys with marijuana
'The police caught the boys with marijuana'.
b. Abapóolisi ba-á-fat-an-ye abahuúngu urumogi.
police they-pst-catch-com-asp boys marijuana
'The police caught the boys with marijuana.
c. Abahuúngu ba-á-fat-an-y-w-e urumogi n'ábapóolisí.
boys they-pst-catch-com-asp-pass-asp by police
'The boys were caught with marijuana by the police'
5a. Ababyéeyi ba-á-saang-an-ye abáana ibiryó.
'The parents found the children with food'.
b. Abáana ba-á-saang-an-y-w-e ibiryó n'ábabyéeyi.
'The children were found with food by the parents'.
6a. Abasirikare ba-á-haamb-an-ye abanyurúru imyaambaro yáabo.
'The soldiers buried the prisoners with their clothes'.
b. Abanyurúru ba-á-haamb-an-y-w-e imyaambaro yáabo n'ábasirikare.
'The prisoners were buried in their clothes by the soldiers'.

Reciprocals don't passivize. The lexicalized verbs take the causative suffix -y- when passivized:

7. gutoongana 'to quarrel'>gutóonganywa 'to be quarreled'; 'kurwáana 'to fight'> kurwáanywa 'to be fought'; kubúurana 'to argue'>kubúuranywa 'to be taken into an argument'; gusáambana 'to commit adultery'> gusáambanywa 'to be the target of adultery (female)';...

There are also lexicalized reciprocal verbs in the passive form. All of them seem to have the meaning 'with each other' instead of 'each other' or 'to each other'.

8. kurushanwa 'to compete'; guhiganwa 'to compete'; gupiganwa 'to compete'; gusíganwa 'to race'; kwíitiranwa 'to have the same name'; gucúranwa 'to try to have more share than one's partners'; gutáanguranwa 'to race each other to do/get something thirst'; guhimanwa 'to ; kwaakuranwa 'to rescue each other'; gukúuranwa 'to succeed each other'; kurutanwa; kuziimanwa; gutebanwa; kunyúranwa;

9. Abáana ba-ra-cur-an-w-a ibiryó.
children they-pres-outeat-com-pass-asp food
'The children are fighting to eat more food than each other'.
10. Abagabo ba-zaa-rush-an-w-a kwíiruka n'ábagoré.
men they-fut-compete-com-pass-asp to-run with women
'The men will compete in the race with the women'.
11. Gateté a-ra-táangur-an-w-a na Gáteéra kuraangiza vubá.
Gatete he-pres-outdo-com-pass-asp with Gatera to-finish fast
'Gatete is competing with Gatera to finish fast'.

The fact that these verbs allow direct objects and the fact also that some have alternative non-passive forms without change in meaning is an indication that these passive forms are not indeed associated with any passive meaning at all. Otherwise, it would be difficult to explain the origin of passivization in these verbs.

2.2. Reflexivization

Reciprocals and comitatives behave differently as far as reflexivization is concerned.
As seen below verbs gukórana and kwíicarana both comitative, can be prefixed with the reflexive morpheme -ii- but kwáangana and gusomana which are reciprocal, cannot.

12a. Abagoré ba-ra-kór-an-a.
woman they-pres-work-asp
'The woman are working with other'.
b. Abagoré ba-r-íi-kor-an-a.
women they-pres-refl-work-com-asp
'The women are working by themselves'

13a. Abáana ba-r-iicar-an-ye
children they-pres-sit-com-asp
'The children are sitting by each other'
b. Abáana ba-r-íiy-icar-an-ye
children they-pres-refl-sit-com-asp
'The children are sitting by themselves'.

