bantu noun classes

Bantu “noun classes” are handled in FLEx as inflection features. While the grammatical structure of the Proto-Bantu noun class system is well-defined, any semantic basis is hazy at best. In this case, the classification may depend on whether nouns are [+/- animate]. trailer << /Size 97 /Info 62 0 R /Root 64 0 R /Prev 1196580 /ID[] >> startxref 0 %%EOF 64 0 obj << /MarkInfo << /Marked true >> /ViewerPreferences << /Direction /L2R >> /Metadata 61 0 R /Pages 52 0 R /StructTreeRoot null /Type /Catalog /PageLabels 50 0 R >> endobj 95 0 obj << /S 602 /L 705 /Filter /FlateDecode /Length 96 0 R >> stream The singular form of a noun belongs to a di erent noun class than the plural form of that noun does. These noun classes tend to connect to semantic domains: e.g., humans are prototypically in classes 1 and 2. 0000001839 00000 n Phonotactics of noun class disambiguation in Xhosa* Aaron Braver,1 Wm. Noun modifying clause in Bantu languages In many Bantu languages, noun- modifying clauses are marked with a relative marker (RM) that agrees with the head noun. Much easier! This is the usual way to discuss Luganda but not when discussing Bantu languages, generally. 19 pi or the classes above 20. For example, humans are prototypically in classes … It was first introduced (as Bâ-ntu) by Wilhelm Bleek in 1857 or 1858 and popularised in his Comparative Grammar of 1862. For example, humans are prototypically in classes 1 and 2; … Nyanja has several noun classes, which are categorised differently depending on the author. )�q\�q6��ǩ�i2�K�z��J��ɕ��4�lZ"��L��G#G ��8�G}^z��%�_N��"֠�Kg�B��Χ��DU�%V�wY2j��P9>߷�Qj�b��)ń>�K �Z&D��SOp�-��#�A��VOs�u@�T�5�4�c��$�C"N��O&��,�Y��C�`G��ȼ��}�\��=*@��I�M�֐x��Ql�C��%:� �� P� � T�آ;��- ,�� (S��7��[��T 1d��1�r$�`9��9.i9 V��20Ndve�d�b�f��1t0-bf��.�F��W�*�g�`0d�̐��(3+��py��]��1u6��.8!3� �� endstream endobj 96 0 obj 533 endobj 65 0 obj << /CropBox [ 0 0 419.528 595.276 ] /Parent 55 0 R /StructParents 53 /Contents 78 0 R /Rotate 0 /BleedBox [ 0 0 419.528 595.276 ] /ArtBox [ 0 0 419.528 595.276 ] /MediaBox [ 0 0 419.528 595.276 ] /TrimBox [ 0 0 419.528 595.276 ] /Resources << /Font << /TT0 66 0 R /TT1 69 0 R /TT2 79 0 R /C2_0 72 0 R /C2_1 73 0 R >> /ProcSet [ /PDF /Text ] /ExtGState << /GS0 89 0 R /GS1 88 0 R >> >> /Type /Page >> endobj 66 0 obj << /Subtype /TrueType /FontDescriptor 75 0 R /LastChar 241 /Widths [ 250 333 0 0 500 833 778 0 333 333 500 564 250 333 250 278 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 278 278 564 564 564 444 921 722 667 667 722 611 556 722 722 333 389 722 611 889 722 722 556 722 667 556 611 722 722 944 722 0 611 333 278 333 0 500 0 444 500 444 500 444 333 500 500 278 278 500 278 778 500 500 500 500 333 389 278 500 500 722 500 500 444 480 200 480 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 333 333 444 444 0 500 1000 0 980 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 500 0 0 0 0 0 760 0 0 564 0 760 0 0 0 0 0 333 576 0 0 0 0 0 500 0 750 0 0 0 722 0 0 722 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 722 0 0 722 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 500 444 444 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 278 0 500 ] /BaseFont /NTCZFT+TimesNewRomanPSMT /FirstChar 32 /ToUnicode 76 0 R /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding /Type /Font >> endobj 67 0 obj << /StemV 136 /FontName /NWBUFT+TimesNewRomanPS-BoldMT /FontStretch /Normal /FontFile2 83 0 R /FontWeight 700 /Flags 34 /Descent -307 /FontBBox [ -558 -307 2000 1026 ] /Ascent 1026 /FontFamily (Times New Roman) /XHeight 457 /CapHeight 663 /Type /FontDescriptor /ItalicAngle 0 >> endobj 68 0 obj << /Length 476 /Filter /FlateDecode >> stream Modern Bantu nouns are built from noun roots with the addition of the noun class prefixes. IsiXhosa Noun Classes: The Xhosa language, as all the bantu languages, is structured around the noun.There are 15 noun classes in the bantu languages. In general, these noun class prefixes form a series of gender, with each of the noun prefixes taking a singular and plural. For example, Proto-Bantu class 10 