Noun Class as Number in Swahili - Ellen Contini-Morava

7/25/2019 Noun Class as Number in Swahili - Ellen Contini-Morava

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Noun Class as Number in Smahili

Elkrt Contini-Morava

Oiiiversiry a

Virginia

1. In t ra dtlctIon

It is common cross-linguistically for the same morphological fonns to signal

information ahout noun class or grammatical gender and number at the same

tirnc (cf, Corbett 1991:132}. Howcver, thcsc kinds of information are usually

treated in difTerent ways. Noun class. or gender. is thought of as a feature

assignedtn nominal root in tlre Iexicnn, wherea numher i a gramrnatial or

intlectional feature. For esarnplc Corhctt (199I: 154) states that

As far as contrn}ler genders are cnncerncd. gender and nurnbcr are typically

indcpcndcnt: a nnun has a particular gender irrcpcctivc nf thc numhcr it

stands in. Gender is inhcrent to thc noun and is in a scnsc prior to tbc numbcr

in which it occurs in a giicn scntcncc. (scc also p. 147}'

Furthermore, noun class and number are usually trcatcd difkrcntly from a

semallttc potnt of vlew. un chle are suid to beemanti in origin hut to have

lost much of theiremantic cohcrence over tin>e. now h~ving "purely gramntati

cal" function. Number on the other hand is treated as semantically unproblernatic.

consisting of oppoitions betwecn grammatical forms that signal 'singular' or

'plural' (and somctimes a few other distinctions suchas 'dual' or 'paucal'}.

In this chapter I will argue against both these assumptions, focusing on

Swahili. whose noun class systcm is typical of Bantu languages. In earlier work

(Contini-Morava 1994, 1997} I have shown that the noun classes are less

seinantically arbitrary than is usually assumed. In what follows I will challenge

thc assumption that number is unproblcmatir, In fact, I will argue that thc

problem of numbcr is loely tied to the proMern of the meanings of the noun

classes themselves. The structure of the chapter is as follows, In Section 2. I

outiinc the problem of ingular-plural morphological asyrnmetry. In th next


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FLI.EN (.ONT(NI-h'lORAVA

sction I describe the scmantic structurc of the noun clases that have predictable

singular-plural pairing. l'ollowing that is a proposed reanalysis of 'nutnber' in

Swahili

as

a s>stem of degree of individuation. I conclude with a brief discussion

of the relationship of ih Bantu noun class prcfixs to the traditional dichotom

>

betwecn lexical and grammatical meaning.

Asylllllle(FIec III Iloill lwlass/lllll llheF IISIFIIINt III $%$}llTI

In Swahili, and in Ltntu more generall>; noun class and number intormation are

jointly conveyed by a prchx on thc noun. The pretixesttrerradition;illy idcntlhctl

by separate numbers so that odd-numbered prefixes are "singular" and adjacent

even-numhered prelixes are the -corresponding plurals". e.g. lxtoun Class Prelix

(=lxiCP) 2 is corresponding plural of tx(CP

l.

4 is plural of 3. etc. In (I ) bclow.

the singular prefixes ol Swahili are on the left. and the "corresponding plurals"

are on the right. (This type of table typically appear in rel'erence grammars of

Swahili such as Polome l967:96.l

(1) Ta ble I. Singu)ar-plural noun class reLationships in S~ahili.

Bantu tt Pt e ttx

antu tt Ptc fix

I

I:xamplc:

I


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NOUN CLASS AS NUMBER IN S%AHILI

cluss 6 ciin scrve as plural fol' Clasis 'C as wcll asi for some {hul not all) nouns of

Class I I. Other nouns of Class I I have plural counterparts in Class IO. Howev

er, the prelix of Class 10

is

homonvmous with that of Class 9:

that

is. Class 9/10

nouns are invariablc and do hol challge (heir prefix in (hc plural. So somc nouns

lll

Cl. 9/10 arc nelltfal to (hc numbcr dlstinc(lon. whereas vthcrs are interprcted as

'plural' {thosc

that

havc a singular counterpart in CI. I 1-thc example in Tahlc I

is uhirrrlkrrra -wall/walls", under -class I I".) For nouns in Cl. 9/10, which do

not vary in singular-plural form. number is distinguishcd only by grammatical

agreenient pattern (e.g. rrr/izi i/e "that banana". r/i-i -i/ "those bananas").

Tabk I. it is worth raising the issue of the rnorphological analysis of Cl. 9/IO,

Table I reprent th tradi(ional analysis of Class 9 and 10 us haring

homonymousn -8 pre(ixes. Hornonyinous prelixes are reconstructed for these

classcs at Icast as far as Proto Bantu IGuthrie l967; Mccusscn 1967, citcd in

%illiamson 1989). In Swahili, thc rcAcx of a na~al prcfix rcconstructcd as 'N

{Nurse 4 Hinnebusch I993: 199-200) appears. in assimilated form, only before

voiced ohstrucnts. vowel-initial. or monosyllahic noun stcms. and only with

stcms of Btmtu origin; elscwhcre no oven prcfix; ippcars. Sincc Cl. 9/10 nouns

are invariable. (he case I'or sepafatiiig a prefix I'rom the stem synchronically is

not coinpelling Isee Herbert I978 for more detailed discussion of this issue in

Batitu). Further support for this argument is the fact that Ioanwords, which

constitute a large propor(ion of CI. 9/l0 nounsi do not acquire a nasal prefix

even if they hegin ith a voiced obstruent or vowel. By con(rast, loanwords

assigned to other noun classes do acquire the NCP of their class. This suggests

that CI, 9/10 is best analyzed as having no prefix: mcrnbcrship in this class is

signalled at most hy a sct of restrictions on the canonical shap of nouns.

applying only to nouns of Santu origin, and hy grammatical agreement pattern.'

I

will adopt this analysis in what follows. As will bc scen below. thc lack of

overt class marking is rnatched hy the scmantic hctcrogcneity of CI 9/IO within

the Swahili noun class system,

represented in Table I reveals a formal asymmetrv between singular and plural

that is not explaincdby the traditional binary treatment, Note that he complexi

ty of singular-plural class pairings in Swahili is typical of Bantu languages {see

Kadirna l969; Toporova I987): in fact it was the great varia(ion in singular

plural class pairings across languages tha( Ied early Ban(u scholars to assign

separate nurnbers to the singular and plural classes (81eek III62). There are

fur(hr asymmctric in Swahili, howevr, that cannot hc rcad otT the table. For

onc thing. only thrcc of thc singular-plural pairings can bc rallcd 'rcciprocaI'.

Before looking more closely at the singular-plural patterns illustrated in

To return to singular-plural patterns, then. just looking at the re)ationships


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ELLEM CONTINI-MORAVA

meaning tliat stetns that co-occur wtth the singular prefix also co~)ccur with the

plural prelix, attd vice versa. These are Classes l-2 (r-, Nu-), 3-4 (r-. rrri-},and

7-8 (ki-. vi-), Hnwcvcr, whil it is truc that mnst noun stcms with a Class C

prefix (that is,ji

- 8) have "corresponding plurals" with rrrr-,the reverse is not

the case. That is. not all iu- marke J nouns have singular counterparts in class 5.