14a. Aba bahuúngu ba-r-áang-an-a.
these boys they-pres-hate-rec-asp
'These boys hate each other'
b. *Aba bahuúngu ba-r-íiy-ang-an-a.
these boys they-pres-refl-hate-rec-asp
15a. Abagabo n'ábagoré ba-ra-som-an-a.
men and women they-pres-kiss-rec-asp
'The men and the women kiss each other'.
b. *Abagabo n'ábagoré ba-r-íi-som-an-a.
man and women they-pres-refl-kiss-rec-asp

Reflexivization with reciprocals is possible only when used emphatically in which case the applicative suffix is added to the verb stem.

16. Aba bahuúngu ba-r-íiy-ang-an-ir-a (ubwáabo).
these boys they-pres-refl-hate-rec-appl-asp
'These boys hate each other themselves'.
17. Abagabo n'ábagoré ba-r-íi-som-an-ir-a (ubwáabo).
men and women they-pres-refl-kiss-appl-asp
'The men and the women are kissing each other themselves'

This is similar to the English one which doesn't have any reflexive meaning at all, such as I did it myself, They read the book themselves, etc. In Kinyarwanda also, instead of using the reflexive, a full pronoun in the possessive form prefixed with ubu- may be used instead. (ubwáanjye) 'myself', ubwáawe 'yourself', ubwé (him/herself), ubwaácu 'ourselves', ubwaányu 'yourself', ubwaábo 'themselves'.

18. Abahuúngu ba-rá-ang-an-a ubwaábo.
boys they-pres-hate-com-asp themselves
'The boys hate each other themselves'
19. Abagabo n'ábagoré ba-ra-som-an-a ubwaábo.
men and women they-pres-kiss-com-asp themselves
'The men and the women kiss each other themselves'.

Subjectivity

Although, all verbs with the -an- suffix can appear in the subjective or 'care free' form with the applicative suffix -ir-, only those with unspecified complements with singular subjects can appear in the sentence final position.

20. Uyu mwáana a-r-íi-kuund-an-ir-a.
this child s/he-pres-refl-like-com-appl-asp
'This child likes (people)'.
21. Umugabo wa Máriyá a-r-íi-tuk-an-ir-a.
man of Mary he-refl-insult-rec-appl-asp
Mary's husband likes to insult (people).

22. *Uyu mwáana a-r-iiy-ig-an-ir-a.
this child s/he-pres-refl-study-com-appl-asp
'This child studies with (people)'.
23. *Umuhuúngu a-r-íi-kor-an-ir-a.
boy he-pres-refl-work-com-appl-asp
'The boy works with (people).

(22) and (23) are ungrammatical because these verbs when suffixed with the morpheme -an- are never assigned unspeficied objects.

III. Multiple comitative suffixation

Unlike the applicative morpheme which licences multiple arguments, the comitative can only appear three times within the same verb stem. This is due to many factors. One: this morpheme instead of increasing the number of arguments that the verb can have, decreases them instead as it has been pointed out by other Bantuists such as Guthrie who considers it as an object complement and Mchombo who calls it a de-transivitization process. The decrease of arguments in Kinyarwanda as was shown in the preceding two sections occurs in the case of reciprocals and unspecified complements. Comitatives don't decrease them but they don't add any new arguments either. They only conjoin new NPs to arguments which the verb already has. The only argument-creating theta-role is the manner. It is thus the latter which can be added to other theta-roles to create multiple comitative suffixation. Another reason is due to the fact that while the applicative can assign both inherent and structural cases, the comitative assigns structural cases only.
Examples (1), (2) and (3) show that indeed manners can be combined with comitatives, reciprocals, and unspecified complements, respectively, resulting in double -an- suffixation.