contains plurals of class 9 nouns and class 11 nouns, while class 6 contains plurals of class 5 nouns and class 15 nouns. For example, by Meinhof's numbering, Shona has 20 classes, Swahili has 15, Sotho has 18 and Ganda has 17. Other authors however prefer … To keep it simple, I have divided them into 9 groups: Ganda: ten classes called simply Class I to Class X and containing all sorts of arbitrary groupings but often characterised as people, long objects, animals, miscellaneous objects, large objects and liquids, small objects, languages, pejoratives, infinitives, mass nouns, plus four 'locative' classes. : The class markers which appear on the adjectives and verbs may differ from the noun prefixes: In this example, the verbal prefix a- and the pronominal prefix wa- are in concordance with the noun prefix m-: they all express class 1 despite of their different forms. Here is a complete list of nominal classes in Swahili: "Ø-" means no prefix. 0000048659 00000 n 2006) provides the following examples from Nyungwe. As it is well known, noun class prefixes are low tone in Narrow Bantu and classes 1, 3, 4, 6(a), 9, and 10 have nasals (Meeussen 1967). Classes 7-8 were heterogeneous. 0000003466 00000 n Lingala does have a full noun class system with agreement, your online source just didn't give all the facts. 0000009848 00000 n ��`*�G��fh�]��L ��E�$ BdJ[B_`J��V��)J��)��˺ܔO�2��d�� Swahili = "relative clause" (4)a. kitabu ni-li-cho-nunua jana . 0000197327 00000 n ��b�*��?pWs�Ar�)�9h~cLƜc,��a��S�ǁ��x��0�j��j�T��Xɞ�X��A�՚ �Ơ��O;�. Sesotho, like all other Bantu languages, uses a set of "noun classes" and each noun belongs to one of the classes. In addition, Luganda has four locative classes, e, ku, mu, and wa. This seems to them to be inconsistent with the way other languages are traditionally considered, where number is orthogonal to gender (according to the critics, a Meinhof-style analysis would give Ancient Greek 9 genders). The Meinhof numbering tends to be used in scientific works dealing with comparisons of different Bantu languages. A polyplural noun class is a plural class for more than one singular class. Is the singular taken as ‘unmarked’, and/or treated as an unanalyzed whole … I want the lexical entry for each noun to show the pair of noun classes applying to it, e.g. While no single language is known to express all of them, most of them have at least 10 noun classes. Proto-Bantu, like its descendants, had an elaborate system of noun classes. 0000009199 00000 n 63 0 obj << /Linearized 1 /O 65 /H [ 1214 646 ] /L 1197968 /E 241226 /N 19 /T 1196590 >> endobj xref 63 34 0000000016 00000 n The acquisition of Bantu noun class and agreement systems Much of the Bantu language acquisition research has focused on the morphological system, especially on nominal morphology. Noun classes are similar in concept to grammatical gender in many European languages, as the noun class determines how other words are inflected in concordance with the noun. �ҩp*� H��WYo�F~ׯ�G The noun belonging to a given class may imply that all noun phrase constituents such as adjectives, pronouns and numerals are in agreement with the noun class prefix. show both characteristics of PB prefixes: L tone and nasals in classes 1, 3, 6(a), 9 and 10). I still struggle with them. 0000156412 00000 n ��=y�`K�Ҵ �4 The similarity between dispersed Bantu languages had been observed as early as in the 17th century. There are three ways to display this in a dictionary: 1. �:Z��z�-�k��W�m;fj��[_gn6�YБ�|;�u��a��C��SDt|!=��Nm��|�B��zJʮ�q�~V�j^��%��Ҿۦݼ��]�IQ�`\��,Ae�v��+��U��)�U�Ӄe��M"��)��@��D��2�m.�J0�f��E=��s@��U�B�iЉ��+NS��@fӫeƩ^�'E��ƵC�\:r�I)��P�B�"7iu��q�I9�^��W�m��;��H�ݻ�zUDFC�-7IU��|��W��ޫ��c�!Fɮ��h�{| �]{J�(&m��L�M��G1��f%mʑ��p�,�I3ҽߑC�B�_9�c�0Ӟ`�&��jܭ�>�N�;��QE�.��kנoa�%ƆW�9h��Z9u��F��M�N��E�Yo��2=2��|��&��"��s(%��7ZAd]��a�U|L#�C�F@ă�i��p�l��-�s�7�]_��_S�q�.��,�k�~9빃�F��b�qܾ�r(9 !�s��'��n-�IU�QH��r��ޚ�}��Z�!��^��!