Furthermore. a signilicant number of noun stems that co-occur with rrru- have no

"cnrrespnnding singular" at all. In my database nf over 4()()0 Swahili nnuns, of

which l42 arc listed in thc dictionary as hclonging to thc ru- class, l09 nouns

with the prcfix rrru- designate liquids, masses, ar collcctivitics that cannot easily

be ht intn the singularjplural dichotomy. Some examples:

(2) Ex amples of Class 6 nouns with no corresponding singular:

ntji "watcr

rrrutrurnbu"millet Ilour gruel"

rrrusukas4i "fallen debris from trees"

rrruzurrgrrr"a"conversation" (dcrived frnm - trrrgur.rr"to conversc"

a productivc derivational proccss)

lcompare with rrrrri~e"stnnes", plural of jiiv "stone""I

A second asymtrtetry relates to Class II (with prelix u-). Like Class 6, just

mentioned, the Class 11 prehx alsoco-accurswith a significant nurnber af naun

stcms that dn nnt vary hctwcen singular and plural, For cxamplc:

{3) Ex amples nf Class 11 nnuns with nn corresponding plural )nnte' .Ihe

prclix is w- hefore vowcls):

ur'ra-uprightness, statc af being perpendicular"

gege-dry feeling on teeth caused by eating acid fruit"

sirrgi-i -sleep, slecpiness"

ivuii "cnnkcd ricc"

ki "hnncy"

lirrrbo"birdlime, gum. glue"

gugu "tartar an teeth"

r "saliva or other viscid tluid"

Many of these denote abstractions or other intangibles, such as thc first three

examples under (3). These are usuallv described in the grammars as "singttlaria

iantutn". even though the kinds of entities designated by noun stems that are

found in Class I I overlap to a certain extent with those found in class 6 attd

described as "pluralia tantum" when they have the prcfix rrru-,' For exainple. we

hnd nnuns dcnnting liqttids and rnasses in both nf the~e cfasscs. but liquids and

masscs in Class 11 (i.c. with prcfix u-} tend to be more solid or congealed than


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NOUN CLASS

AS

NUMBFR IN MVAHILI

those n Class 6 (with prefixtna

*

), which tend to be more disperscd. as may he

seen bv cotnparing the examples under (2) v th the last four examples under (31

above. I.caving aside abstract nr uns that result from productive drivations. a total of

143 out of 278 Class I I nr uns in my databasc. or 'C%, are invariah)c in fnrm.'

To summarize so far: thrc pairs of classs are rciprocally paired. i,c. noun

stms that co-occur with the singular prefixalso co-occur with th plural prfix,

and vice versa. Thesere classes 1-2, 4-4, and 7-8. One class (SI is non

rcciprocally paired: noun stems occurring with th singular prelix also occur with

a p)ura) prefix. but that "plura)" prelix can also pluralize nouns of other classes

or fail to correspond to a singular form, Three c)asses are not paired: C;.Iass 6.

usua)ly treated as a "plural", can pluralize nouns of morc than one class and

contains a significant nutnbr of nouns that have no corresponding singular.

Class

I I, usually treated as a "singular", has nouns with plural counterparts in

more than one class and contains a signilicant nurnber of nouns ~ithout a

corrsponding plural. Nouns assignd to Class 9/ID are somtims intrprtcd as

plural, and sometirnes are neutral to the singular-plural distinction,

T; bl I is the fact that thcprefix nta- (C)ass 6) is not only limitcd in its

distribution to noun stms of Classes 5 and I I. It can also bc uscd productivcly

as a pluralizer for noun stems of Class 9/10. Recall that C)ass 9/lo is the one

that does not distinguish singular frotn plural on the noun itself. For Class 9/)0

nouns, number information is carried only by grammatical agreetnent. But in

discourse nouns donot always co-occur with modifiers that can indicate number

unambiguously. Use of thc ttta- prefix tnakes it possible to indicate plurality

overtly on the noun itself." Sornc examples from Swahili texts:

(41 Ex amples of ttta- (6) as, pluralizer for nouns of Class 9:

Yet another complication in the singular-plural pairings represented by

A/istaaja/ttt k a nini /u:ittta atu bebe trittt: tnikha yattgazi.

irnenana tnakarotasi: vikapa vitrr/rrt. vikipepea kanto / endero...

IVahya 1973:9'-'I

Hc wondcrcd why pcoplc had to carry sn much stuA'. Icathcr

bags, full of pa

ers (karatasi is usually invariable in form for

singular and plurall; empt> baskets, f)apping like fiags...

a tttusuttsttri-trrpasi, trrpast /tapa m%prr,st 'a nr/rta tenu a/a

o r apita-njia. IMohamed 1990: 67

Look hnw I arn today, Zaina. a tiny lish in a sca of sharks and

barracudas (prtpa "shark" and sonsttri "barracuda"urc usually

l


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I.LLEN CONTINI-MORAVA

invariahje in formj I'm just a street-sweeper, not for lnar

riage Ol' eVen fol' passefs-by.

hl (4aj, the wordkurata~i "paper", usually invariable in form, appears with the

nw- prelix; thesarne s true of prrpa "shark" andsansari "barracuda" in (4h).

The el3'ect in both cxamples is to emphasize pluralityby ovcrtly marking it

where it might not have been overtly marked.

have lternative singular-plural forms. One group of such nouns has the prefix

u- {Class II ) in the singular. Recall that Swahili reference grammars divide

Class I I nouns into ihree groups nouns thai have no corresponding plural

(illuslrated by examples in 3), nouns thal correspond to plurals in Class 9/IO, and

ones that correspond

to

plurals in Class 6 (sce ezamples in Table I under (I)

above). But there is also a set of u- prelixed nouns that can havplural coumer

parts in either Class 9/10 or Class 6. with a ditYerence in semamic inlerpretation.

These

are illustrated in (5) below.'

{5) Cl ass I I nouns thal have plurals in Classes 9/IO and 6. wiih diAer

nyoya 9/I0) "feathers/hairs" (a plurality)

rnanyaya (6} "feathers/hir" ( cnliectivily)

nvnra" (9/10) "bows

A iinal complicalion in lhe singular-plural pairings of Swahili: nouns lhal

ence in message:

unyaya "felher. hair"

ara "bow"

ashanga -bead"

mata {6) "bownd arrows" {a sct)

shctnga {9/I 0) "beads"

nnishanga {6) "striug af beads"

nvas/(9/I0) -hlades nf grass"

ntanyas/ (6} "grass" {collecuve)

nnyasi "blade of grass"

As shown by these examples, tna- plurals convey a collective rnessage whereas

CI. 9/IO plurals sirnply indicate rcplication.'

and "plural" ciasses, For example, in the Srnnr/ard Siva/nii-Fnglish Dictianasy

(Johnson I939. C)I I we ftnd ihe following entry ior the Class I I nounnivingu:

Other noun stems have an even more complcx relationship with "singular"


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NOUN CLASS AS NUMBFR IN 5%AHILI

aainge. n. t[pf.]ykkhickgu) l) the Sky. Clnud reginn, upper air. heaVen;

(2)

CltbudineSS. datkneCS. glnam plur tkcbickgcr

[CI. 9llt)), the SkieC, heaVen iC the

mnst used fntm. ccccd issrkckkctimes used ccs sing [etnphasis mine, EcMI.

sponding" to one plural tCI, 9/IO. diITerentiated from singular hy agreement

pattern). A search through Swahili texts reveals that all of these options are

exploited.aschown by the follo~ing examples:

ln thi caswc sccm to hav two singuiars (onc CI. 9/IO, oneCI. I I)

s'corrc

{6)

Shairi ln "/jbfnotbcb/oeoyn Afrtt /lfctsikitri" /itejn:,nnn tntttntltn/i

eye kttuttyesltu uttdcttti nu d/tiki zu ttcnt tustkttti kctcu vi(e

pun"yua >rhiruy'i

"si,"hu >ra uhehern". e >u">bi ya r~>tsin e

rvettye ttbnltili". (Senkoro I988:

4I I

The poem "'Prayer of the Poor Man" is tull of mctaphors

showing th JistresscJ inner state of a poor man such as "rat of

need", "lion of oppression". "hreasts of a m iserly cloud

(uvvmgtt,CI. I I).

wengutti atttba"o "itepcrttga kbn sciu kttfitatu utctratibu ta

/tyonliyrzitmrbn.

(Lemki l976: 8)

[The Korans say] that there are seven heavens[ittbingu,CI. 9/

IO with plural agreetnent) in thi world which are set in rows

according to the plan of the One who created them.

atai ya rattt toka utt. bao /tttbnttct tttidoto tta kttktujta ttyuso

zao. ILemki t976: Itl

But if you ask them whether thic third heaven Ithittgtt,CI. 9/IO

with singular agreetnent] is the third from here where we are or

th

third from the top. they hite their lips and furrow their hrows

In these exatnples the rnessage of'ditYerentiation between singular and plural is

most evident in examples (b) and (c), where number is signalled not by the

(invariablcj CI. 9/IO noun. but hy thc grammatical agrccrncnt. In exarnplc (a)

"cloaJ" appcars lo bc. trcatcJ as a countable cnttty.