1a. Umugabo a-ra-tabaar-a.
man he-pres-rescue-asp
'The man is going to the front'.
b. Umugabo a-ra-tabaar-an-a n'úmuhuúngu.
man he-pres-rescue-com-asp with boy
'The man is going to the front with the boy'.
c. Umugabo n'úmuhuúngu ba-ra-tabaar-an-a
man and boy they-pres-rescue-com-asp
'The man and the boy are going to the front together'
'The man and the boy are defending each other'.
d. Umugabo n'úmuhuúngu ba-ra-tabaar-a n'ámacúmu.
man and boy they-pres-rescue-asp with spears
'The man and the boy are going to the front with spears'.
e. Umugabo n'úmuhuúngu ba-ra-tabaar-an-a n'ámacúmu.
man and boy they-pres-rescue-com-asp with spears
'The man and the boy are going to the front together with spears'.
'The man and the boy are defending each other with spears'.
f Umugabo n'úmuhuúngu ba-ra-tabaar-an-an-a amacúmu.
man and boy they-pres-rescue-com-com-asp spears
'The man and the boy are going to the front together with spears'.
'The man and the boy are defending each other with spears'
2a. Abagoré ba-á-kiir-an-ye n'úbwuúzu n'úrukúundo
women they-pst-welcome-cm-asp with warmth and love
'The women welcame each other with warmth and love'.
b. Abagoré ba-á-kiir-an-an-ye ubwuúzu n'úrukúundo
women they-pst-welcome-com-com-asp warmth and love
'The women welcome each other with warmth and love'.
3a. Abáana b-iíb-an-aga ibitabo n'ámayerí meénshi
children they-steal-com-asp books with tricks many
'The children used to steal books with many tricks'
b. Abáana b-iíb-an-an-aga ibitabo amayerí meénshi
children they-steal-com-com-asp books tricks many
'The children used to steal books with many tricks'.

The following examples illustrate, the combination of reciprocals and comitatives.

4a. Abáana ba-ri hó ba-r-íib-an-a.
children they-be they-pres-steal-com-asp
'The children are stealing together'
'The children are stealing from each other'.
b. Abáana ba-ri hó ba-r-íib-an-an-a.
children they-be they-pres-steal-com-com-asp
'The children are stealing from each other together'.

Theoretically, triple -an- suffixation is possible. Since comitatives and reciprocals combine and since manners combine with either one, there is no reason why, manners cannot be added to a combination of comitatives and reciprocals. (5) illustrates this type of combination.

5a. Umugabo n'úmuhuúngu ba-ra-tabaar-an-a n'ámacúmu.
man and boy they-pres-rescue-com-asp with spears
'The man and the boy go to the rescue together with spears'. (comitative)
'The man and the boy rescue each each with spears'.
b. Umugabo n'úmuhuúngu ba-ra-tabaar-an-an-a n'ámacúmu.
man and boy they-pres-rescue-com-com-asp with spears
'The man and the boy are rescuing each other together with spears'.
c. Umugabo n'úmuhuúngu ba-ra-tabaar-an-an-an-a amacúmu.
man and woman they-pres-rescue-com-com-com-asp spears
'The man and the boy are rescuing each other together with spears'.

(5)c is indeed acceptable eventhough this type of sentence may not have been used before.
It is predictable in a generative grammar, however, because grammars generate not only sentences which are used (performance) but also which are possible (competence).

Objects of multiple comitatives behave like other objects: they can passivize, relativize, be pronoun-incorporated, extraposed, etc. (5) is used in (6) to show that the complement of -an- can be pronoun-incorporated, passivized and relativized.

6a. Umugabo n'úmuhuúngu ba-ára-ya-tábaar-an-an-ye.
man and boy they-pst-them-defend-com-com-asp
'The man and the boy defended each other with them'.
b. Amacúmu y-a-tábaar-an-an-y-w-e umugabo n'úmuhuúngu.
spears they-pst-defend-com-com-asp-pass-fv by man and boy
'The spears were used by the man and the boy to defend each other'.
c. Amacúmu umugabo n'úmuhuúngu ba-á-tabaar-an-an-ye y-aa-búz-e
spears man and boy they-pst-defend-com-com-asp they-pst-miss-asp
'The spears that the man and the boy defended with each other are missing'.