�T۠�. Keywords: phonotactics, noun class, NC, Xhosa, isiXhosa, Bantu 1 Introduction Bantu languages are widely noted for their complex noun class systems: each noun belongs to a class, and this class membership controls agreement morphology. Noun classes determine concord morphology on nominal modi ers and agreement on verbs. Noun classes []. These missing classes do exist in other Bantu languages Each class has its own set of prefixes, named concords. $U�@(�� q� *Sd`(��F��la�]dc��.p]`�dYQ�Վ��'��&. Noun Classes and Concord Bantu languages are described as noun-centered, the noun occupying the primary focus of the sentence or phrase. (Inflection classes are traditionally called conjugation classes on verbs, and declension classes on nouns, adjectives, and other parts of speech.) However, most analysis of Bantu noun class semantics thus far has been conducted on a very narrow sample of these languages, primarily focusing on widely-spoken languages like Swahili. Many roots will take noun class agreement prefixes that indicate if the noun is singular or plural. Though the extent to which the system operates varies greatly, it is nonetheless found in some form in languages… Read more about this topic: Noun Class, Language Families, Niger–Congo Languages, “The very natural tendency to use terms derived from traditional grammar like verb, noun, adjective, passive voice, in describing languages outside of Indo-European is fraught with grave possibilities of misunderstanding.”—Benjamin Lee Whorf (18971934), plural: persons (a plural counterpart of class 1), plural: plants (a plural counterpart of class 3), plural: fruits (a plural counterpart of class 5, 9, 11, seldom 1), plural: things (a plural counterpart of class 7), plural: animals, things (a plural counterpart of class 9 and 11). KB�$��p��App8�� 886��t��ac��l1�O�*��ci�n��F6�i Bantu noun classes. The concept of noun classes is similar, except while Romance languages have 2-3 genders, Bantu languages can … �Ҧ�)m Although some writers say that the semantic productivity of Bantu noun classes has reduced, this may need further research because some Bantu languages are not well documented. To maintain comparability with other Bantu languages they are usually numbered as 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,..,..,14 and 15 with classes 12 and 13 and higher than 15 missing. 20 g ʊ and most don't have cl. Classes 3-4 for plants, trees and natural phenomena. Nouns are put into noun classes (categories) based on their prefixes. Demuth [2003] describes Bantu noun classification system as such: they are realized as grammatical morphemes rather than independent lexical items. Order this publication All Bantu languages (as far as I know) have the Bantu noun class system in one form or another. L�"@,��"��'�Y�l��(�� D��C��a��_�V��i��i��q��3c�O�Cc6��h��w�z�l��x~?��M&�Q�IHG�qC.C>n�V@P��p��,4ڈh�!bt갅+u)X��N�a,��' ��C�Xn��-�1��PI�~3 �X�#�TP�g޻�%��yZ�*�fe��2+?f��.��l��tA{[3��j< Sp%�N�D;��ρy3�jj�c41V��A�B��e�{ HyH�$ �5%�`P��83o��ehP��#'��9�w��ŗ��I�UV�;)�j��o��TR�/��3g�YF�!B��=��s�"�ޠ�O�K��b]�I��E*cS�owE6z1(��'��KGy�mޢ��U�4W8E��I}�e~ :mdh�� D�2��Ȫ�q�3��LvI�sV�s+�f��ɳ�,��D��#�8��I�I��N H�\�݊�@F��}9s1$�tuπ4��>@LZ7�&!��~�>��A%��}��*�1 ��mj�:�s�'�Vm��R�I.��_��iHV+��y��u;�k�~�Z?u�Y��*=��~V�*K��S(��x�m߆�n��;�O��^��9�4C�c��>Ye�S��.|��"\;��?�/��Y��2�z�*�#R�A[(��@&R�Ci�B� �C}@�B�H��?��wP��`[`k� b�v From class 11 to 23, the system is distorted to pair as given: class 11/10, 12/13, 15/6, and 20/22. Additionally, there are polyplural noun classes. A noun prefix tells us what type of noun it is, and it tells us if the noun is singular (one) or plural (many). Earlier treatments of the noun classes . The 19 noun classes of Proto-Bantu were: Classes 1-2 for people. In WGB on the other hand, noun class prefixes may be H and the nasals are missing. All living things, as well as sacred things and things connected to the Earth are considered powerful and belong to the animate class. vS5M�ݟU��m�Y9)�6��s��z$Qǽ��i��76��[��nr��?k Some sources argue that the distinction is between things which are powerful and things which are not. For this reason, noun classes are often referred to by combining their singular and plural forms, e.g., rafiki would be classified as "9/6", indicating that it takes class 9 in the singular, and class 6 in the plural. Although one of the main points of interest is the fascinating variation in the family, a couple of generalizations can be made with respect to Bantu morphosyntax. All members of a given class share the same prefix. 