"plural" and two "singular" forms, For xampl. the stemkeieit "a shout, uproar,

noicc" may oecur in I; Iacccs I I. 9/IO, and 6. as chown by thc folk) wing cxamplcs.'

b, i bhsuhr>fu yusstai knu>bu ziku >nliia>~bin uhiyr>rriya rururr kairapaksr

Utittgttjftttbittgtt is not an isoiated case. %e can also find stems with two

{7) a, Kinekeri/e: Ilatettitlc)ttgattya,

(fjtttaptgu ukelele tttta tku tttbittgutti tta kttctttguku c./titti. Gi m. /

IHusscin

l969:

2OI


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IO F.LLEN t. ONTlt41-h(ORAVA

Kinjeketile: They have healed tne.

(He emits a crp (rrkelel,CI. I 1) [thatI rises to the sky and falls

Ibaek I down. Darkncss,)

Alipoji ka kanbu na mlango tc amji alirrli"a kua kelele.

"Huu ni

mjr'nu rruni?"

lVarracakc'N'rru'r/l vl'aIrokrrNa lrie rl'alrrrl'arrraza,

Winctrrli cr. Irrrrr ni mji tcr nani. criirrti~a rena kcrnrct ku'anrba

alikuu a Irakrrciircrnru Baba ahsikia 4 II Irii. Ah'rc>ka je. [Kc>.il

ahabi l974. I04l

'(Vhen he got near the door of the cily he asked loudly Ilit,.

"with noise", kelelwithout agreententj, -%hose eity is this

Two women who were outside felI silent.

"I am asking. whosc city is this"." he askcd again as if he had

not understood. Father heard this noise Ikelele, CI. 9/I() with

singular agreemenl]. He went outside.

Niiisikiu mlia ccungonra na kelelc za I aru, IKezilahabi l974: S7I

I heard the sound of drurns and the noise Ikc'lc'lc'. CI. 9/10 with

plural agfcemcn() or feo le.

hfbia Irurra nranufuu. Hunrbvekea rrneiu na rnvcrrir)ific. Hana

akili ya kupambanua. Hivvo basi kwn kubtekn hvnke, /rrrie-i

kuiua Isicl knma mccivi yuko nje arr amekrrirrgilia nyrrmhani

si4r. Hrrl>teeka kteu m

uirrli;o ktascrhcrhrr ya rninr>ng'arro ya

karibrr nanrakelele ya mbali, Marc>keoyake ni krrN a Imcrezi%aru

kulaln vcmn. IRobert 197l: 24-S]

A dog is useless. Il barks al (he thief and lhc truslworthy. Il

does not have the sense to tell lhem apar(. So by its barking.

you cannot know whether a thief is outside or has entered your

house at night. It barks on and on because of whispcrings from

ne,trhy nd noises nrnkclele, CI, bi lrom far away. The result

is that you cannot even sleep properly.

C.

In exarnples (a) and (b) "noise" is relatively individuated: in (a)rrkelelerefers to

a single cry made by a single person and in (b) kelele (with singular agreement)

refers to a dis(urbance made by ofte person who repetls the same Ullel'ance

lwice. In example (c) keiele (wi(h plural agreemenl) refers lo a noise that is more

dilt'use and generated by a rnultitude of people. In (d) we are lalking about

itcralcd noises of unspcci(icd origins that might arisc on diITcrcnt oceasions.

Thus the contras(s among the di(I'erent classes can suggesl various degrees of

'singularity' and 'plurality'.


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NOUN CLASS AS NUMBER IN S%AHILI

The examples in (S)-(7) show how uniliuminating it is to analyze the

Swahili data in terms of a binary singular-plural distinction or in terms of class

"pairing". It should be noted that the asymmetries I have been pointing out have

nnt escaped th attenlinn nf Bantu schnlars', in fact they are regularly mentinnd

in both descriptions of individual languages (e.g, Mufwn l980a) and in general

works on the Ianguag family (e.g. Minhof 1967 [19481:47: Dnk )967:'Sl).

But this has nnt Id tn a rc prefix, nor are the sets mutually

cxclusivc, Fnr nnc thing. all thc Swahili nnun class preftxes can be used

productively to dcrivc nouns from nnminal. vcrbal and adjcctival stcms: thcrclorc

th memhrship of' each nounlass is open ended, Secondly. not all nominal

stems are uniquely associated with a single noun class prefix; some sterns may

be used with more than one prelix. i.e. occur in more than one class, usually

with a change ol' meaning. Some examples were illustrated in the last section;

others are more productive. For example, there is a productive relationship

bctwecn CIass 3 (with prefix ui.-) and Cla~s 5 (with prcftx ji/8) whereby a stem

with the Class 3 prefix dcsignats a plant and thc same stm with thc Class 5

prefix designines the associated fruit (e.g.nr-papai "pap'iy'i tree"

ICI.

3I. 8-pupai

-papaya fruit" iCI. Si). These two classes thus overlap partially in content.

Dspite thc caveat. however, the majority of Swahili nominal stems do

occur mainly in just one class (or pair of singular-plural lasses). and the stems

grouped together by virtue of their shared prelix (or in the case of prefixless CI.

9/IO. by virtue of their shared agreement pattern) form sets with varying. degrees

of internal semantic cohrenc. Th most coherent st are th noun stms

associated with Classes

I

(with prefixes in,- and Na- respectively), consisting

cntirly nf nnuns dnniing animate hings. virtually all human, At the other

extrcmc is Class 9/10 (undill'ercntiatcd I'or singular/plural). Class 9/10 is the

First. a cavcat. If hy 'noun class' is meant 'th set of nominal stms that


10/28

FLLEN CONTW)-MORAVA

residual' class, which is scrnantically heterogeneous and houses thc majority of

foreign loanwords. It 1acks a distinctive prelix and s alone among the Swahili

noun c)asses in not being associated with any productive derivations. The

remaining classes fall 'hetween these iwo extremes: alihnugh one would look in

vain for a single semantic common denominator sharcd by all noun stcms

bclonging to a given r)ass, ncvcrthcless cach class shows a grcat dcal of intcrnal

cnhercncc, with nnuns or grnups nf nnuns rclatcd tn nnc annthcr ciihcr hy sharcd

sctnantir propcrtics or hy farniliar principlcs nf rnctaphoric or mctonyrnic

extension. In this section I will discuss only the singular classes whose markers

have predictable plura1 counterparts. i.e. 4 (m>-. w ith plural mi- JCI. 4f). 5(ji-/P.

with pluraltu- tO. 6)). and 7 (ki-. wiih pluralvi- [CI, SI).'" Classes I l (u-) and

6 (tu-). which have a more cotnple rclutionship tonuinber.will be discussed

in the next section.

Class 3(m>-, with plural mi- (Cl.

4))

cnntains nnuns designating what I have

callcd clscwhcrc "cntitics with vitality" (Contini-Morava 1994. 1997): living

beings that are neither hurnan nor anirnal inames of plants, trees, various spirits);

inanimate entities that are animate-like in that they can rnove independently

(aciive body parts such as t-kutto "hand". t-dotci "mouth". ttt-oyo"hcart".

m-kiu "tail"); natural phcnotnna that exist indcpndcnily of human ugcncy yet

may aHcct th environment ( e.g, m-otri "ftre". m-tri "river-, mss-e:i "rnoon",

m-Iima "mnuntain"); and inanimatenhjects related tn the uhnve by shape(lnng

thin things. which resemble planis/trees, such as t-piku

"carrying pole".

m-smuri "nail". m-age "canoe outrigger"), inaterial (things made of plants

suchas m-fiirr "wnndcn platter", m-ktku "straw mat",m-pira -ruhhcr hall or

tirc"), or activcness t-.chttlc "arrow". t-.sl>ipi -hshing linc",t-tepe"sailboat").

Class S (ji-/0, with plural >u- ICL 6j) seems to have two major semantic

centers. both of ~hich have to do with plant oA'spring: names of fruits and

things that resemble fruits in shape (34imensionality, curvedness). and names of

leaves and things thai resemble leaves in shape (broad. flat, curved). In confor

mity wiih the 'plani otTspring' motif. Class S

is

also used to designaie an

individual mcmhcr of a pair or cnllcctivc (e.g. 8-knshi "slipper". Aitrdi "single

grain of maize ). possihly by cxtcnsion Irom ih Notif of 34imcnsi(nlality and

increase/growth (characteristic ot fruits), the Cluss C preli is also used produc

tively to form augrnentatives from noun stems

nf

any clas~ (e,g,m,-t "person" [CL

1 jtji-tu -giant" (CL SJ.ki-tabu -hook" ICI. 7 jlfP-taIt -large hook. tome" (Cl. 5)).