III. Combination of the comitative with other case-assigning morphemes

This section presents areas which need further careful investigation. When the comitative morpheme is combined with other morphemes, many interesting phenomena are observed: one of them is suffix doubling, the other one is word order of these suffixes. Native speakers themselves since they rarely use these structures don't seem to be confident about which one is the more correct or the more acceptable. This causes problems to generative grammar since it relies on native speakers' intuition.

3.1. Comitative with applicatives

When the suffix -an- is combined with the applicative morpheme, the former either precedes or follows the latter as examples in (1)a and (1)b show.

1a. gushiimirana (gushiima) 'to thank each other'
guhemukirana (guhemuka) 'to betray each other'
kwiibukiranya (kwiibuka 'remember') 'to remind each other'
guhérekeranya (guhérekeza) 'to accompany each other'
kuryáamirana (kuryáama) 'to lie on the top of each other'
gutúmikiranya (gutúma) 'to send messages to each other'
kwíinjirana (kwíinjira 'to enter')'to intrude'
kwúurirana (kwúurira 'to climb') 'to attack verbally'
gutéererana (gutéera 'to attack') 'to become prey'
kwúubikirana (kwúubika 'to turn upside down') 'to attack by surprise'
gukiingirana (gukiinga 'to close') 'to lock somebody out/in'
gusóbekeranya (gusóbeka 'to intermingle') 'to intertwine'
kugerekeranya (kugereka) 'to pile on the top of each other'
kwíitiranya (kwíita 'to name') 'to mistake people'
baráaziranye (ba-ra(a)-z-ir-an-ye) 'they know each other'

1b. kurásanira (kurása 'to shoot) 'to shoot for'
gukóranira (gukóra 'to work') 'to gather together somewhere'
gutaahanira (gutaaha 'to go home') 'to take home for'
kubónanira (kubóna 'to see') 'to see each other at/for
guháranira (guhára 'to give up') 'to fight for'

The word order depends sometimes on the nature of argument that the applicative licences (dative, benefactive, subjective, event localizer).
When the applicative morpheme refers to goals, subjectives and event localizers it always follows the comitative morpheme.
In most of the cases, the applicative precedes if it marks a dative. If it marks benefactives and possessors it follows. In many cases, the comitative morpheme is doubled when it comes next to the verb stem and is combined with other grammatical suffixes. This phenomenon is found in many Bantu languages.

1a. Abahuúngu ba-ra-béeshy-er-an-a. (dative)
'They boys lie about each other'.
b. Abahuúngu ba-ra-béeshy-an-ir-an-a. (benefactive)
'The boys lie for each other'.
c. Abahuúngu ba-ra-beeshy-an-ir-a iki? (goal)
boys they-pres-lie-com-appl-asp
'Why are the boys lying to each other'?
d. Abahuúngu ba-beeshy-an-ir-(an)-a muu nzu. (event localizer)
boys they-lie-com-appl-(com)-asp in house
'The boys are lying to each other in the house'.

2a. Abakoóbwa ba-andik-ir-an-ye amabáruwá. (dative)
'The girls wrote each other letters'.
b. Abakóobwa ba-andik-an-ir-an-ye amabáruwá. (benefactive)
'The girls wrote letters for each other'.
3a. Abáana ba-ra-som-an-ir-an-a ibitabo. (possessive/benefactive)
children they-pres-read-com-appl-com-asp
'The children are reading each other's books'.
'The children are reading books for each other'.
4a. I-bi-sá bi-ra-sab-ir-ana. (dative) (Rwandan proverb)
class8-ressemble it-ask-appl-com-asp
'What ressembles asks (for help) from each other'.
b. Abagabo ba-ra-sab-an-ir-an-a abageni. (benefactive)
men they-pres-ask-com-appl-com-asp brides
'The men are asking for the brides for each other'.

Non-dative verbs , however, those which lack recipients, allow free word order of these suffixes:

5a. Abagabo ba-ra-híing-ir-an-a.
men they-pres-cultivate-appl-com-asp
'The men cultivate for each other'.
b. Abagabo ba-ra-híing-an-ir-an-a.
men they-pres-cultivate-com-appl-asp
'The men cultivate for each other'.

