Noun Class as Number in Smahili

Elkrt Contini-Morava
Oiiiversiry af Virginia

1.

In t r adtlctIon

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
assigned tn 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 gramntatical" 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

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 Iloilllwlass/lllllllheF 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 pretixes ttre rradition;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

Ptc f ix

I <-

Bantu tt

Pt e ttx
Ivu-

<v<<t<<
t<<"<:hit Jtcn"

I:xamplc: n<tnt "hil J"

<i
<uiti tr cc

Examplc:

I I< trc

ki
kikj<u"basket"

Exampt:
5
L'xample

vl

vikpu "baskets"
<I<a<vc "stones

ji- for zero)

jivvr "stnne"

I l14
uLxamplcs. utiko"roof ri Jgc"

<t<ku"n<t<f riJgcs"
kut "4 alls- l(attcs clam lo

ukut "i< all"

agrccmcnt pattcrnl
n- - ato

to

I<

Z CI O

Example: I<di;i "bananalbattattas"

As ma> b scen from this labl, clasc l, 3, and 7 areah associatcd with
a uniquc plural prcfix (numhcrcd 2. 4. and S rcspcctivcly), Howcvcr, thc "plural"

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. However, 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").
Before looking more closely at the singular-plural patterns illustrated in
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
homonymous n -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,
To return to singular-plural patterns, then. just looking at the re)ationships
represented in Table I reveals a formal asymmetrv between singular and plural
that is not explaincdby the traditional binary treatment, Note that the complexity 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 singularplural 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'.

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" withrrrrr-, 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-accurs with 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"
r "saliva or other viscid tluid"
ivuii "cnnkcd ricc"
ki "hnncy"
lirrrbo "birdlime, gum. glue"
gugu "tartar an teeth"

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

NOUN CLASS AS NUMBFR IN MVAHILI

thosein Class 6 (with prefix tna* ), which tend to be more disperscd. as may he
seen bv cotnparing the examples under (2) v!ith 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 'Cl%, 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 prefix also co-occur with th plural prfix,
and vice versa. Thesere classes 1-2, 4-4, and 7-8. One class (SI is nonrcciprocally 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,
Yet another complication in the singular-plural pairings represented by
T;!bl I is the fact that thc prefix 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:

A/istaaja/ttt k!a nini /u:ittta!atu!! bebe trittt: tnikha ya ttgazi.
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
a ers (karatasi is usually invariable in form for
singular and plurall; empt> baskets, f)apping like fiags...
l<. Lr i< 'ili<yzrii<<. i<i<rk<'yi<i<<i
i
<<~<
<ks
a tttusuttsttri-trrpasi, trrpast /tapa m%prr, st!!'a nr/rta tenu!a/a

IMohamed 1990: 67I

Look hnw I arn today, Zaina. a tiny lish in a sca of sharksand
barracudas(prtpa "shark" and sonsttri "barracuda" urc usually
!o!r apita-njia.

I.
:LLEN CONTINI-MORAVA

invariahje in formj I'm just a street-sweeper, not for lnarriage Ol' eVen fol' passefs-by.

hl (4aj, the word kurata~i "paper", usually invariable in form, appears with the
nw- prelix; the sarne is 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.
A iinal complicalion in lhe singular-plural pairings of Swahili: nouns lhal
havealternative singular-plural forms. One group of such nouns has the prefix
u- {Class II) in the singular. Recall that Swahili reference grammars divide
Class II 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 coumerparts 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 diAerence in message:
nyoya(9/I0) "feathers/hairs" (a plurality)
unyaya "felher. hair"
rnanyaya (6} "feathers/hir" ( cnliectivily)
nvnra" (9/10) "bows
ara "bow"
mata {6) "bownd arrows" {a sct)

shctnga {9/I 0) "beads"

ashanga -bead"
nnishanga {6) "striug af beads"
nvas/(9/I0) -h lades nf grass"

nnyasi "blade of grass"

ntanyas/ (6} "grass" {collecuve)

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

CI. 9/IO plurals sirnply indicate rcplication.'
Other noun stems have an even more complcx relationship with "singular"
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 noun nivingu:

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 is srkckkctimes used ccs sing

[etnphasis mine, EcMI.

ln thi caswc sccm to hav two singuiars (onc CI. 9/IO, one CI. I I) s'corrcsponding" 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. as chown by the follo~ing examples:
Shairi ln "/jbfnotbcb/oe-oyn Afrtt /lfctsikitri" /itejn:,nnn tntttntltn/i
eye kttuttyesltu uttdcttti nu d/tiki zu ttcnt tustkttti kctcu vi(e
pun"yua >rhiruy'i "si,n"rhu >ra uhehern". e >u">bi ya r~>tsin e
rvettye ttbnltili". (Senkoro I988:4I I

{6)

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 i serly cloud
(uvvmgtt,CI. I I).
i bhsuhr>fu yusstai knu>bu ziku~>nlii<r u subua illlltlrl Iritltl
s

b,

wengutti atttba"o "itepcrttga kbn sci

fu kttfitatu utctratibu ta

s.