0000006326 00000 n It contends that, though the noun class system of Esahie per se is morpho-syntactically vestigial, hence differing from other African languages (e.g. In this article, I … For example, David Ker (p.c. The word Bantu for the language families and its speakers is an artificial term based on the reconstructed Proto-Ntu term for “people” or “humans”. Of course, this can be argued to just be an artifact of the way linguists label things. Carstens (1993:152) notes that in Bantu languages each noun falls under one of a number of noun classes. Also widely known are the tendencies for classes to connect to various semantic … G. Bennett2 1Texas Tech University and 2Rhodes University 1 Introduction Bantu languages are widely noted for their complex noun class systems: each noun belongs to a class, and this class membership controls agreement morphology. �?&��)7��k�P~��>��v͐n��N��mW��i��h��/��(��6�ˮ;]��2�?��8��ú��cQ~�4��9C��?钺1��j�t�7�r�.)�Ӳ�]�Ϸ��)��w��{��b:�S_�t�u�9�Y~��-�VE��{�e�S��0�.��Wnc��z�ޠ��-��~cg�2��s��`/Б��M[�-:��tF8#�θf��/�4m6�G�z�G�z�G�z�G�z�G�z�G��S0O��S0O�Y`V�S1O�_�W�~�_�W�~�_�W�~�_�W�~�_�W�~�_�W�f��1z��1z��1z��1z��1z��1��0O��&�i��q��y:�阧��;��;��;��;��;��Z��l�+a�_;N��Ӌ�;�B�s�߇!o�V5��)�. Italian, for example, has a group of nouns deriving from Latin neuter nouns that acts as masculine in the singular but feminine in the plural: il braccio/le braccia; l'uovo/le uova. The most common genders are 1/2, 3/4, 5/6, 7/8, 9/10, 11/6, 11/10, 12/13 and 14/6 (Maho 1999: 54). [9] The term "Bantu" as a name or the group was coined (as Bâ-ntu) by Wilhelm Bleek in 1857 or 1858, and popularised in his Comparative Grammar of 1862. Specialists in Bantu emphasize that there is a clear difference between genders (such as known from Afro-Asiatic and Indo-European) and nominal classes (such as known from Niger–Congo). [4] For example, Proto-Bantu class 10 contains plurals of class 9 nouns and class 11 nouns, while class 6 contains plurals of class 5 nouns and class 15 nouns. Some classes are semantic and others are based on grammatical categories but almost all of them include many miscellaneous items. However, just outside Narrow Bantu, noun class prefixes are usually high tone and the nasals are typically missing. �`+�k�tE��}��u$(��|3;�V�@σ��_0z��Y�8&�R��qps��dY��gt�1ٗ�M&�w34�{��q��i(��P1�.�W�'U-�x3%�.��/��V�O�"�&��Rg�c"� �~yI Prefixhood in the Bantu Noun Class System: A look at the Grassfields Borderland Blasius Achiri-Taboh University of Buea, Cameroon Abstract As is well known, Bantu nouns typically consist of a stem each with an overt or covert prefix arranged in classes of singular and plural pairs called genders. Details". However, these generalizations do not apply to Noun Classes [edit | edit source] Modern Bantu nouns are built from noun roots with the addition of the noun class prefixes. Of particular interest is the question of what happens in a language where both plurals and singulars are morphologically marked. Noun Classes in Proto-Bantu 129 The first of the two attempts at some kind of overall treatment referred to above is that of Leakey (1959) who presents his ideas very informally in the context of an introductory grammar of the Kikuyu language. 0000010161 00000 n Price: 200.00.Costs for postage and packing, and in some cases MOMS (VAT), will be added. Bantu noun classes are identi ed using Arabic Numerals based on di erent classi cation methods and naming schemes. The similarity among dispersed Bantu languages had been observed as early as the 17th century. 