Movement verbs have also a fixed word order. It is as if they have also been lexicalized.

6a. Umugabo a-ra-garuk-an-a igitabo cy'úumwáana.
man he-pres-come back-com-asp book of child
'The man is bringing back the child's book'.
b. Umugabo a-ra-garuk-an-ir-a umwáana igitabo.
'man he-pres-come back-com-appl-asp child book
'The man is bringing back the child's book'
'The man is bringing back the book for the child'.
'The man is bringing back the book to the child'.
c. *Umugabo a-ra-garuk-ir-an-a umwáana igitabo.
man he-pres-come back-appl-com-asp child book
'The man is bringing back the book to the child'.
7a. Umukoóbwa y-a-raar-an-ye imyaambaro y'úmuhuúngu.
girl she-pst-spend night-com-asp clothes of boy
'The girl slept in the boy's clothes'.
b. Umukoóbwa y-a-raar-an-i-ye umuhuúngu imyaambaro.
girl she-pst-spend night-com-appl-asp boy clothes
'The girl slept in the boy's clothes'.
c. *Umukoóbwa y-a-raar-ir-an-ye umuhuúngu imyaambaro.
girl she-pres-spend night-appl-com-asp boy clothes

As we also see in the next section, Kinyarwanda is getting rid of the mirror-image phenomenon between morphology and syntax whereby the verb morphological architecture parallels the derivation of sentence construction. In this situation ambiguity is preferred to transparency in order to avoid complexity for the sake of economy and simplicity.

3.2. Comitative with causatives

Kinyarwanda has two causative morphemes -y- and -iish-. The suffix -an- can be combined with either one depending on diffent factors which are either morphosyntactic, morphophonological or semantic. For more on this see the following chapter on causativization. -y- always follows -an- but -iish- either precedes or follows the comitative morpheme. When -iish- precedes -an-, -y- is also used resulting in causative doubling so to speak.

As was pointed out earlier, -y- is added to lexicalized reciprocals (1. ) if they happen to have a complement. These examples are repeated below:

1a. Abanyéeshuúri ba-ra-rwa-an-a na Leeta.
students they-pres-fight-com-asp with state
'The students are fighting with the government'.
b. Abanyéeshuúri ba-ra-rwa-an-y-a Leeta.
students they-pres-fight-com-caus-asp state
'The students are fighting the government'.
2a. Kagabo a-ra-kíir-an-a na Gáteté.
Kagabo he-pres-wrestle-com-asp with Gatete
b. Kagabo a-ra-kíir-an-y-a Gateté.
Kagabo he-pres-wrestle-com-caus-asp

As far as the use of -iish- and the comitative are concerned, examples are found in which -an- either precedes or follows the causative:

3a. ku-g-iish-an-y-a ináama.
to-go-caus-com-caus-asp advice
'to ask for advice from each other'.
b. ku-jy-aan-iish-a murí gerezá
to-go-com-caus-asp in jail
'to take (somebody) to jail'.
c. ku-jy-aan-iish-an-y-a murí gerezá.
to-go-com-caus-com-caus-asp in jail
'to take each other to jail'.
4a. ku-rí-ish-an-y-a imosó.
to-eat-caus-com-caus-asp left-hand
'to eat with fork with the left hand'.
b. ku-ry-áan-iish-a améenyo.
to-eat-com-caus-asp teeth
'to bite with teeth'.
c. ku-ry-áan-iish-an-y-a abaantu améenyo.
to-eat-com-caus-com-caus-asp people teeth
'to cause people to bite each other with teeth'.
5a. tu-ra-shaak-iish-an-y-a.
we-pres-search-caus-com-caus-asp
'We are searching each other'.
b. tu-ra-shaak-an-iish-a.
we-pres-search-com-caus-asp
'we are searching together'.