Th main oprative dirncnsion ol Class 7 (ki-, with pluralvi- ICI. 8]) is

smallness of size' ,ii contains names of uti1iiarian artifacts small enough to be

hcld and manipulatcd hy a human agcnt (c.g.ki4ap -haskci",ki-k


11/28

NOUN CLASS AS NUMBFR IN SlVAHILI

gazelle], ki-diri "squirrel"): small hody parts(ki-drrle

"ftngerhoe", ki-rovu

-navcl", ki-rceie"nipple, uddcr"). By association of smalincss with irnmalurity:

Ri-drrkrr -coconut in Iirct stage of growth", ki jnrra -a youth", ki-grsfe -girl of

altnost ntarriagcahle age". By assorialion of smallness wilh parl of a whole;ki

pru>de "piece", ki-bart-i "splinter. chip".ki-uofu"scrap of meat", By association

of not-wholcncss with dcfcct or Iack: kr'-pri

i~"hlind person", ki-tenru"cripplc",

ki-bahrrhrli -foolish pcrson". namcs of variousailment~. Partitivcncssmay he

mctaphoricaily c ttendcd to rcsctnblancc,vicwedas partial overlap in nature: ki

sukrrri "very sweet banana" (cf.sukrrrr'

"sugar". Cl. 9}. kr'-rrtuliuwh'"IireAy" (cf.

-nru ikrr "shine" [verh)). The Class 7 prefis is productively used tn derive

diminutivcs from noun slcrns of any c4ss {c.g. rrt,-roto"child" [Cl. I])ki-airo

-srnall child- [CI. 7J).'

diagram of the semamic slructure of Class 5 {ji-/0). frons Contini-Morava

(1994), showing relationships among the various subcategories in the class and

example nouns for each, The diagram horrocsssome conventions frorn Langacker

(1988} for representaling semantic relationships: solid lines represent relalion

ships of 'schernaticity', in which trne clcntent i an clahoralion' or 'intanlialion

of another; doned lines represent relationship of melaphoric or metonymic

eztension. Double lines represent productive forrnations (this last convention is

horrowcd frotn Zuhin I99S).

For rcadcrs intcrcslcd in a hil morc dctail than was givcn ahovc. herc is a

(8) a. A s emantic netwnrk for Class S (ji - AI, from Contini-Morava

In Jivi Jual I'nnn pairibunvh/cultcc1ivc

1994:

Lurnpcllurnpy cuhstances

Plant offcpring

I ruits Leaves

Pnnrucions

Curvcd 3.dintcnsionat

objccls t

Curvcd Aal

objccts

Cun.cd outlincs

S% ellintts

3-dimcnsional containcrs

Tlungs with bsnad parts

Largc thing

I tnllow spaccs

Rcvcrah'fcarcd things


12/28

F.LLEN

t.

ONTlt41-htORAVA

h. E rtamples of nouns in Class S subcategories

lumps/lumpy subslunces

kun>hrce

rrrttt>b>t

~s/>ata

/rrrtv) ja

Jtvrt

/rul' it

trttnhaH'p

food rnouthful

lump in flour

lees of coconut oil

porridge or similar

ash

bubble froth

unconsolidated coral

(Note: Words preceded by asterisks are loanwords.)

kntrrngo wa tcr-channcl

krto luffow, tfertch

l'rults

nr>rrla f rui t

most speciflc fruit names

curl ied bNlltllettslott4ll objects

Jtrce

kaa

rotrusions

Iako

s/>arr>

tava

hu(tock

cheek biceps. calf

)aw

plait of hair

eaves of house

hough, branch

coconut palm branch

foot/stem ol tfee

eanoe outrigger

cliA; jutting rock

stage. scall'old

1'Qt

Inl

kenr/p

fttt>rhr'1

kundp

irca

jicho

stkto

slirttigi

Iantto

Ialr I

Role

s/rr'INI

Iengo

~jahali

~J>tklr'r>a

Swellin~

Jtltrr

hnil, absccss

knka

whitlow

kuirrtrr SW elling in thrOat

/et>geletrge blister, pustule

tezt tumor. goitcr

Hollow spuees

tta

stone

Calf

flower

cloud

lump of charcoal

egg

1>vef

testicle

belly, womb

closed fist

breast

gap, notch, hole

pit, hole, cavity

hole fof seeds

4'ingir

Mltttenslottul contulners

koo thfoat

rrrmhi larg e jar

ktrprr

metal can

pakae/ra fis h/fruit basket

'jamat>rla round covered basket

~sr>trrhrkrr box. chest. trunk

to=a pip howI

kaka empty shcll

krttrrtt>u

empt y grain husk

l rtn>bi fibrous plant sheath

er>go

sl>imo

kr>trngr)

klcaprt


13/28

NOUN CLASS AS NUMBER IN SWAHILI

Curved nutlineseaves

janl

kaa

kttti

ftr

+r

Cttrved Iat ohjeets

tree frond

leaf, grass hlade

coconut leaf

palm leaf

tintbi

tittda

taa

kuta

ptrrnfn~u

ptrthi

arc, bend in river

crook, bend

margin. outskirts

hracclet

bangle

string of beads

worn around neck

Ztu'tl

ktta

jrtrttjtt

para

kupe

ttrnga

j ttsr

Large things

A stem from any class can

be placed in CI. S. with

rcsulting meaning

'augmelltalive . e.g,

nt-ttt "person' (I) ~ j i -t t t "giant"

(5)

Fully productive.

Indisidual frnm pair/hunehl

eulleethe

~kushi sl i ppcr

~ltt'rrCh grain of maize

kanthttnttrvtr roof rafter pole

kara splinter, spark. piece

pat. Aa tw in

Iake. pond. marsh

thc palatc

tempies fof head)

hald patch on head

eyelid/eyelashes

sail of vesscl

round ear ornament

kniktn

Z.tttt'N't

's jrerani

j trtt

jttjn

ReveretLtfeared things

Things with brttad parls

jetnbe

kafi

kttsw

ktrfegtt

panga

parattga

sjtrrka

ie-u

oar

axe

adze

hoe

paddle. small oar

spade. shnvcl

machete

broad-blade knife

kind of evil spirit

goblin. obre

demon, devil

djinn tMuslitn spirit>

Gog (comes on

jutlgmen(

Day

gnive. tomh

tomb, pilgrirnage

kajrtrri

ztttrtt

4. R canaiysis af the nuinher system

In the Iast section we looked at thc principles of setnantic classihcation underly

ing the various noun classes. However, the noun class prefixes are usually


14/28

FLLEN (. ONT(N1-h'lARAVA

descrihed as conveying infarmaiion ahaui numher in addition to classifying

nouns. I now {re)turn to the question of number. Based on the data outlined n Sec

tion ~, we cauld divide the Swahili noun class prelixes into twa groups as fo))ows:

(9) Re lationships among the noun class pretixes:

a. paired prefi~es, i.e, ones regularly assnciated with a set of noun

stems such thai thc alternaiion beiween preiixes convevs the

messages ONE and MORE THAN ONE respectively, in rela

tion io ihe associated noun stern. These are )/2 (ru>-lurr-), 3/4

(m,4ini-), 7/8 (ki-lvi-), and 5(ji

- 8). Examples:m>-tritro'tvrt

l(p(u chlkl/fcn . nt>.riltt}l.li ticc/s, k/.kupttlvi-kupu baskcl/s .

ji-welsnrr-ive "stonels". The firsi three sets of prelixes may be

called -recipiocally paired" in that fnr any noun stein in the

singular class there exists a corresponding stern in the plural

class and viec versa. On the other hand, Class S (ji - 8) is

non-reciprocally piiired: fnr any Cl. S singular there exists a

plural forrn in Class 6. but ihc rcvcrsc docs not hold.

