The morphology of closed word classes

Words can be classified by various criteria, such as phonological properties (e.g., monosyllabic vs. polysyllabic words), social factors (e.g., general vs. technical vocabulary), and language history (e.g., loanwords vs. natural words). All of these are classes of words, but as a technical term, word class refers to the traditional categories most of which go back to the Greek and Roman grammarians (Haspelmath, 2001: 16538).

Word classes may either be open or closed. An open class is one that commonly accepts the addition of new words, while a closed class is one to which new items are very rarely added. Open classes normally contain large numbers of words, while closed classes are much smaller. Closed-class words are limited in number and act as markers or guides to the structure of a sentence. Open and closed class words occupy certain slots in sentences and set up a frame for interpreting the interrelationships between actors, actions and objects (McGuinnes, 2005).

The term word class was introduced in the first half of the twentieth century by Structuralist Linguistics. Another roughly equivalent term, common especially in Chomskyan linguistics is ‘syntactic category’ although technically this refers not only to lexical categories such as nouns and verbs, but also to phrasal categories such as noun phrases and verbs phrases (Haspelmath, 2001: 16539).

Languages of the world differ in the word classes they have. For instance, while English and Afrikaans have prepositions, isiXhosa does not have such a word class category. Word classes may be divided into two groups:

• those that increase membership with ease, and
• those that rarely permit additions to their membership.

The adoption of new nouns, verbs and qualificatives does not appear to be limited. On the other hand, conjunctives and interjectives tend to be closed, in other words, new words are seldom added to a language in closed classes. The following isiXhosa word categories can be classified as some of the closed classes: adverb, ideophone, interjection, and conjunction.

Adverb

An adverb is a word which describes a qualificative, predicative or adverb with respect to manner, place or time (Doke, 1930: 231). Adverbs are further divided into three types according to meaning, namely:

• Adverbs of place or locatives as in
  • phandle ‘outside’
  • eludongeni ‘on the whole’
  • esalini ‘on the saddle’
• Adverbs of manner as in
  • kakhulu ‘greatly’
  • ngoxolo ‘peacefully’
• Adverbs of time as in
  • kusasa ‘in the morning’
  • ekuseni ‘at dawn’
  • ebusuku ‘at night’

Locative adverbs

Locatives are adverbs formed by the inflection of substantives according to definite rules, which are set and generally denote the place at, on, in, into, to, from or out of which the action takes place (Doke, 1930: 232). Locatives occasionally also denote time. The specific meaning of the locative is determined by the verb with which it is used, or the context in which it is found, as in the following:

• Uya emlanjeni. ‘He/she goes to the river.’
• Bavela emlanjeni. ‘They come from the river.’
• Siza kuqubha emlanjeni. ‘We shall swim in the river.’

Locative adverbs formed from nouns

These are generally formed by the use of the locative prefix e- and the locative suffix -ni- before the suffix -ini is added, the final vowel of the noun undergoes a change:

• indlu > endlwini ‘in the house’
• iliso > elisweni ‘in the eye’
• isiko > esikweni ‘in the custom’

If the noun ends in <-i> or <-e> there is no change:

• inkabi > enkabini ‘at the bull’
• ilali > elalini ‘in the village’
• ilizwe > elizweni ‘in the country’
• isebe > esebeni ‘in the branch’

If the noun ends in -a it changes to -e:

• indlela > endleleni ‘on the road’
• inja > enjeni ‘on the dog’
• ilanga > elangeni ‘on the sun’

There are nouns that only take the locative prefix e-:

• Iziko > eziko ‘in the heath’
• Intloko > entloko ‘on the head’
• umnyango > emnyango ‘at the door’

Proper names of places do not take locative suffix -ni unless they bear the meaning of a common object:

• iKapa > eKapa ‘in Cape Town’
• iBhayi > eBhayi ‘in Port Elizabeth’

Common object:

• idike ‘lake’ > eDikeni ‘in Alice’
• irhawuti ‘gold’ > eRhawutini ‘in Johannesburg’
• ixesi ‘river name’ > eXesi ‘Middledrift’

Adverbs of manner

Adverbs of manner are formed from adjectives and relative stems by the use of adverbial formatives such as: ka, ku, nga:

• -hle > Bathetha kakuhle. ‘They speak well.’
• -bi > Bamphathe kakubi. ‘They treated him badly.’
• -khulu > Uthetha kakhulu. ‘He speaks a lot.’
• -ncinci > Ucula kancinci. ‘He sings softly.’
• -ngaphi > Utya kangaphi? ‘How many times do you eat?’
• -ninzi > Nditya kaninzi. ‘I eat many times.’