There doesn't seem to be any problem with unspecified complements, subject reciprocals and comitatives. The comitative suffix -an- comes first as examples in (6), (7) and (8) show respectively:

6a. Umugoré a-r-éerek-a abáana amashusho n'íimashiíni
woman she-pres-show-asp children pictures with a machine
'The woman shows pictures to the children with a machine'.
b. Umugoré a-r-éerek-an-a amashusho n'íimashiíni.
woman she-pres-show-com-asp pictures
'The woman is showing pictures with a machine'.
c. Umugoré a-r-éerek-an-iish-a amashusho imáshiíni.
woman she-pres-show-com-caus-asp pictures machine
'The woman is showing pictures with a machine'.
7a. Abakoóbwa ba-ára-kúund-an-ye.
girls they-pst-like-com-asp
'The girls have liked each other'.
b. Umugabo y-a-kúund-an-iish-ij-e abakoóbwa.
man he-pst-like-com-caus-appl+caus+asp-asp girls
'The man made the girls like each other'.
8a. Abáana ba-ra-som-an-a igitabo.
children they-pres-read-com-asp book
'The children are reading the book together'.
b. Umugoré a-ra-som-an-iish-a abáana igitabo.
woman she-pres-read-com-caus-asp children book
'The woman is making the children read the book together'.

Because of the fact that there are two causative morphemes and the fact that the causative can either follow or precede the comitative morpheme, native speakers sometimes have difficulty determining which one is the correct form. When asked to causativize the sentence in 9a, the resulting responses are variously 9b, 9c and 9d.

9a. Yohaáni y-a-áng-an-ye na Máriyá.
John he-pst-hate-com-rec with Mary
'John became enemy with Mary'.
b. Kagabo y-a-áng-an-ij-e Yohaáni na Máriyá.
Kagabo he-pst-hate-com-appl+caus+asp-asp with Mary
'Kagabo made John and Mary hate each other'.
c. Kagabo y-a-áng-an-iish-ij-e Yohaáni na Máriyá.
Kagabo he-pst-hate-com-caus-appl+caus+asp-asp John and Mary
'Kagabo made John and Mary hate each other'
d. Kagabo y-a-áng-iish-an-ij-e Yohaáni na Máriyá.
Kagabo he-pst-hate-caus-com-appl+caus+asp-asp John and Mary
'Kagabo made John and Mary hate each other'

Since native speakers seem confused and try to avoid these complex structures, the linguist can not rely on their intuition. I think, the word order of the comitative depends on which part of the verb complex the complement belongs: the basic verb, the comitative suffix or the causative suffix and also on the derivational history of the complex sentence structure: the mirror-image phenomenon between morphology and syntax. If the complement belongs to the basic verb then the suffix will be adjoined to it immediately but if it belongs to the extension, then the latter comes last.
The manner when causativized as shown in (10) creates an ambiguous structure because it becomes not clear whether the manner object belongs to the subject of the higher clause (causer) or the embedded clause (the causee).

10a. Umwáana a-ra-ry-á inyama n'ítaburiyá.
child s/he-pres-eat-asp meat with apron
'The child is eating meat with an apron'.
b. Umwáana a-ra-ry-áan-a inyama itaburiyá.
child s/he-pres-eat-com-asp meat apron
'The child is eating meat with an apron'.
c. Umugoré a-ra-ry-áan-iish-a umwáana inyama itaburiyá.
woman she-pres-eat-com-caus-asp child meat apron
'The woman is making the child eat meat with an apron'.
d. Umugoré a-ra-rí-ish-an-y-a umwáana inyama itaburiyá.
woman she-pres-eat-caus-com-caus-asp child meat apron
'The woman is making the child eat meat with an apron'.

When the manner refers to the object rather than the subject as in (11) below, there is no ambiguity because of the structure transparency: 'boys' is clearly the complement of the head verb -fat-, 'marijuana' the object of the comitative suffix -an- and 'dog' the object of the causative -iish-. 11b is the preferred structure for the majority of the speakers but still 11c is used and accepted by some.