Another way ol' putting this would be to say that el-, w.,-,ki-

and ji- always convey the idea of "one", u~u-, rni- and vi

alwavs convey ihe idea nf "inore than one".

number information when they alternate with a diA'erent prefix,

hut which are a)so associated with a significant numher of nnun

stcms for which no altcrnation is possiblc. Thcse arc the prclix

cs n>rt-(Class 6) and u- (Class 11).'

b. n on-paired prelixes, i.e. ones ihai may interpreted as conveying

Afu- (Class 6) is interprcted as "plural" when

it

alternates wiih i- (Class

S)

and

sametimes when it alierniiies with u- (Cluss Il}, e.g. ji-Nehnu-iee "stane/s",

n-rikw'nrn-rikri"roof ridgc/s": as -collective" when it altcrnatcs with ahsence of

a preiix (CI. 9/10), e.g, kuru/rrsihnu-kuru(usi "payer/papers (collective)" and

sometimesN hen

it

alternateswith rr- (as in the examples listed under S). %hen

there is na alternation, tnrr- indicates a liquid. mass. collectivity or athcr nan

cnumcrable entity (as illusirated in 2). Thai is, thc scope of 'numbcr' meaning of

wu- ranges from simple pluraliiy (rcplicatcd individuals, e,g, rnu-ue "stones").

through collectivity (a set of individuals forming a greater whale, like Hirtle's

{1982) internal plural' or ihe semantic iniegraliiy' of ihe Hehrew dual {Tohin.

ihis volume), e.g. nrrr-sukusuku "tree debris"). to liquid or rnass not composed of

separate individuals (e.g. n>rr-(irru"oil", eu-kr~wrhu"millet flour gruel"). U

{Class I l) is intcrprctcd as "singular" when it altcrnatcs with eithcr abscnce of

a prefix{Class 9/1()) or rnu-(Class 6} (cxamplcs in I and 5); when no alternation


15/28

17OUN CLASS AS NUMBF.R IN S%AHILI

exists, u. indicates a liquid or rnass, especially viscous or congealed substances.

or an abstraction {illustratcd in 3). That is, the scope of number' meaning of u

ranges frorn singularity {single individuated entity, e,g. u-e>ive/e -strand of

hair"}, through abstract entity{n-iuiu"uprightness") to liquid or mass, especially

congealed {e.g. ti-ki "honey"). Finally. noun stems that lack a prelim {those

belonging (o Cl. 0/10) are usually interpreted as "plural" when a conuasting forrn

exists with n- {Class 11) hut there are exceptions, as shown in (6) and {7)

abovc. Qthcrwisc Cl. 9/ID nouns can be intcrprctcd as cithcr "singular" or

"plural" dcpending on the contcx(, including accompanying grammatical agree

ment pattern.

rendition of Swahili singular-plural pairings as follo~s:

T;tking intn consideration the data summarired above. nne couM rcvisc the

{ IO) Tahlc 2. Swahili singular-plural pattcrns {rcvised)

4 e e

8 vi

6 rua

(andpL rnnttmi)

7 A

I I tt

(andsirtg.. ran{utn)

9/10 n o pre fix

In this tablc, the doublc-sided arrows indicatc 'reciprocal' classes,.e. classes for

which the same stems that co~iccur with the singular pre{ix may also be tound

with the plural preftx. and vice versa, One-sided arrows indicate lack of reciproc

ity: not all noun stems cowiccurring with a given singular preftx also co~ccur

with a plural pretix, or vice versa,

Based on the relationships of pairing summarized in {9) and {10}, and on the


16/28

FLLEbt CONTINI-lv(ARAVA

interpretations of the nnn-paircd prclixes bnth when they may alternate with

other prehxes and vvhen they do not, it looks as if a simple division between

pretixes meaning "one" and those meaning "more than one" works consistently

only for the classes listed under (9a), ihe ones I have called 'paired'. The

prcfixcs listcd under (9b) on thc other hand do not sccm to categorizc entities in

the samc way. The prefix u- (class II ) shows a "weighting" in favor of a

relatively hoinngenenus entity that may or may nnt he a delirriited thing. The

prefix rrrrr- (class 6) shows a "wcighting" in favor of relativcly dispersed cntitics

that range from replicated individuals. collectivities. and particulate masses to

non-delimiiable masses or liquids. Thus r- andrrrn-overlap in part, in that each

may he useJ with noun stms denoting liquids or masses that do niit show

singular-plural altcrnation. However, they dilTcr in that rr-rrcer dcsignatcs aset

of rcplicatcd individuals, andrrrrr-ncvcr designatesa dclimitcd, singular entity.

This is what I me;in hy -weighting". Finally.absenceof a, prefix (membership in

Cl. 9/10) does not convey explicit number information. A noun inCl. 9/10 may

he interpreted as "singular" or "plural" depending on conte~t, or depending on

whether the same noun stern may co-occur uith a difTerent noun class prelix that

suggest a specific numher classificatinn. If the contrasting prefix i u- (CI. I I),

then thprefixless forin is likely to be interprtd as "plural"; il' the contrasting

prclix is rrr- (Cl. 6), thc prelixlcss fnrm s likely to be intcrprctcd a "~ingular".

In nrdcr io account for thc dilYcrcncc in distrihutinn hctwecn thc prlixcs

listcd under (9a) and thosc listcd undcr (9b). I proposc thc following analysis:

(l I) S y st m of DEGREE OF INDIVIDUATION

ONE rir,- (1). r; (3), ji - 8 (S), l;i- (7)

MOST INDIVIDUATED

M()RF THAN ()NF. iri- (2). rrri- (4). vi- (8)

LESS I NDIVIDUATED rr-( I I )

LEAST INDIVIDUATED ro-(6)

Accnrding to this analysis, numbras expressed by the Swahili iinun class

prefixes is a scale of individuation rather than a binary opposition between

"singular" and "plural".'" What I me;in hy individuatinn

is

relative discretencss.

homogcncity, hounddncss in spacc. The term 'individuation' intcntionally lumps

together conceptual areas that have sometimes heen distinguished. For example.

Tiilmy ( I'988) makes a disiinctinn hetween plexity', ("a quantity's state nf


17/28

NOUN CLASS AS NUMBF.R IN S%AHILI

articulatinn intn equivalent elements"), typically associated with thc gramnlalical

category of number; 'boundedness' (dernarcation as an individuated unit entity

vs. indehnite continuation), typically associated with the 'mass/count' distinction:

and 'state of dividedness' {"a quantity's internal segmentation"), a cnnceptual

area seen rnainly in interaction with others, However, he also points out that

thsc catcgnries n('tn intersect, and in fact hc cits somc of th samc cxampls

in illustratinn of mnre than one nf them (e.g,. the English lexical itern ivrrrr r is

both unbounded and cominuous: furrrr)rrr~ is both muhiplex and dividedj. In

Swahili. Iexicaj items with all of these properties may be found in a single noun

class. For example. the rrrrr-pre(ix (Cjass 6). illustrated in (2) ahove: rrrrr-i~e

"slnnes" {multiplcx, dividcd), rrraji "water" (unhnundcd, cnntinunus),mu-ci-i

"soot" (unbounded. divided) and so on.-"

numhcr as a graminatical c;itegnry, snmetimes in ways that Innk very simil;ir tn

thc ubovc analycis. For cx;implc, Mufwcnc {1980a) suggcstc an analycis of

Lingala, a Santu language, in which he argues in favor of replacing the singular

plural opposition hy an opposition between individuated vs. non-individuated,

However. his main concern in this paper is with relations of relativc markedness

in connection to language universals.he argues that in Lingaia 'individuated' i

the marked category, contrary to Cireenherg's (lt)66) universal ahout rnarkedness

of plural in relation to singular, In a later paper. Mufwcnc (l9III) prnposcs a

sca(e of individuation tn replace the traditinnal hinary singular-plural oppnsition,

using Jata I'roni several Ianguage including Lingala. But his scale, unlike the

one prnpnsed ahnve, is nnt an analvsis of either lexicalnr morphological units of

any particular languagc, hut rather of noun phrascs in gcncral. Thc scmantic

interpretation of a noun phrase in discoursc context is a maner of lrrrrr>k, not

lu>rgrre: it derives from a comhination of lexical, morphological. yntactic and

pragmatic infnrmation. By cornrast. the analysis in (l I ) fncuses on the informa

tion signalled specilically by the noun class prefixes of Swahili (lrrrrgrre, n the

sense of ii'ifnrmatlnn sncialed with particulai' Iinguitic signal tllat remaiils

cnnstant across speakers and discourse cnntexts).