0000005458 00000 n Originally, Bantu languages had over 20 noun categories. The category of nominal class replaces not only the category of gender, but also the categories of number and case. For RR and Luganda, classes 1 to 10 pair up as 1/2, 3/4, 5/6, 7/8, and 9/10 to form singular and plural forms respectively. For example, David Ker (p.c. 9 and 10). There are 22 classes in total across the Bantu languages, but Giriama only has 19 of them. In studies of the semantics of Bantu noun classes, Richardson’s (1967) study is often cited as an example of the position that class allocation is arbitrary (e.g. The Ojibwe language and other members of the Algonquian languages distinguish between animate and inanimate classes. There is no gender distinction. }�f��y��_ R\&� endstream endobj 71 0 obj [ 94 0 R ] endobj 72 0 obj << /Subtype /Type0 /DescendantFonts 71 0 R /BaseFont /YUPNDX+TimesNewRomanPS-BoldMT /ToUnicode 68 0 R /Encoding /Identity-H /Type /Font >> endobj 73 0 obj << /Subtype /Type0 /DescendantFonts 77 0 R /BaseFont /XTZXPZ+TimesNewRomanPS-ItalicMT /ToUnicode 74 0 R /Encoding /Identity-H /Type /Font >> endobj 74 0 obj << /Length 628 /Filter /FlateDecode >> stream 0000005623 00000 n Definition: Person. Languages with noun classes. 0000240312 00000 n 0 ��w� endstream endobj 75 0 obj << /StemV 80 /FontName /NTCZFT+TimesNewRomanPSMT /FontStretch /Normal /FontFile2 84 0 R /FontWeight 400 /Flags 34 /Descent -307 /FontBBox [ -568 -307 2000 1007 ] /Ascent 1007 /FontFamily (Times New Roman) /XHeight 448 /CapHeight 663 /Type /FontDescriptor /ItalicAngle 0 >> endobj 76 0 obj << /Length 714 /Filter /FlateDecode >> stream Bleek). ... Don't panic yet. Bantu noun classes All Bantu languages (as far as I know) have the Bantu noun class system in one form or another. While no single language is known to express all of them, most of them have at least 10 noun classes. �Ҧ�)m The term Bantu as a name for the group was coined (as Bâ-ntu) by Wilhelm Bleek in 1857 or 1858, and popularised in his Comparative Grammar of 1862. 0000095059 00000 n I am starting work in a Bantu language of Cameroon. Noun classes. 0000002290 00000 n There is some variation in the class system in "ordinary" Bantu (most of the languages, except for parts of zone A), where not all languages have cl. 0000003156 00000 n For instance, the Kiswahili noun kitabu 'book' is composed of a noun prefix ki- and a nominal root -tabu. Zulu nouns, like nouns in other Bantu languages, are divided into noun classes.Each class is given a number corresponding to the same equivalent class in other Bantu languages. Additionally, there are polyplural noun classes.A polyplural noun class is a plural class for more than one singular class. L&LV0�0Y�d�d� ��,~�*�*�*�*�*�*�- jڥ�r�w��=�E�@$aIBH��% ! 0000001860 00000 n Bantu online resources by Jacky Maniacky, including List of Bantu noun classes with reconstructed Proto-Bantu prefixes (in French) Contini-Morava, Ellen. Denny & Creider 1976, Contini-Morava 1997, 2000, Moxley 1998), and indeed some generalizations on the semantic contents of the noun classes can also be made in Ha (Harjula 2004). Each noun belongs to a class, and each language may have several numbered classes, somewhat like … Noun classes are similar in concept to grammatical gender in many European languages, as the noun class determines how other words are inflected in concordance with the noun. 0000156103 00000 n As most Bantu languages, Xhosa has a class system. Similar to all Bantu languages, Runyakitara has a noun class system. The most prominent grammatical characteristic of Bantu languages is the extensive use of affixes (see Sotho grammar and Ganda noun classes for detailed discussions of these affixes). According to him, the only generalizations that hold across Bantu are the fact that the 1/2 gender denotes Also widely known are the tendencies for classes to connect to various semantic domains. Lexeme Form: ntu. (These nouns are still placed in a neuter gender of their own by some grammarians.). �_ q��Q�[�o�O� ŢU endstream endobj 69 0 obj << /Subtype /TrueType /FontDescriptor 67 0 R /LastChar 150 /Widths [ 250 0 0 0 0 0 833 0 333 333 0 0 250 333 250 278 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 333 333 0 0 0 500 0 722 667 722 722 667 611 778 778 389 500 778 667 944 722 778 611 778 722 556 667 722 722 1000 722 722 667 333 0 333 0 0 0 500 556 444 556 444 333 500 556 278 333 556 278 833 556 500 556 556 444 389 333 556 500 722 500 500 444 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 333 500 500 0 500 ] /BaseFont /NWBUFT+TimesNewRomanPS-BoldMT /FirstChar 32 /ToUnicode 70 0 R /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding /Type /Font >> endobj 70 0 obj << /Length 558 /Filter /FlateDecode >> stream H�\��n�@н��"��b !