11a. Abapóolisí ba-á-fat-an-ye abahuúngu urumogi n'íimbwá.
police they-pst-catch-com-asp boys marijuna by dogs
'The police caught the boys with marijuana with the help of dogs'.
b. Abapóolisí ba-á-fat-an-iish-ij-e imbwá abahuúngu urumogi.
police they-pst-catch-com-caus-appl+caus+asp-asp dogs boys marijuana
'The police caught the boys with marijuana with the help of dogs'.
c. Abapóolisí ba-á-fat-iish-an-ij-e imbwá abahuúngu urumogi.
police they-pst-catch-caus-com-appl+caus+asp-asp dogs boys marijuana

The following sentence shows a reciprocal which ought to be causatized twice because it has both a causative suffix and an instrument which is also marked by the same suffix when incorporated into the verb. When there are two causatives, -an- doubling may take place also and speakers have difficulty deciding the right word order as 12d and 12e show.

12a. Yohaáni y-a-áng-an-ye na Máriyá.
John he-pst-hate-com-asp with Mary
'John became enemy with Mary'
b. Kagabo y-a-áng-an-iish-ij-e Yohaáni na Máriyá n'ámafaraanga
Kagabo he-pst-hate-com-caus-appl+caus+asp-asp John and Mary with money
'Kagabo made John and Mary hate each other with money'.
c. Kagabo y-a-áng-an-iish-iish-ij-e Yohaáni na Máriyá amafaraanga.
Kagabo he-pst-hate-com-caus-caus-appl+caus+asp-asp John and Mary money
d. Kagabo y-a-áng-iish-an-iish-ij-e Yohaáni na Máriyá amafaraanga.
Kagabo he-pst-hate-caus-com-caus-appl+caus+asp-asp John and Mary money
e. Kagabo y-a-áng-an-iish-an-iish-ij-e Yohaáni na Máriyá amafaraanga.
Kagabo he-pst-hate-com-caus-com-caus-appl+caus+asp-asp John and Mary money
f. ?Kagabo y-a-áng-an-iish-an-ij-e Yohaáni na Máriyá amafaraanga.
Kagabo he-pst-hate-com-caus-com-appl+caus+asp-asp John and Mary money
g. ?Kagabo y-a-áng-iish-an(y)-ij-e Yohaáni na Máriyá amafaraanga.
Kagabo he-pst-hate-caus-com(caus)-appl+cause+asp-asp John and Mary money

There is again hesitation here among native speakers which form to use.
These alternative structures thus are used probably to disambiguate these sentences which are three-way ambiguous:

'Kagabo made John and Mary hate each other using money'
'Kagabo made John and Mary hated together using money'
'Kagabo made John and Mary together hate money'.

Indeed one of the intermediate structures in the sentences above might be (13) in which the causee or the subject of the embedded sentence is unspecified in which case the comitative is added and the objects of the causative 'John and Mary' are 'comitativized' later.

13 Kagabo y-a-áng-iish-ij-e Yohaáni na Máriyá amafaraanga.
Kagabo he-pst-hate-caus-appl+caus+asp-asp John and Mary money
'Kagabo made John and Mary hate money'.

In all the examples that have been presented in this section, the most common structure for all these is the one in which the comitative comes first followed by the causative. What we see is a step towards deiconization or symbolicity. In other words, iconicty although natural and signs and structures start as iconic, transparency or one-to-one isomorphism between the form and function, it is not practical because it creates complex structures and slows sentence production and processing. Ambiguity or polysemy wins over. Kinyarwanda, an iconic language, is joining other symbolic languages first by imposing a strict word order on its suffixes as it has done for its prefixes instead of a word order of grammatical suffixes which follows the derivational history of the sentence construction like Kiaka as discussed by Bokamba. Second in some cases it has become an agglutinative language instead of remaining polysynthetic: A morpheme can stand for different referents at the same time. This change from iconicity to symbolicity although less transparent and ambiguous is expected because it is economical and easier for the language learner and user. More work has to be done and as many speakers are needed to find out which structures are used more than others and what type of interpretation is given. There is no way theoretcial linguistics can progress as long as descriptive studies in complex sentence production and processing are still inadequate.

