IsiXhosa nouns

According to Doke (1973: 360) a noun is defined as a word which signifies the name of anything concrete or abstract. Cope (1957: 21) uses a morphological criterion to identify the noun as “an independent nominal, where the root has limited range of prefixes.” Cope’s contribution offers the possibility of establishing the following characteristics of nouns:

• Nouns are independent nominals with a ‘short-list prefix capability (singular and plural for the most part).
• Every noun belongs to a noun class, which is reflected in the noun prefix which bestows class on the noun.
• Syntactically the noun is the headword or nucleus of the noun phrase (NP) as regards the concordial agreement, which is designated to reflect the noun prefix in an alliterate fashion and determines its inflectional behaviour pattern as in the following:
  • Abantu ababini bathenga ukutya. ‘Two people buy food.’
  • Izinja ezintathu zikhonkotha unoposi. ‘Three dogs bark at the postman.’

While the noun prefix should be recognised as the single most important element in noun classification, the surface similarity of some class prefixes makes this an unreliable criterion if used on its own.

The term noun class refers to the term whereby nouns are categorised into groups or classes according to their characteristic features (Bosch et al., 2020). All nouns (words denoting concepts or objects in Bantu languages can be grouped into such class and they are therefore also called class languages.

According to Bosch et al. (2020) there are three ways in which nouns can be categorised into classes, namely:

• According to similarity in form;
• By grouping them together based on some shared meaning; or
• Through arbitrary convention.

Nouns belonging to a particular singular class normally form their plural in a corresponding plural class. Also this criterion, however, is far from being water-tight, as the singular-plural correspondence is to be seen as general tendency rather than an absolute rule:

• Class 1 umntu ‘person’
• Class 1a utata ‘father’
• Class 2 abantu ‘people’
• Class 2 ootata ‘fathers’

‘Irregular’ singular- plural correspondences:

• Class 1 u-m-Xhosa ‘a Xhosa person’
• Class 6 a-ma-Xhosa ‘Xhosa people’

The nouns with the same sequence of initial sounds (called a prefix) are grouped together and allocated to the same class.

The numbering of classes is done by convention. However, since language is essentially egocentric (placing the human being first), the first two classes (classes 1 and 2) are for nouns which denote people (Bosch et al., 2020: 20). An uneven numbered class (1, 3, 5, 7 and 9) usually denote singular, while the immediately following even numbered class (2, 4, 6, 8 and 10) denotes the corresponding plural form.

There is evidence that the classification of nouns is also semantically motivated and that there is a strong correlation between semantic classification and the grouping of nouns based on common prefixes. The nouns of classes 1 and 2, for example all denote human beings. For this reason, classes 1 and 2 are popularly called the “human classes or classes of human beings” (Bosch et al., 2020: 23). Their sub-classes 1a and 2b (some sources number this 2a), also denote human beings but specifically kinship terms and proper (nouns that are name specific). The remainder of the classes contain nouns of a more miscellaneous nature.

According to Oosthuysen (2016: 24), 13 distinct classes are in isiXhosa namely, 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11, which are singular nouns, and classes 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10, which are plural nouns, while “… as far number is concerned classes 14 and 15 are neutral but in some instances with a tendency towards being singular. In some words, denoting peace or the traces of a further 3 classes may be discerned. These classes 16, 17, and 18 are referred to as locative classes”.

According to Kosch (2006: 91), in the Bantu languages both singularity and plurality are marked overtly, by means of prefixes. Beyond class 10, the association of singular or plural with a particular class is not so patterned. Some singular nouns may form their plural in a non- corresponding plural class. Certain nouns in class 9 in isiXhosa, for example, form their plurals in class 6, instead of their regular plural 10:

• Inkosi ‘chief’ class 9 > amakhosi ‘chiefs’ class 6
• inkosikazi ‘woman’ class 9 > amakhosikazi ‘women’ class 6.

Some mass nouns and abstract nouns may be pluralised, but the plural form is bound to express a more specialised meaning, for example, amagazi ‘kinds of blood’ from igazi ‘blood’ in isiXhosa.