concrete ohjct, pcnpl, plants. animal and the like. The Icast individuatLI

entities;ire particulate masses such as ashes, gravel. debris, and cnllectives such

as utensils (rrrakr>lr>kr>ln).Coljcctives are both non-homogeneous and spatially

unbounded. Sotttewhere in the middle are liquids like milk. water, and oil. and

masses of hne particles like tlour, which do not have fixed outlines and so are

relatively nnnMiscrete, but which are also relatively homogeneous internajly,

Pluralities. or groups of replicated individuals like "trees" or -baskets", could Itt

Thc concept of 'individuatinn' has hecn used hy nthcrc in rcfcrcncc tn

To rcturn to the prscnt analysis then: the most individuated cntities are


18/28

20 I..LLEN (.

ONTINI-MORAVA

at either end of the scale. From the point of view of replication they lit in with

highly individuated entities: each member of a plurality conserves ils own

discreteness. From the point of view of homogeneity and boundedness in space

hnwever, the plurality itself is nnn-hnrnogcncnus and relatively unbnundcd: il

consists of a set that is in principle open~ndd, A plurality could thcreforbe

regarded as rclatively non-individuatcd, in cornparison to a singlc individual. ' h

may hc helpful tn rcprcscnt lhc rclatinnships nf the varinus noun classcs tn thc

individu;itinn continliurn by mc'ms nf a diagrarn:

f12) Continuumf individuation. shnwing rangcof Swahili noun classes:

Zi

cnncrctc abstraainn liquid nr

individual c()ntinuous

(nass nf col lcctiviiy r eplica(cd

honi()IIcncous

individuals

pastielcs

iass

rr'a- (2}. ri- (4).

vi- (8)

r~- (I), ar; (3}ji& (5).ki- l7)

(r- ( I I )

llrlyv'Ir rl lttlo rrki

"hair strand" -uprigh(ne" "honey"

nra- (6)

rrllgo

-Assur"

raislra

'4ife"

Hio,sr r

"rrlrrll

iasakosako rrro r

"tree sletrris" "snrnes"

rofrrra

"nil"

[t I s)/In nrwns. snriside the sys(em nf indivi~ e/e "strand of h iir", as well as ones that are relatively

non-individualed. such as abstraclions. masses. or viscous subslances. These

Iattcr are not easily countable andso do not alternate with any prefix that would

indicate 'singularity' or 'plurality'. Since rr- can never refer to a set of replicated

U-. thc prctix of Class ll, signalsa middle Icvel of individuation. Voun


19/28


individuals, it is interpreted as relatively individuated. i.e. as singular, when ii

alternates with a ditTerent prefrx(rrru-) or with absence of a prefix (CI. 9/IO).

k/u- (CI. 6). al thc hotlom of ihc scalc nf individuation, is associatcd with

prtictrItc masscs and collcctivitics. as well s with pluraliiics which, as

mentioned earlier, can be regarded as relatively non-individuated in that they are

externally unbounded. Sincenra-ran never he interpreled as referring to a single.

bounded individual. it is available as a pluralizer. often with connotations of

colleciivity, for noun stms in lasses ihai are not assoiated with a speific

"corresponding plural" class. This includes those of class S, whose prefix ji- -0

indicates a high lcvcl nf individuation and singular nurnhcr. yct has no uniquc

"corresponding plural". 1t also includes some countable nouns ol' class II,

discussed earlier. And it includes ihe prelixless nouns of class 9/IO. which

otherwisc cannot distinguish nurnher at all, as illustratcd in (4).

of individuation, This ncutrality in rcliion to nutnbcr rc)Iccts thc status of CIss

9/IO as 'residual' category for the noun class system as a whole (rnentioned in

Section S). And because of its netitrality, a noun stem in Cl. 9/lO can be used to

suggest a message that comrasis with thai implied by the prelixes u- (CI, I I) and

mu- (CI. 6) repctively. Thus a illutratd in (S) in Section 2, for somet of

naun stems showing this threc-way contrast the ~tein carrying which suggests

some degree of individuation conveys the message -one" (e.g. shrrngrr

"bead"); ihe stem carrying ur-which suggL low degree of individuation

conveys themessage"plural as collecttvity" (e,g. rrrus/rurigu"string of heads"):

and the prehxlcss stcm convcys thc rnessage"plural

as

replicated individuals"

(e.g. rhurrgu"beads"). The specific number messagcs asociatedwith these

diITerent class aAi)iations depend in puri on the lexical meaning of the stem.

howcvcr. As shown hv the examplcs in (6) and (7) in Section 2. sornc lexical

meanings lend themselves to a hner-grined set of distinctions along the

singular-plurl continuutrr.

Class I I are both consisteni v iih the analysis under (I I). ma- (Cl. 6). the prefix

ai the lowest end of the scale ol individuaiion. is appropria(e because a pluralit

>

i Is individuatd than a single ntiiy. nd lack of prlix (i.. nimhrhip in

Cl. 9/IO). is appropriate hecause a CI. 9/IO nnun can he interpretedas relatively

unindividuatcd, i,c. as hfQRE THAN ONE. whcn it is opposed to the morc

cxplicitly individuatrd u-. Thc fact ihat somc rr- (Cl.

ll)

nouns have plural

counterparts in Cl. 9/10 and some in CI. 6, whereas other rr- nouns have no

plural at all. ma

> be seen as hisiorically moiivated, As tnentioned in Note 4, the

Swahili - class

s a

merger of two classes ihat were historically distinci. /

Class 9/IO, which has no distinctive preiix of iis nwri, is neutral to the scale

~l

The two alternatives chosen to express plurality for countable nouns in


20/28

22

ELI EN CONTIh)1-MAR AVA

(Clas II} and brr-(Class l4). In general, noun stems originally aiIlliated with

kr- have plural countcrparts in Cl. 9/10: stcrns nriginally atiiIiatcd with b

either have no plural or have a plural in rrrn- {Cl. 6). In view of this, one might

be temptcd to set up two homonymous singular- classes. each with

its

"corre

sponding plural" class. However. such a move would not explain the noun stems

that can have both types of plural withdiA'erent interpretations (as illustrated in

(1), Section 2), or the unusually large number of uncountahle nouns in this class

whoe class aaliation wnultl hecome

amhiguousince

they have nn plural

forms. (Of course, it would also not explain the fact that neither

Cl.

9/IO

nor Cl.

6 i uniqucly paired with -.) The class rncrgcr itsclt'. thnugh usually cxplaincd

in phnnolngical tcrms (e.g. Nursc 'md Hinnchusch 1993: 349-CO), may wcll have

had semantic tnotivations (Comini-Morava l997:6I4}.zs

individuation just proposed. The tahle under {13) helnw shnws the distrihution oF

nouns denoting collectives. liquids, and masses. among the various Swahili noun

clases. in my noun datahae,

The allocation of nominal stems to classes in Swahili rc(Iccts

the scale, of

(13) Table 3. Percentage of nouns in each class denoting entities that are

nnt easily countable (collectives. Iiquids, masses).

Countable

100% (335)

97% (829)

96.C% (633)

96.2% (686)

59.4% (1261)

37% (97)

23.2% ( 33 j

100% (33$)

100% (855)

100% (6~6)

100% (713)

100% ( 1410)

100% {262)

100% ( l42)

As may hc secn from this tahle. the four classes at thc tnp nf the scalc nf

indivitiuation show thsrnallcst nurnhcr of non-count;thlcs, whcrcas thc two

classes at the Iower end of the scaIe show the highest number. Somewhere in the

middle is Class9/10. which is neutral to the distinction of individuation, If the

only organizing principle within the Santu noun classsystemwere a principle of

binary pairing be(weensingular and plural, we would expeei nonwountable

nouns to be distributed randomly among the various classes. But Table 3 shows

Not countable Total

0

3% (26)

(23}

3,8% {27)

I0.6% (149)

63% (169)

76.8% (109)

Class I {rrr,-)

Ciass 3 (mi-)

Class 7 (ki-)

Ctass 5 (Jr-/8)

Class 9/10 (no pfx.)

Class II Irr-)

Class 6{rrrrt-

ihat this is not the case.