V. The nature of the comitative morpheme

The comitative suffix like other grammatical verbal extensions come historically from full verbs (Givón) and synchonically they are understood by many structuralists to be verbs since they have their own complements as opposed to the complement of the base verb. In Government and binding theory as well as the Minimalist Program, these suffixes are also considered as verbs. Baker (1988) treats them as incorporation. That is for the complements of comitatives to be government by the verb, they have to be adjacent to it. This analysis doesn't differ from that of Relational Grammar in which the complements of these suffixes are supposed to have been promoted to the direct object status. Relational Grammar doesn't unfortunately say what the nature of this suffix is. I still consider suffixation to be indeed a case of an adjunct complement which is promoted to the direct object status. To determine what the surface syntactic structure should look like, however, the case module has to be incorporated into the theory. That is an abstract case known as COMITATIVE case has to be present in the underlying structure. If the case is assigned on the adjunct then the sentence structure will appear with an adjunct comitative but if it is assigned on the direct object, the complement will appear as a structural case, the case marked on the verb and the complement next to it. The majority of the complements of this case as we have noted, however, are internal structural cases. The manner is the only one which is an external structural case. It is thus the only one which has the option of appearing as either an adjunct or a direct object. More arguments for this analysis and why the case appears on the verb which is the case assigner rather than on the assignee are given in other chapters. In Relational Grammar the so-called arguments appear only as grammatical relations namely subjects, direct objects and adjuncts. Indirect objects as a distinct grammatical relation don't exist in Kinyarwanda. In this revised theory, direct objects and adjuncts are assigned case. This abstract case is either inherent (not marked) or structural, marked morphologically.

Conclusion

The behavior of the verbs with the suffix -an- and their complements has shown that this morpheme is not an argument because it marks many types of arguments which are not related namely reciprocals, comitatives, manners, unspecified objects. The label comitative was chosen over reciprocal because it is more inclusive than others. It can occur with both transitive and intransitive verbs but the reciprocal cannot. This comitative morpheme is thus a case marker which incorporated into the verb to mark any one of these types of objects when they occur as structural DOs.
All of them, however, unlike the applicative suffix which has both inherent and structural cases, have only structural cases. This is evidenced by the fact that they become accusative when pronoun-incorporated but occupy the lowest position preceding other accusatives.

Note:
Humans can be manners as well. Look at the following sentence:

1a. Umugoré a-ra-téek-a n'úumwáana.
woman she-pres-cook-asp with child
'The woman is cooking with the child'.
b. Umugoré a-ra-téek-an-a umwáana.
woman she-pres-cook-com-asp child
'The woman is cooking with the child'.

These sentences don't mean that the child is helping the mother to cook but rather that the mother is holding or caring for the child while cooking.

For some reason the verb kugeenda 'to go' doesn't allow the incorporation of -an-
1a. Abáana ba-ra-geend-a n'índeége.
children they-pres-go-asp with plane
'The children are leaving by airplane'.
b.*Abáana ba-ra-geend-an-a n'índeége.
children they-pres-go-com-asp with plane

When the manner is amaguru 'legs', incorporation doesn't take place either:
2a. Tu-zaa-z-a n'ámaguru.
we-fut-come-asp with legs
'We will come on foot'.
b. Tu-zaa-z-an-a amaguru.
we-fut-come-com-asp legs
*'We will come on foot'
'We will bring legs'
c. *Tu-zaa-z-an-a n'ámaguru.
we-fut-come-com-asp with legs

stative meaning

kwéererana 'to look very white or spreadly'
kubéengerana 'to look crystal clear'
kubónerana 'to be transparent'
kwúumvirana 'not to hear properly'