/tyonliyrzitmrbn. (Lemki l976: 8)

[The Korans say] that there are sevenheavens [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.
Csrkiniaauii aprr
kae>a>~
bin uhiyr>rriya rururr kairapaksr
atai ya rattt tokajutt. bao /tttbnttct tttidoto tta kttktujta ttyuso

zao. ILemki t976: Itl

But if you ask them whether thic thirdheaven 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.
Utittgttjftttbittgtt is not an isoiated case. %e can also find stems with two

"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.'
{ 7)

a,

Kinjekeri/e: Ilatettitlc)ttgattya,
(fjtttaptgu ukelele ttttaf tku tttbittgutti tta kttctttguku c./titti. Gim . /

IHusscin l969: 2OI

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,

C.

"Winctrrli cr. Irrrrr ni mji tcr nani."" criirrti~a rena kcrnrct ku'anrba
alikuu a Irakrrfciircrnru Baba ahsikia 4 II Irii. Ah'rc>karjre. [Kc>.ilahabi l974. I04l
'(Vhen he got near the door of the cily he asked loudly Ilit,.
"with noise", kelel without 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 l 974: S7I
I heard the sound of drurns and thenoise Ikc'lc'lc'. CI. 9/10 with
plural agfcemcn() or feo le.
hfbia Irurra nranufuu. Hunrbvekea rrneiui na rnvcr
nrir)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
fuirrli;o kta scrhcrhrr 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 Inrnkclele, CI, bi lrom far away. The result
is that you cannot even sleep properly.
In exarnples (a) and (b) "noise" is relatively individuated: in (a) rrkelele refers 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'.

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<valuatinn nf the rclalinnship htwccn numhr and
noun class as grammatical catcgnrics in Santu.' I will suggcst such a rcstatcment below, but before doing that, it may be helpl'ul to give the reader a general
idea of the sernantic structure of the noun class systemas a whole.

Setnuntie strueture oF the Swuhili noun clusses

The Swahili noun class systeni is complex. and space does not allow a full
treatment(se Contini-Morava 1994, 1997 for detailed dicuion), but here is a
basic outline.
First. a cavcat. If hy 'noun class' is meant 'th set of nominal stms that
cndiccuf wll11 a givII nnininal prcflx , oll must hgin by pointing out that no

such set can he exactly specified for an> 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
2 (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

FLLEN CONTW)-MORAVA

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

foreign loanwords. It 1acks a distinctive prelix and is 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 plural tu- tO. 6)). and 7 (ki-. wiih plural vi- [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 inanimate nhjects 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
such as 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 conformity 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 productively to form augrnentatives from noun stemsnf 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 plural vi- 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<i "pipc", kikotbe "cup"): small animals (c.g, c.h-ra "l'rog", ki-dku "duikcr" Ia dog-sizc

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; kipru>de "piece", ki-bart-i "splinter. chip". ki-uofu "scrap of meat", By association
of not-wholcncss with dcfcct or Iack: kr'-prif i~"hlind person", ki-tenru "cripplc",
ki-bahrrhrli -foolish pcrson". namcs of variousailment~. Partitivcncss may he
mctaphoricaily c!ttendcd to rcsctnblancc, vicwed as partial overlap in nature: kisukrrri "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).'
For rcadcrs intcrcslcd in a hil morc dctail than was givcn ahovc. herc is a
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 relalionships 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).
(8)

a.

A s emantic netwnrk for Class S (ji - AI, from Contini-Morava

1994:
In Jivi Jual I'nnn pairibunvh/cultcc1ivc

Lurnpcllurnpy cuhstances

Plant offcpring
Leaves

I ruits

Pnnrucions

Curvcd 3.dintcnsionat
objccls

Curvcd Aal

S% ellintts

Cun.cd outlincs

objccts

3-dimcnsional containcrs
Tlungs with bsnad parts

Largc thing

I tnllow spaccs
Rcvcrah'fcarcd things

F.LLEN t. ONTlt41-htORAVA

h.