21/28

2.%OUN CLASS AS NUMBF.R IN S%AHILI

9. Ce t telttsiott

It was pointed out in the Introduction that nurnber is usually regarded as an

itif)ertlonal category whcfeas gender i tt'caled a a lexicaf calcgory. The preenl

discussion suggesls that number in Swahili (and in Banlu more gcncrally) does

nnt fit ncalfy into thc traditional distinction between 'derivation and 'inIIection .

If an inllcctional calgory musl bc fully productivc. prcdirtahlc. and ronstant in

its semantir efTcrts tscc e.g. Bauer l988: l3: Byhcc I985:84; M;ttthcws

I99I: 52-3). then only the noun classes I have called 'reciprocally paired' could

be regarded as inHectional. Noun stems ith singular or plural counterparts in

non-p;iircd clases uoufd have to bc tre;itcd as lcxira)ly, not inflcrtionally

related. That is, instances ol apparent singufar/plural pairing among such classes

are just lexicat slems thal rowcrur with dilTerent noun class prefixes. Thus nutnher

and gender are not so dislinrt as traditional accounts would make it appear. and

perhaps it is no accidnl that they are signalled

by

th same morphoiogy.~

the cognitive and funrtional motivations for gender as a grammatical category.

t)cndcr itc)f fits somcwhcrc bclwccn lcxicon, and grammar. Markcrs of nnun

class or gender sharc many propcrtics of grammatical signs. thcy are ohligatory.

form a r)osed cluss, und give information uhout the lexical item to whirh they

are attarhed. But thcy diN'er frnm typical grammaliral signs like markers nf rasc

or tcnse in thul lhcy do not havc the frcedom to coiicrur with any lcxical ilcm.

but instead co~rcur consistently with a particular set of lexical items, The re;ison

for this is that markers of gender or noun rlass serve the discourse function of

indexing nouns so as to facilitate co-reference with modiliers such as adjeclives.

demonstratives, and so on, by means of grammatical agreement.- The indexingl

co-reference function of noun dassification has semantic consequences as well

a ditrihuliona) ones. 'lriclly from lhe poinl of view of indexing and co

rcfcrencc. a scmanticalfy arbilrary allocation of nouns to classcs would do just as

well a a transparcnt onc. Sut for the language Ieurner, the task of memorizing

thc rla athliation of lhousands of' nouns is made easier if thcre i at leal some

scrnantir rohcrcnre within carh class. And in fact all such systems show

considerable scrnantic motivation, especially if analyzed from a cngnitivc

semantic perspective th'it takes into account relations of rnelaphor and rnetonymy

as well as strirt taxonomic inclusion.

form a kind of super-lexicon. medialing heteen lhe lexiron proper (that is. noun

stems) and grarnmar Ohe ro-referencing funrtion). Semantically. they group

logether nouns that share rognitively salient properties of entities surh as humanl

The interpcnetration beteen numbernJ gender i not so surpriing, given

As a mnemonic devicc for subdividing nouns imo sets, noun class markers


22/28

FLI EN CONTIN1 h'lORAVA

plant/inanitnate and so on.

and

related lo this,

physical properties like

shape

and

size whether long and thin. round, large or sntall etc. %hat I have suggested

in this chapter is that number, or more properly, existence as

a

relalively

individuated enlily, is trealcd as a property by which ntilies can be classified for

the purposes of reference in Bantu languages. and so is inseparahle front the

sernantic contnt of noun class as a grarnrnatical category for thsc languages.

Aeknuxvledoneatu

I would like to cxpress my sinccrc gratinidc to Erica 6arcia for hcr penctrating commcnts on an

carlicr dran of this chaptcr. which Icdmc to rcthink the wholc analysi that ir prcentcdhcrc, I have

also benefitted greatly frorn the eornmeni ol rnv co-editor.

Yihal

Tobin. If the chapter has not

bccomc morc cohcrcnt depite thcir bct clfort. the fault is cntircl} minc.

1. The .~me pvint

i

rnade in mvre detail by Advuani 11993: ttStk Who argue thatgender i

"arbitrarily detcrmined

in

kuigiir" whereas nuinbcr

is

cvntingent

and

prvvisivnzl. hence a

fcaturc igncdto

Icxical

unit in discourw.

2.

Kr d iscussion of some of the

omplexities

involved

in

the

anal} sis ol'

the dual in Ilebrew and

The dcAnhion of 'noun class' in Swahili dcpcnds on a combinationof thc prchx on the noun

and a particular pattern vf "grantntatical agrccmcnt" vn clcntcnts like dcmvnstralives. pvsses

sive. etc Prelixes that are homonymou. like thne nf Classes I and Xni-I and u and

It)

(n

6 in thc traditional analysis) dillcr in agrccmcnt paucm. henccarc trcatcd as dincrcnt

Claes.

4. Class "I IrI4" in Swahili i amergervf thc histvricall} distinct 'In t=l I) and 'hiv 1=14) cla~s.

l~>r simplicity. this class ill be referrcJ to as - I I". Sw&ili has lust Classes I ~ and I X which

csist in other Itantu languages.

$. I thank Lriea Carcfa for stimulating this line of thinking about Cl. 9/IO.

1}. Carstcns I 19$3. I$4-51 fvrmalizcs binary pairing rclativnships b} assigning cach nvminal stcm

tv agenJer, treating the prelixesasmarkcrsot' number. and axvciating eachgenJer with twu

prcfiscs.vne foringular and onc fvr plurai. To nccvunt for the fact that CI. I I dvcs nvt havc

iis own plural prelix.she sets up aeparategender hoc plural prclix i h un

>mou ith thai

of Class l0. Shc dvcs nvt discuss any of thc other asyminctrics pviutcd vuthcrc. but presum

abh thcy would also

havc

to bc

dcalt

with b} sctting up additional gcndcrs with partly

homvnyma)ui nuinher inarkers Such a taeatinent hie not Icad to an csplanatnin for the nuinbcr

as} mmctrics. but instcad cainvullages thcin undcr the guisc ol' a binay numbcr s} stein.

7 The d alabasi'. cvnsists of nouns listed in theStondurd Suuhili-Frig(ish lPiriiiaiorp (johoson

1939kubcatcgorircd accotding to a widc varicty of einantic

and

moiphological critcria Though

data enuy is not yet completed. the coveiage of atl theclasses is quite coinprehensive. I-or details on

the database project. including related theoretical issues. see Contini.Morava (1994. 1997).

in Slavic, sec Tvhin anJ jaoda tthis voluinck


23/28

2SOUN CLASS AS NUMBF.R IN S%AHILI

8. The usc ol' Clux (i us simultuncously thc plurul of Clus .'S und u pluruliu tun(um' for li(Iuid

und rnasses is recnntr(taed ut lezst tn prntn Buntu {Meussen 1967. cited in %illiamson 1')89).

and pvesihly cvcn prcdutc Bantu (Miche I99I ).

9. In this rcspcie Mu(wcnc {)981: 223) stutcmcnt tlu( mus nouns urc "usuull

> usignc J the suiuc

clu~ prclixes as the plurul cvunt nouns" in Bun(u is nvt en(irely uccurutc,

-clu are ubstruct. He dnes nnt distinguishbetween prnductively derived und -inherent" nnuns

m thl clu, howcvcr.

IO. Ohly {1977.28). using duta fiom a dilYercnt dictianur). reports tha( 6$.7 % af nouns in the

II Th e uc ol' m. u pluruli/er for naun s(cms in Clae 9, II. und l4 in uddition tn is u

l2. The exaiuplcs in this chuptcr comc from the electronic rvrpus of Swahili texts houscd at the

t.'mverit) v( Ilclinki. I thunk (he Dcpurtmen( af A(ricun Studtc far giving mc ucccss to (hi

corpu~. unJ hrvi Iluiskainen in pui(iculur. for hi help in using the corpus.

cvmmon

phenvmenvn in untu. f, vpvrvvu { 987),

I3, yurn is an iiregular form, If one assumes that the sterns -rir {based on compnrison 'ith rrrn

und inmk then nording to the iunnnical shupe of CI. 9/IO nouns with mnnosyllubic stems (he

Cl. 9/IO form should hc "nra. Ihiwcver, a Icxicul itcm n/n utreudy exists in Cl, 9/10. ith (he

meuning "wax". This perhapscxplains the appurcn( reanalysis of the present Cl. 9/10 stem as

vnwcl.initiul -r, which according tn the Cl. 9/II') puttcrn wnuldhe preccded by y-.