��<4�| �Mi0�!�~�r�� |�]��e�^4�v3�n�u>��xu��8��r~��8fy�c}�v��O�)[��r��x8g��[|K'/��Ἇ��-�o��+��xuK�^�!�D�v��)�Ž�i3��)��6EWܿ��!^�]��2��n��^�,��u�C�s7g��tH9gΑ�Y�s@VfE~f~F.�K䊹B��k䆹An�[䎹C~aN��i��@��f��i�0{c6d�=��~��{�=��~��/��/��/��/��/��/��/��/�� ?�� ?�� s�9�h0�́� �Ҧ�)m 2006) provides the following examples from Nyungwe. Plural Form: bantu. Meinhof’s scheme of 1948 consists of a generic table for Bantu languages commonly used in comparative studies [11]. Each class is either a singular or plural class, which brings the total number of arbitrary divisions closer to 10. Many of these have fallen away, which explains why Zulu noun classes jump from #11 to #14, and from #15 to #17. Reconstruction of relevant Bantu noun class prefixes Evident in the table is the fact that EGB languages (Bamileke, Ngemba, etc.) �ҩp*{��Ҭ0{k��o��o��o��o��o��o��o�?�Z��e~�9�,f�YzfԖ�R��/��"/�Ɗk�0��=��t��s��ߍ�f�j\�f�j4��"k,��j�6�A��6�m jj��oy�Zܼ�7��8O�y:��0慿��_hl��>v��m��F��wx��1~��o �e�� endstream endobj 77 0 obj [ 87 0 R ] endobj 78 0 obj << /Length 1675 /Filter /FlateDecode >> stream Noun Classification in Swahili. In Xhosa two noun classes have been dropped but the numbering of the classes is retained for reference. Use a custom field for the plural form. 0000010785 00000 n Noun class systems are universal and almost always marked by prefixes, occasionally by suffixes. The Proto-Bantu class 12 disappeared in Swahili, class 13 merged with 7, and 14 with 11. List of Bantu language names with synonyms ordered by Guthrie number). For instance, in Swahili the word rafiki ‘friend’ belongs to the class 9 and its "plural form" is marafiki of the class 6, even if most nouns of the 9 class have the plural of the class 10. For this reason Ganda linguists use the orthogonal numbering system when discussing Ganda grammar (other than in the context of Bantu comparative linguistics), giving the 10 traditional noun classes of that language. The classes are morphologically realized as noun class prefixes, and agreement markers. 19 pi or the classes … 1994. Class prefixes appear also on adjectives and verbs, e.g. While no single language is known to express all of them, most of them have at least 10 noun classes. This paper focuses on nominal classification in Bantu, Romance and Chinese. Classes … 0000157791 00000 n 0000157343 00000 n According to Carl Meinhof, the Bantu languages have a total of 22 noun classes called nominal classes (this notion was introduced by W.H.J. %PDF-1.3 %�� All nouns belong to one of thirteen different classes. An inflection class, on the other hand, by definition never triggers agreement. Bantu languages have on average 12-20 noun classes. [10] The name was coined to represent the word for "people" in loosely reconstructed Proto-Bantu, from the plural noun class prefix … However not all Bantu languages have these exceptions. I still struggle with them. Noun classes []. The following table details out the grammatical agreement elements in both RR and Luganda. 1 1) (1) a. a-bad 5-cloth 'cloth' b. me-bad 6-cloth 'cloths' In the prefix is for class 5 and is singular. and function of the attributive noun class prefixes in Bantu. Nouns of Bantu languages are classified grammatically according to prefixes whether overt or null, and the concordial agreement associated with them. In general, these noun class prefixes form a series of gender, with each of the noun prefixes taking a singular and plural. Contini-Morava 1994:2.2. The possible Komo reflexes of Bantu noun-class prefixes can then be shown as follows. Bantu languages are widely noted for their complex noun class systems: each noun belongs to a class, and this class membership controls agreement morphology. Citation Form: muntu. Classes 9-10 included animals and miscellanea. 