Miscellaneous adverbs

Other adverbs are classified according to their manner of function and meaning.

• Conjunctive Adverbials
  • Ndihamba nenja. ‘I am accompanying a dog.’
  • Ndisebenza nabantu. ‘I work with people.’
• Agentive Adverbs
  • Wogqithwa ngumntwana. ‘He/she is outclassed by a child.’
  • Uncedwa ngamadoda. ‘He/she is assisted by men.’
• Comparative Adverbs
  • Mkhulu kunaye. ‘He/she is larger than him/her.’
  • Ungangomhlaba. ‘He is as huge as the earth.’
  • Unesithomo njengoyise. ‘He/she is as tall as his/her father.’

According to Bodomo (2006: 204), Doke (1935) is often credited with the term ideophone which is defined as: “A vivid representation of an idea in sound …a word often onomatopoeic, which describes a predicate, qualificative or adverb in respect to manner, colour, sound, smell, action, state or intensity” (Doke, 1935: 110). Trask (1993: 131 -132) defines an ideophone as “[O]ne of a grammatically distinct class of words, occurring in certain languages, which typically express either distinctive sounds or visually distinctive types of action.”

In a nutshell, one may categorise the functions of the ideophone into two, it dramatizes action or state, and secondly, it heightens effect. It uses language, which is vivid, expressive and emotive (Msimang et al., 2001: 241). The ideophone is a part of speech not found as such in most European languages but a distinctive feature of Bantu languages, as also of certain Sudanic family (Doke, 1930: 255). Because there is no real parallel in English to the ideophones, there is difficulty in exact translations.

The morphology of the ideophone often displays more iconicity and sound-symbolism than other words in the language. In many Bantu languages, they tend to be longer words to describe repetition or the intensity of an action or event they lexicalise (Bodomo, 2006: 204). A salient feature that distinguishes ideophones from many other words is that there is hardly any affixation in the morphology of this group of words.

Morphological considerations

Whereas the isiXhosa word is characterised by several formatives such as the prefix, root, stem and suffix, the ideophone comprises only the root which simultaneously functions as the stem and a fully-fledged word. The use of only the root as a fully-fledged ideophone vivifies the image that is conveyed by this word category (Msimang et al., 2001: 241).

It will be recalled that affixes are mainly grammatical elements whereas the root is a cognitive element of the word as per the following:

• Utye inyama wayigqiba tu. ‘He/she ate the meat and finished it completely.’
• Isela lathi gxulukudu endlwini. ‘The thief suddenly budged in the house.’
• Ndiphile qethe. ‘I have fully recovered.’

From the above examples one may deduce that ideophones are constituted by primary stems and do not show any derivation from any other form or word category.

Modifying predicates, predominantly formed with the verb ukuthi (used in its shade of meaning denoting executing a process or an action), so that the predicate indicates actuality, tense, mood and aspect, the ideophone, and not the predicate, is semantically the dominant feature of the phrase, as per the following examples:

• Tu, as in Yithi tu! ‘Keep quiet!’
• Ngqo, as in Hamba ngqo! ‘Go straight!’
• Wambu as in Wayithi wambu ingubo! ‘He/she had wrapped up a blanket!’

The ideophone may be used with the verb -thi ‘say’ but it does not describe -thi, it may be used as a compliment of the verb -thi. When it is used with -thi it may undergo other inflections of the verb and may be conjugated in the different moods. When the ideophone appears without the verb -thi it becomes more emphatic as follows:

• Cwaka! Endlwini. ‘Quietness in the house!’
• Goxe! emva kocango. ‘Stuck behind the door.’
• Hi! Ubumuncu. ‘Very sour.’