Class I I. onc cauld lut as easiiy think of the Class II forms u "singularizutions" of entities

morc cotumonly cncountcred as a plurality or collcct(vitv, This poin( is mack with rc(crcncc to

thc hlbochi Iunguugc us curly u 1917 by Prot. citcd in GWgoirc {I')94:3 I) : i( is mudc morc

gencrully I'vr Bzntu by Mcinhvf {l948 1967I: 47). unil by Lailirna {1969. 103).

l4. Them du(avggcN thu( ru(hcr (hun trcuting the C.'Iuss 9/IA and fi forms us -plural- of miun in

I'urthcr bclow.

l7. C lass 7 shows many cls(racteristics that have been associated ith diminutives avos-liaguisti

Itl. 0'nte hut the distinctinn rnade here between 'poired' und 'nnn-puired' prefixes is nnt the carne

15. An exception is gdufwene (198oa I'98I). but his goal is di)Terent fraln tlle present anulysis. see

IA. Claes .'5 diA'ers I'rntn the n(here to bc discuesed herc in that it dnce nnt huve ui@rr"cnrre

spvnJing plurui"'. as pvintcd vut in thc prcivu sccuvn. ulthvugh nvuntcins in Class 5 fvrm

their plurals in Class *. Class* ie alen used to plurulize nnuns from some nthcr classcs as wcll

a cvnLllnlhg nauas thut iln nvt huve singular fiilrrl.

cally; see /uiafsk) { 1995).

as thc distinction, found in thc scholurl> htcruturc nn Bantu languugcs. bctwccn two-class

gcnders' and 'vne~lassgeniicrs' {scc c,g, Gu(hrie I970 [1948I:49-52). such anulyses treat ull

nnune hat huvc scpurutc singulur.md plural nrms ue instunccs of lwn.clac cndcr', nd thc

'one-cluss gendere'con~stonly of nounshu( Jo mit M)ow ingulur-plural alterna(ion. The fuex

that nme nnune ascigned to a nne-cluec gender ure fnrmally identical :ith nnuns that are either

' singuiuis" or "plurul" vf tu v-cluss gcndcrs is trcutcd us u muttcr vf hvm


24/28

FLI EN CONTIN1 h'lORAVA

ingular. whcrcas for thcr nnunc thc dictinctin i irrclcvant. Ilnwever thc calc of individua

tinn prnpnsed in (I I) dnes nnt fall neatly alnng the feature hierarchy suggestedby Smith-S)ark.

which is similar to thc fzmiliar Animac) Hicrarchy (Smith-Stark 1974.66$):

nouns

+speaker -cpeakcr

+addrcsscc -addrcscce

-kinktn

+ratinnnl

-ruttnnal

-hunlanhuman

-alllBLIICanimatc

A~rJing to Smith-S(ark. thc

I'arthcr up

thc hicrarchy a nuun is lueatcd. the rnorc likcly it is

that pluiality wdl be markcI. In flantu hwcver. human nuns inabe fund in alinuu all (he

claaces. and only Classes I/2 eontain no inanirnatc nouns. I'urthermore. Smith-Stark's feature

hicrarchy docs noi distinguish bctwccn rclativcly inthviduatcd anti unindtviduatcd inanimatcs.

The

Iaek

of ht cith his hierar+y is presuinabldue to the closc setmntc intereonnewon

bctwccn noun class and numbcr in 1)antu. a poini I will rcturn io bclow.

21 The semantic elarionchip betwecn mass nouns and count.and plural nouns has ntten been

pointed out. see e,g. %1eCawley II96II). Mufwene I 19$Oa; 191II): Talmy I19IIII). Langaeker

11991). Scivik (1996) givcs a cogcnt accnunt of thc 'non count scmanttcs of Class b in

Sciwana. a Suihcrn IIaatu languagc. Taliny I 198II: 2Oklni nlfcrs thc fnllnwing dcsniptinn nf

the relatinnship between 'piecit> and 'boundedness:

There seems tn be a sequence nf eognitive nperatinnc here in getting frnrn a

boundcd

tn

an unhoundcd quantiry. Speculativcly, the boundcd quantity is lirct

trcatcd as a uniplcit entit). it is thcn ntulliplc)ed. thc rcsultant cntitics arc

cun.

ccivcd ac spatially yustapnscd. and their bnundarics areIactly cffaccd. thcrcby

Lveatlng alt Uiitotiildeil vhtlhuuitt,

Although it is not elcar that unc nccds tu vicw thc couccptual rclationship as involving a scries

of cuccessive ctagec, Talmy's nbccrvatinn

s

clcarly relcvant tn the prcccnt point,

arcties of Swahili. sueh as Kenya Pidgin Swahili. vhere thcre is estreine siinplitieatiun of the

nuuo-class/agreemeat

s

>stem. mn- has beeome the only means of signalling plurality ovettl

> I'or

inaniinatc non tIIctnc 19/3 88).

22. G iven vhat hasbeen said here about the semantics of u-.it is not sutprising that in piilgln

2%. Zavawi 11979: SW; gt)) denicc the esictence of cingular~lural clacc pairingc I I-IO and 11-6 in

$wahili, $he statesh4tapparent pluralsof CI, I I nouns areawtaliy plurals of nouns n Classes

9/IO and 5 rcspcctivcly. and that CI. II has no "corrcsponding plural". Although not all

pluraiizcablc Ci. I I wnrd aaually dhavc singular cnuntcrpart in CI. 9/IO nr S. I agrcc with

Pawawi's general pnint.

4. Only nuuas listcdn thc dietiunary as bclunging tu Class 6 arc ineluded in this cuunt. nut c.g.


25/28

')7

NOUN CLASS AS NUMBFR IN S%AHILI

nouns which form thcir plural with rrrri. Ii.c. thrssc whosc singular forms are in C'lusces $ or I I).

The 23.2 4 of Class fs toun~ categorired as 'crsuntahle' are ones t)tat indicate obstractions such

as ruisIiu I il c , rrrudhrurrrri itltcnlion . Many ol thesc a}e Ioanvrolds frotn Arabic.

( IrN2)

2%. Ii)r arguments in favor of numbcr as a lexical categor) in Indo-Lurcspean languagcs. sce Beard

2ts. This functirsn hrss hecn poiotcd uut hv scvcrat scluslaw, including I rsdrsr (I9S9). Cstecnhcrg

()978). Zuhin dr K(spcke (I9)t(s). Contini-Morava (I99fs). t)theguy and gtern (this volume).

Othcr funaiuo~ frtrsprssed in the litetature ioclude serving as u hasis fur oiiminal dctivatirsn

(Mufwtoe Iqg(rb). and setving to indicate thai o nnun is refcrcnttal by emp)tas(zing its

mcmiscrship in a mnrc inclusivc. basic.lcvcl catcgory (Claudi I997).

(l993). though aot in rcfcrcncc to Bantu:

27. Thc semantic relruiunship between number anJ genJer i also pointed out b> Daitun.Boileau

...on pcm aussi Ircnscr lc nombrc comme unc cat4gorie pcrmcuani d'opposer

J'cuibldc lca ootioas qui rclsvcnt Ju dhtotubrablc i) ccllcs qui rcldvant Jc I'inakn

rstnhrahle. Ainsi rwrnsideH, Ic noinhrc devient pt(aiablc a Ia isrsnaruction Jc Ia

rrlfhrenrw. I.'ne sisrte Je genre. pour tout dire .. Iinviwgrr i.mme un genre. Ie

oombre dcvieot alors I indicc du -gram" dc la notion I) laqucllc il s'applique: un

ootion iodrlnombrable colulllc errrrruge est dc grain unifotloe. unc notiiln Jhloln

brablc coouoc hurrrre d'uu giain vatiablc. qui pcut kuc aocidcntk ct pluricl (Tous

Ics hrme.r sont mortels) ou uilifui'mc et siogulier (L'hirire cst uo Inup prrur

I'humrne)." ( Ir)i)3 I23)

I...one could also throk of nunibtt as a catcgoc) that trsakcs it possrble to Jitcs


26/28

ELLEN CONTINI-MORAVA

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Documents

Noun Class as Number in Swahili - Ellen Contini-Morava