E rtamples of nouns in Class S subcategories

(Note: Words preceded by asterisks are loanwords.)

lumps/lumpy subslunces

kntrrngo

wa tcr-channcl

kun>hrce

krto

luffow, tfertch

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

protrusions

l'rults

nr>rrla
f ruit
most speciflc fruit names
curlied bNlltllettslott4ll objects
Jtrce

stone

kaa

lump of charcoal

Iako

hu(tock

1'Qt

egg

s/>arr>r

Inl

1>vef
testicle
belly, womb
closed fist
breast

Role

cheek biceps. calf

)aw
plait of hair
eaves of house
hough, branch
coconut palm branch

jicho

s/rr'INI

foot/stem ol tfee

stkto

Calf

Iengo

eanoe outrigger
cliA; jutting rock
stage. scall'old

tta

flower
cloud

tava
slirttigi
Iantto
Ialr I

~jahali
~J>tklr'r>a

kenr/p
fttt>rhr'1

kundp
irca

4'ingir

Ml tttenslottul contulners
Swellin~

koo

Jtltrr

hnil, absccss

knka
kuirrtrr

whitlow

SW e lling in thrOat

/et>geletrge blister, pustule

tezt
tumor. goitcr

Hollow spuees
per>go
sl>imo
kr>trngr)
klcaprt

gap, notch, hole

pit, hole, cavity
hole fof seeds

thfoat

rrrmhi

larg e jar
ktrprr
metal can
pakae/ra fi s h/fruit basket
'jamat>rla round covered basket
~sr>trrhrkrr bo x. chest. trunk
to=a
pip h owI
kaka
empty shcll
krttrrtt>u

empt y g rain husk

l rtn>bi

fibro us plant sheath

NOUN CLASS AS NUMBER IN SWAHILI

Leaves

Curved nutlines
leaf, grass hlade
tree frond
coconut leaf
palm leaf

janl

kaa
kttti

ftr+r

Cttrved Iat ohjeets

Ztu'tl

ktta
jrtrttjtt

para
kupe
ttrnga
jttsr

Iake. pond. marsh

thc palatc
tempies fof head)
hald patch on head
eyelid/eyelashes
sail of vesscl
round ear ornament

Large things
A stem from any class can
be placed in CI. S. with
rcsulting meaning
'augmelltalive . e.g,
nt-ttt "p erson' (I ) ~ ji -t t t "g i ant"

taa
kuta
ptrrnfn~u
tintbi
ptrt hi
tittda

arc, bend in river

crook, bend
margin. outskirts
hracclet
bangle
string of beads
worn around neck

Things with brttad parls

jetnbe

kafi
kttsw

ktrfegtt

panga
parattga
sjtrrka
ie-u

hoe
paddle. small oar
oar
spade. shnvcl
machete

broad-blade knife
axe
adze

ReveretLtfeared things

jtrtt

kind of evil spirit

goblin. obre
demon, devil
djinn tMuslitn spirit>

Indisidual frnm pair/hunehl

eulleethe

jttjn

Gog (comes on

~kushi
sli p pcr
~ltt'rrCh
grai n of maize
kanthttnttrvtr roof rafter pole
kara
splinter, spark. piece

kajrtrri

gnive. tomh

ztttrtt

tomb, pilgrirnage

(5)
Fully productive.

pat. A a

4.

kniktn
Z.tttt'N't

's jrerani

jutlgmen( DayI

tw in

R canaiysis af the nuinher system

In the Iast section we looked at thc principles of setnantic classihcation underlying the various noun classes. However, the noun class prefixes are usually

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 outlinedin Section ~, we cauld divide the Swahili noun class prelixes into twa groups as fo))ows:
(9)

Re l ationships among the noun class pretixes:

a. p aired 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 relation 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'tvrtl(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

b.

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 vialwavs convey ihe idea nf "inore than one".
n o n-paired prelixes, i.e. ones ihai may interpreted as conveying
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 prclixcs n>rt- (Class 6) and u- (Class 11).'

Afu- (Class 6) is interprcted as "plural" when it alternates wiihji- (ClassS) and

sametimes when it alierniiies with u- (Cluss I l }, 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 nancnumcrable 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

17

NOUN 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 uranges 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 agreement pattern.

T;tking intn consideration the data summarired above. nne couM rcvisc the
rendition of Swahili singular-plural pairings as follo~s:
{ IO) Tahlc 2. Swahili singular-plural pattcrns {rcvised)

Ai-

e e-

vi-

6
rua(and pL rnnttmi)

II

tt-

(and sirtg.. ran{utn)

9/10

n o pre fix

In this tablc, the doublc-sided arrows indicatc 'reciprocal' classes,i.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 reciprocity: 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

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. Thusir- and rrrn- 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, and rrrrr- ncvcr designates a 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 in Cl. 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 is 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 s t 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 p lexity', ("a quantity's state nf

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.-"
Thc concept of 'individuatinn' has hecn used hy nthcrc in rcfcrcncc tn
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 singularplural 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 lexical nr 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 information signalled specilically by the noun class prefixes of Swahili (lrrrrgrre,in the
sense of ii'ifnrmatlnn sncialed with particulai' Iinguitic signal tllat remaiils

cnnstant across speakers and discourse cnntexts).