Classification according to meaning

To some extent ideophones can be classified according to meaning i.e., according to the actions or state which they represent, classification according to colour, sound, taste, smell and position:

• Colour
  • Mhlophe qhwa, we! Snow white
  • Mnyama thsu!, tsiki!, khaca! Pitch black
  • Ibomvu krwe! Blood red
  • Luhlaza yaka! Grass green
• Sound
  • Khelekenkce! ‘Bell ringing sound’
  • Golokoqo! ‘Sound of a falling object’
  • Swahla! ‘Falling tree sound’
  • Dyumpu! ‘Something falling into the water’
• Smell
  • Phu! ‘Repugnant smell’
  • Khaphu! ‘Bad smell’
  • Rhole! ‘Little smell’
• Position
  • Zava! ‘Comfortable position’
  • Ngcu! ‘Sitting on top’
  • Ncwaba! ‘Sitting quietly’
• Motion
  • Gwiqi! ‘Abrupt turn’
  • Bhije! ‘Fast disappearance’
  • Latya! ‘A leap’
  • Tshe! ‘Quick appearance’

According to Doke (1930: 279) an interjection is an emotional word, often ejaculatory, which conveys a complete concept without the implication of any subject. The interjection is used to express emotion, command, call somebody’s attention and is capable of producing sound reaction in the listener. Interjections may be primitive or derived.

Like the ideophone, interjections are emotionally involved and are characterised by extra normal phonetic phenomena including unusual sounds. It is possible for a single speech sound to express a complete concept as in the following:

• Quiteness: Sh!
• Anger: Nx!
• Pain: Yhoo!
• Pain: Shu!

Primitive interjections

Primitive interjections may express wonder, fear, negation, amazement, pain etc. as in the following:

• Happiness: Halala! Huntshu! Awu!
• Disappointment: Yeha! Owu! Maye!
• Doubt: Hi! Awu!
• An end: Ncincilili! Ngxii!

Derived interjections

Nouns, pronouns, and adverbs function as vocative interjections.

Formation from nouns:

• Noun (Reference form)
  • Inkosi ‘chief’
  • Amanene ‘Gentlemen’
  • Nomhlophe ‘Proper name’
• Interjection (vocative form)
  • Nkosi! ‘O, Chief!’
  • Manene! ‘O, Gentlemen!’
  • Nomhlophe! ‘O, Nomhlophe!’

Nouns used as interjections:

• Inene ‘Truth’
• Inene! ‘Really!’
• Inyaniso ‘Reality’
• Nyhani! ‘Really!’

Adverbs used as interjections:

• Kuhle! ‘It’s fine!’
• Kwakhona! ‘Again!’
• Nakanye! ‘Never!’

A conjunction is a word that is used to introduce or join sentences. There are few primitive conjunctions in isiXhosa. Most of the words used in this capacity are either verbal forms, or are derived from other parts of speech, for example pronouns (McLaren, 1936). There are two types of conjunctions, namely, co-ordinative and subordinative conjunctions (McLaren, 1936:148). The former has no effect upon syntax, as they simply join sentences of the same rank. The latter are, as a rule, followed by some dependent form of the verb. Co-ordinative conjunctions are non-influencing and help to form compound sentences. Subordinative conjunctions help to form complex sentences and may influence the mood of the verb in the subordinate clause.

According to Oosthuysen (2016: 365), “In isiXhosa conjunctions are not a separate part of speech. Various parts of speech are used as conjunctions, for instance with various pronouns used initially with an adverbial function but also functioning as conjunctions, such as kodwa ‘but’ and koko ‘but’, the infinitive of various deficient auxiliary verbs, such as ukuba (to be, i.e., ‘that’) and ukuze (to come, i.e., ‘so that’) and certain nouns, such as xa (time, i.e., ‘when’).”

Co-ordinative conjuctions

The following are some of these conjunctions:

• Ke ‘and, but, so, then’ as in:
  • Waphendula ke wathi ‘And he replied and said.’
  • Batya ke bahlutha ‘So they ate and were satisfied.’
• Kodwa ‘but, only’ as in:
  • Asazi ukuba siya kuphumelela na, kodwa siza kuzama ‘We do not know if we shall succeed, but we will try.’
• Kanti ‘and yet, whereas, while, notwithstanding that’ as in
  • Le nto niya yikhanyela, kanti niyayazi ukuba iyinyaniso. ‘You deny this and yet you know that it is true.’
• Kungenjalo ‘otherwise’ as in:
  • Fundani, kungenjalo aniyi kuphumelela ‘Study, otherwise you will not succeed.’

Subordinative conjunctions

Subordinative conjunctions are divided according to their government into declarative, conditional, relative, causal, and final conjunctions (McLaren, 1936: 149).