0000007448 00000 n In Ganda each singular class has a corresponding plural class (apart from one class which has no singular–plural distinction; also some plural classes correspond to more than one singular class) and there are no exceptions as there are in Swahili. 0000001027 00000 n Although there many schemes have been devised to define the semantics of the noun classes, it is generally accepted that the noun class system is somewhat arbitrary. ex. �Ҧ�)m I thought I had found the right area under the heading "Grammatical Info. This study will also investigate the distinction between those prefixes which are exclusively used to categorise size and shape deviations, namely those belonging to classes 12/13, 19, 20, 21 and 22; and those class prefixes which have a secondary function of indicating such Some prefer to categorise as: class 1, class 2, class 3 etc., whereby class 1 is the singular, and class 2 is the plural version of class 1. In the prefix is for class 6 and is plural. Specifically for Bantu, almost every noun can appear in multiple classes, since singular and plural nouns take different class prefixes. Further, these noun classes are not only expressed on nouns and adjectives, but also on verbs, prepositions, and more. Noun Classes and Concord Bantu languages are described as noun-centered, the noun occupying the primary focus of the sentence or phrase. Nouns are divided somewhat arbitrarily between these classes, although a few of them contain nouns which mostly fall into clear categories. Many roots will take noun class agreement prefixes that indicate if the noun is singular or plural. e�هwR��q��Pb0! Lingala does have a full noun class system with agreement, your online source just didn't give all the facts. 0000005266 00000 n Meeussen (1967: 97) reconstructed nineteen noun classes in Proto-Bantu, summarised in Table 1. Basically he argues that Bantu classes are hierarchically arranged in a system of category of spirit. 0000007419 00000 n Bantu noun classes has been argued for in several works (e.g. 0000004017 00000 n Many of these have fallen away, which explains why Zulu noun classes jump from #11 to #14, and from #15 to #17. The classes are grouped in pairs of singular and plural forms with their associated pre xes. 0000197405 00000 n 0000001214 00000 n Originally, Bantu languages had over 20 noun categories. All nouns comprise a stem and one of a set of singular and plural prefixes and are grouped into classes (genders) on the basis of these markers. Other articles where Noun class is discussed: Niger-Congo languages: Noun classes: The system of noun classes is probably the characteristic most widely found in Niger-Congo languages and best known to those interested in language phenomena. As mentioned above, noun classes in Bantu languages are defined in part by the formal marking of the noun (its class prefix), and in part by the association between a set of nouns on the one hand, and a set of `agreement markers' affixed to possessive pronouns, verb stems, etc., on the other. It has been observed that noun classes can also be semantically classified. Other words that related or referred to that noun, such as adjectives and verbs, also received a prefix that matched the class of the noun ("agreement" or "concord"). 0000156490 00000 n noun classes to semantic categories. Bantu languages are noted for their noun class systems. The noun classes in Bantu languages are morphologically realized as noun class prefixes nouns and as agreement markers (or, concords) on other syntactic constituents, like adjectives, numerals, verbs and others. Larger groups be argued to just be an artifact of the noun class is a complete of. 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Table details out the grammatical structure of the noun prefixes taking a singular plural!

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