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

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.Zi' 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)
cnncrctc
individual

C ontinuum
of individuation. shnwing rangcof Swahili noun classes:
abstraainn li quid nr
c()ntinuous
niass

(nass n f

col lcctiviiy r eplica(cd

individuals
honi()IIcncous
pastielcs
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"

rrllgo

-Assur"

nra- (6)

raislra

'4ife"

rofrrra
"nil"

Hio,sr r
"rrlrrll

iasakosako rrro r

"tree sletrris" "snrnes"

[t I s)/In nrwns. snriside the sys(em nf indivi<tna}irrn. ersnfa11anywhese srnihis wale depending
nn disc()u(sc contcxt or cxistcncc of contrasting (orn)s in o(hcr classcs.1

As shown hy the diagram, the noun class prehxes described earlier as paired'
indicate thc highest level of individuation, and the vast majority of noun stems
in thse classs dsignalconcrctobjects, people. elc., as summarizJ in
Section 4 above. These kinds of entities, being highly individuated. can also be
counted. so the distinction between ONE and MORE THAV ONE is localcd at
lhes two ends ot the diagratn. associatJ with the singular and plural noun class
prefixes respectively. The other noun class prefixes, on the other hand. do not
indicatc numbcr infnrinatinn cxplicitly.
U-. thc prctix of Class ll, signalsa middle Icvel of individuation. Voun
slcms associatcd with this prctix may dcsignatc cntitics that arc relativcly
in Jividu'ited, such as u-rr>~ 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

NOUN CLASS AS NUMBER IN SWAHILI

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

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 suggLa low degree of individuationconveys the message "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 asociated with 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.
The two alternatives chosen to express plurality for countable nouns in
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 - classis a merger of two classes ihat were historically distinci. /-

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 beither 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 "corresponding 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 neitherCl. 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
The allocation of nominal stems to classes in Swahili rc(Iccts the scale, of
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,
(13)

T a ble 3. Percentage of nouns in each class denoting entities that are

nnt easily countable (collectives. Iiquids, masses).
Countable

Class I {rrr,-)
Ciass 3 (mi-)
Class 7 (ki-)
Ctass 5 (Jr-/8)
Class 9/10 (no pfx.)
Class II Irr-)
Class 6 {rrrrt-j

100% ( 3 3 5)
97% (8 29)
96.C% (633)
96.2% (686)
59.4% (1261)
3 7%
(97 )
23.2% ( 33 j

N ot countable
0
3%

(26 )

(23}
3,8% {27)
I0.6% (149)
63% ( 1 69)
76.8% (109)

Tot a l
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 classsystem were 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
ihat this is not the case.

WOUN CLASS AS NUMBF.R IN S%AHILI

9.

2.%

C e 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 signalledby th same morphoiogy.~
The interpcnetration beteen numbernJ gender i not so surpriing, given
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 corcfcrencc. 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 cngnitivcsemantic perspective th'it takes into account relations of rnelaphor and rnetonymy
as well as strirt taxonomic inclusion.
As a mnemonic devicc for subdividing nouns imo sets, noun class markers
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

FLI EN CONTIN1 h'lORAVA

plant/inanitnate and so on.and related lo this, physical properties like shapeand

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 Icd mc 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 that gender 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
complexities involved in the anal} sis ol' the dual in Ilebrew and
in Slavic, sec Tvhin anJ jaoda tthis voluinck

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

and a particular pattern vf "grantntatical agrccmcnt" vn clcntcnts like dcmvnstralives. pvssessive. etc Prelixes that are homonymou. like thne nf Classes I and Xtni-I and u and It) (n6 in thc traditional analysis) dillcr in agrccmcnt paucm. hencc arc trcatcd as dincrcnt
Claes.

4. Class "I IrI4" in Swahili i amerger vf 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 a genJer, treating the prelixesas markcrs ot' number. and axvciating each genJer 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 aeparate gender hoc plural prclix i h un>mou ith thai
of Class l0. Shc dvcs nvt discuss any of thc other asyminctrics pviutcd vut hcrc. 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 a labasi'. cvnsists of nouns listed in the Stondurd 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).