• Declarative conjunctions

  Declarative conjunctions join a dependent assertion to a principal clause. They are followed by the Indicative Mood. The sequence of tenses is not the same in isiXhosa as in English. In English a present tense follows a present and a past tense a past, but in isiXhosa a present tense follows a past. The conjunction ukuba is often understood (McLaren, 1936: 149).

  • Ukuba ‘that’: Undixelele ukuba nifikile ‘He told me that you had arrived.’
  • Ukuthi ‘that’: Ucinga na ukuthi uya kundikhohlisa. ‘Do you think that you are going to deceive me?’
• Conditional conjunctions

  Conditional conjunctions introduce clauses expressive of what is conditional or hypothetical. In real hypothesis the auxiliary ukuthi is generally employed before the principal verb (McLaren, 1936: 150).

  • Ukuba ‘if’: Ndingeza ukuba uyandifuna. ‘I shall come if you want me.’
  • Ukuba ‘if’: Ukuba uthe weza, uya kuzibonela. ‘If you come, you will see for yourself.’
  • Nokuba ‘even’: Ndiza kuhlala nokuba anikholwa ndim. ‘I will stay even if you do not like me.’
• Relative conjunctions

  Relative conjunctions introduce ideas of time, place, and manner (McLaren, 1936: 150). They partake of the nature of adverbs, and might be called conjunctive adverbs. They are followed by the verb in the same form that it assumes with relative pronouns.

  • Xa, xenikweni ‘when, as’: Xa afikileyo or Xa athe wafika ‘When he arrives’
  • Mhla, mhlana, mhlenikweni ‘when, the day, as’: Mhlana uthe wadla kuwo wofa. ‘The day that you eat of it, you shall die.’
  • Oko, okuya ‘when, of past time’: Oko bendingumntwana. ‘When I was a child.’
  • Kuseloko ‘from the time’: Kuseloko wemkayo ‘From the time he left home.’
• Causal conjunctions

  Causal conjunctions introduce a clause expressing idea of cause and motive, and sometimes of concession (McLaren, 1936: 151). They are all forms or compounds of the verb ukuba (to be).

  • Kuba ‘Because’: Bandiphe le nto kuba bendithanda ‘They gave me this because they love me.’
  • Ngokuba ‘Because’: Bacela ukutya kuba belambile. ‘They asked for food because they were hungry.’
  • Nakuba ‘Although’: Nakuba engunyana wakhe. ‘Although he was his son.’
• Final conjunctions

  Final conjunctions introduce clause expressing ideas of purpose, and are followed by the subjunctive mood. They are mostly forms or compounds of the verbs ukuba, ukuda and ukuza.

  • Ukuba ‘that’: Into ebangela ukuba ndihlale ‘The thing that causes me to stay (lit. that I stay)’
  • Ukuze ‘that, in order that’: Sisebenza ukuze sitye ‘We work that we may eat.’
  • Ukuze ‘that, in order that’: Funda ukuze uzuze ubulumko ‘Learn that you may acquire wisdom.’
  • Hleze ‘that not, lest’: Babaleka hleze babethwe ‘They ran away lest they should be beaten.’
  • Le nto ‘that’: Kutheni le nto ungezi? ‘Why is it that you do not come?’

Bodomo, A. (2006) ‘The structure of ideophones in African and Asian languages: The case of Dagaare and Cantonese’. In Mugane, J. M., Hutchison, J. P. & Worman, D. A. (eds.). Selected proceedings of the 35th Annual Conference on African Linguistics: African languages and linguistics in broad perspectives. Harvard: Harvard University Press. pp. 203-213.

Doke, C. M. (1930) Textbook of Zulu grammar. Cape Town: Longman

Doke, C. M. (1935) ‘Early Bantu Literature the Age of Brusciotto’. Bantu Studies. 9(1): 87-114.

Haspelmath, M. (2001) Word classes and Parts of Speech. Instructional Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences. Amsterdam: Elsevier Science.

McLaren, J. (1936) A Xhosa grammar. Cape Town: Longmans.

Msimang, C. T. & Poulos, G. (2001) ‘The Ideophone in Zulu. A re-examination of conceptual and descriptive notions.’ In Voeltz F. K. E. & Kilian-Hatz, C. (eds.). Ideophones. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. pp. 223-234.

Oosthuysen, J. C. (2016) The Grammar of isiXhosa. Stellenbosch: SUN Media.

Trask, R. L. (1993) A Dictionary of Grammatical Terms in Linguistics. London: Routledge.