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Shona Nominal Classes

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11 views

Shona Nominal Classes

Uploaded by

tinashe.faro
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Resources for Self-Instructional Learners of Less

Commonly Taught Languages


wisc.pb.unizin.org/lctlresources/chapter/shona-nominal-classes/

University of Wisconsin-Madison Students in African 671

Shona

Shona Nominal Classes


Shona Noun Classes

Nouns in chiShona are categorized according to the prefix in singular and plural forms of
the noun. Nouns determine grammatical agreement in a sentence. A noun class in
chiShona is called mupanda. There are the 20 noun classes in Standard Shona and 21
with the dialects included.

Class 1 (mu-): Nouns that refer to people. The prefix as indicated is mu- or mw-.
Examples: munhu (person), and mukadzi (woman). There is a subclass, 1a which
consists of nouns with zero prefix like baba (father), chiremba (doctor), etc.

Class 2 (va-): Plural of Class 1 – nouns that begin with va- like vanhu (people) and
wakadzi (women). There are two subclasses. 2a bear the prefix va– but it is not a regular
plural prefix. It is a honorific indicating title/respect – the plural of politeness. VaTinashe
(Mr. Tinashe), vasekuru (respectful for ‘grandfather’). 2b has nouns that start with a– such
as amai (mother) and ambuya (grandmother).

Class 3 (mu-): Mainly plants, and other nouns. examples are muti (tree) and mubhanana
(banana plant).

Class 4 (mi-): Plural of Class 3 with nouns such as miti and mibhanana.

Class 5 (diverse prefixes, sometimes zero): Inanimate things such as fruits but also
animals. Borrowed nouns can be found here as well. examples are ranjisi (orange) and
ziso (eye).

Class 6 (ma-): Plural of Class 5 and starts with ma-. Examples – maranjisi and maziso.

Class 7 (chi-): Nouns of inanimate objects, diminutives, and languages. Examples:


chinhu (small person), chiShona and chimuti (small tree).

Class 8 (zvi-): Plural of Class 7 with examples such as zvinhu and zvimiti.

Class 9 (N-class): The singular of animals, borrowed nouns or abstract ideas. Usually
starts with prenasalized N or M but with other prefixes too. nyoka (snake), mbudzi (goat),
mombe (cow) and imba (house) are examples of nouns in this class.

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Class 10: Plural of Class 9. The structure does not change; grammatical agreement
denotes singular (Class 9) and plural (Class 10). Example: nyoka yakaurawa (a snake
was killed) – nyoka dzakaurawa (snakes were killed).

Class 11 (ru-) – verbal derivative of abstract meaning or long and thin object or organ
such as the tongue (rurimi). The plural of the nouns in this class are either in Class 6 like
rungano (plural – ngano) (story/stories), or ruoko (maoko) (hand/hands).

Class 12 (ka-): Diminutives such as kamuti (small tree) and kasikana (little girl).

Class 13 (tu-): Plural of class 12 nouns such as tumuti and tusikana.

Class 14 (u-): Mostly abstract nouns. Examples: Usikana (girlhood), ukuru (hugeness but
also authority and power), upenyu (life), hwana (childhood). U– changes to hw– if the root
starts with a vowel.

Class 15 (ku-): The infinitives class. Examples: kudya (to eat), kuenda (to go), kubika (to
cook), kupfeka (to dress), etc.

Classes 16, 17 and 18: The locatives classes.

Class 16 (pa-): Means on/at. Examples: Panzira (on the road), pachipatara (at the
hospital), pachikoro (at the school).

Class 17 (ku-): indicates being far and direction – to. towards, from. Examples:
kusitadhiyamu (at the station), kumuchechi (towards the church), etc.

Class 18 (mu-): indicates in or inside. Examples: mumwisha (in the homestead), mupoto
(in the pot), mutafitera (in the window), etc.

Class 19 – found only in the Karanga dialect.

Class 21 (zi-): Augmentative nouns that indicate hugeness or even pejorative meaning.
Their plural forms are in Class 6 (ma-). Examples: zidumbu (huge stomach), zimba (huge
house), zibhuku (huge book), etc.

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