WOUN CLASS AS NUMBF.R IN S%AHILI

2S

8. T he 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.

I n this rcspcie Mu(wcncs {)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,

IO. O hly {1977.28). using duta fiom a dilYercnt dictianur). reports tha( 6$.7 % af nouns in the
-clu are ubstruct. He dnes nnt distinguishbetween prnductively derived und -inherent" nnuns
m thl clu, howcvcr.
II

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

cvmmon phenvmenvn inBuntu.cf,Tvpvrvvu {l987),

l2.

T h e 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.
I3, yurn is an iiregular form, If one assumes that the stern is -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 wnuld he preccded by y-.

l4. Them du(avggcN thu( ru(hcr (hun trcuting the C.'Iuss 9/IA and fi forms us -plural- of miun in
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')94:3I): i( is mudc morc
gencrully I'vr Bzntu by Mcinhvf {l948 !1967I: 47). unil by Lailirna {1969. 103).

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

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

l7.

C lass 7 shows many cls(racteristics that have been associated ith diminutives avos-liaguistically; see /uiafsk) { 1995).

Itl.

0' n tethut the distinctinn rnade here between 'poired' und 'nnn-puired' prefixes is nnt the carne
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 that huvc scpurutc singulur.md pluralfnrms ue instunccs ofu lwn.clacgcndcr',and thc
'one-cluss gendere' con~st only of nouns(hu( 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<m) rnv. Thus thc a
priori categories 'eingular' und 'plurul' tuke prinrity over the fnrmal dietinctinns ucnLlly made

in thc lunguugcs at hund. und ntunbcr as a cutcgvry is nvt prvblcmutiucd.

19. picfixles nouns. i.e. thvse in Cl. 9/IO. da not puteicipatc dircctl) in (his system. Infcrcnccs of
number forvch aouns dcpcnd on contcxt, us pointed vu( curhcr, Thus CI. 9/IO is 'rctdual' bv(h in
rcluiiou to (hc novu clu s)tcm tscc Scchan 3 ubovr) und in rcluuvn to (hc nvmbcr systcm.
2A, Thc present unulyi rcprcscnts u kind al plurulityplit'. u (crin coined hy Smi(h-8(urk (I974)

to refer to a situation in 'hich only soine of the noun~ in a Ianguuge dis(inguish plural frorn

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

-kin

c ktn

-rut tnnal

+ratinnnl
+human

-hunlan
+animatc

-alllBLIIC

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 semanticrelarionchip 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 are Iactly 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 is clcarly relcvant tn the prcccnt point,

22. G iven vhat hasbeen said here about the semantics of u-. it is not sutprising that in piilgln
arcties of Swahili. sueh as Kenya Pidgin Swahili. vhere thcre is estreine siinplitieatiun of the

nuuo-class/agreemeats>stem. mn- has beeome the only means of signalling plurality ovettl > I'or
inaniinatc non tIIctnc 19/3 88).
2%. Zavawi 11979: SW; gt)) denicc the esictence of cingular~lural clacc pairingc I I-IO and 11-6 in

$wahili, $he statesth4t apparent plurals of CI, I I nouns areawtaliy plurals of nounsin 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. On ly nuuas listcdin thc dietiunary as bclunging tu Class 6 arc ineluded in this cuunt. nut c.g.

NOUN CLASS AS NUMBFR IN S%AHILI

')7

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 fsrtoun~ categorired as 'crsuntahle' are ones t)tat indicate obstractions such
as ruisIiu Iilc , rrrudhrurrrri"itltcnlion . Many ol thesc a}e Ioanvrolds frotn Arabic.

2%. Ii)r arguments in favor of numbcr as a lexical categor) in Indo-Lurcspean languagcs. sce Beard
( IrN2)
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).

27. Thc semantic relruiunship between number anJ genJer i also pointed out b> Daitun.Boileau
(l993). though aot in rcfcrcncc to Bantu:

...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'inaknrstnhrahle. 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 Jhlolnbrablc 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<)
conuast nouons pertaining to thc denumerable to those pertaining to the indenumetable. Thu considered. uuusber heiaimcs u prerequisite frsr the construcuoo uf

ret'
erence. A kind of gender. so to speak... Regarded as a gender, nurnber then
becomcs an indes of the "gtain" of the notion to sshich it applies: an indeounietable ootion such as euurugr has a uniform gtain; a denuoietable notion such
as rrrri has a varrabtc grain. whrch can bc non-homogcncous and plural (All rerr
are nuirial) ur ursifrrtm aud singular thforr is a rrlf frst ruau). Traoslation rnine.

ECM, I

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