• Noun classes 1 (um- singular) and 2 (aba- plural)
  • um-ntu ‘person, human being’ > aba-ntu
  • um-fazi ‘woman’ > aba-fazi
  • um-ntwana ‘child’ > aba-ntwana

  This class indicates persons. Many personal nouns in this class are formed from verbs, by changing the final vowel of the verb to -i and linking prefixes of classes 1 and 2. These nouns indicate the agent of the action signified by verb as in:

  • umzali ‘parent’ > abazali ‘parents’ < zala ‘beget’
  • umfundi ‘pupil’ > abafundi ‘pupils’ < funda ‘learn’
  • umqhubi ‘driver’ > abaqhubi ‘drivers’ < qhuba ‘drive’

  Class 1 indicates national or tribal designations as in the following:

  • umXhosa ‘a Xhosa’ > amaXhosa
  • umSirayeli ‘an Israelite’ > amaSirayeli
  • umThembu ‘a Thembu person’ > abaThembu
• Noun classes 1a (u- singular) and 2a (oo- plural)
  • u-bawo ‘father’ > oo-bawo
  • u-titshala ‘teacher’ > oo-titshala
  • u-gqirha ‘doctor’ > oo-gqirha

  “These nouns are predominantly proper names, such as uThemba (Themba the name of a male person) and uThembakazi (Thembakazi the name of a female person), and nouns referring to people with reference to positions held, ukumkani ‘king’ and ugqirha ‘doctor’, as well as nouns indicating kinship, such as ubawo ‘father’, unyana ‘son’.” (Oosthuysen, 2016: 29)

• This noun class also incorporates nouns compounded with no-:
  • unomeva ‘wasp’ > oo-nomeva
  • unogumbe ‘flood’ > oo-nogumbe
  • uxam ‘leguan’ > oo-xam
• Noun class 3 (um-, u- singular) and 4 (imi-im- plural)
  • um-thi ‘tree’ > imi-thi
  • um-nwe ‘finger’ > imi-nwe
  • um-ngxuma ‘hole’ > imi-ngxuma
  • uMbhashe ‘Mbhashe River’

  These nouns predominantly refer to living or moving objects, such as plants, trees, rivers and some parts of the body as well as natural phenomena (cf. Oosthuysen 2016: 29).

• Noun class 5 (ili-i- singular) and 6 (ama-am- plural)
  • ili-tye ‘stone’ > amatye
  • ili-fu ‘cloud’ > amafu
  • i-sele ‘frog’ > ama-sele
  • i-qanda ‘egg’ > ama-qanda

  “A variety of nouns are of class 5/6, such as ihlathi ‘forest’, ihashe ‘horse’ and ilanga ‘sun’. Some denote people or objects of a distinguishable nature, such as ixhego ‘old man’, isela ‘thief’ and ihlwempu ‘pauper’.” Oosthuysen (2016: 31).

  “The names of some predominantly non-Bantu speaking ethnic groups are in class 5/6 such as iNgesi/amaNgesi (English person/s), iBhulu/amaBhulu (Afrikaans person/s). Some nouns, notably some referring to liquids, are found in class 6 with no corresponding singular noun class 5, e.g., amanzi ‘water’, amasi ‘fermented milk’, amathe ‘spittle’ and amandla ‘strength’.” Oosthuysen (2016: 31).

• Noun classes 7 (isi-, isa-is- singular) and 8 (plural)
  • isi-lumko ‘genius’ > izi-lumko
  • is-anuse ‘traditional doctor’ > iz-anuse
  • is-andla ‘hand’ > iz-andla.

  Classes 7 and 8 nouns are found indicating languages and customs, such as isiXhosa ‘isiXhosa’ and isiNgesi ‘English’ nouns referring to collections, often plants, such as isidiliya ‘vineyard’ and isihashe ‘a troop of horses’; conspicuous individuals, e.g., isidenge ‘stupid person’, and isiqhwala ‘crippled person’, as well as various other nouns, e.g., isonka ‘bread’, isikhova ‘owl’ and isithende ‘heel’ Oosthuysen (2016: 32).

  Many nouns of class 7/8 referring to conspicuous persons are derived from verbs as in the following:

  • isithulu ‘deaf mute person’ < ukuthula ‘to keep quiet’
  • isiqhwala ‘cripple person’ < ukuqhwalela ‘to walk as a cripple does’
  • isithethi ‘speaker’ < ukuthetha ‘to speak’
• Noun class 9 (in-im-i-) and 10 (izin-iin-izim-iim-ii-)
  • in-komo ‘cow’, iin-komo ‘cattle’
  • im-bongi ‘poet’, iim-bongi ‘poets’
  • i-nja ‘dog’, izi-nja ‘dogs’
  • i-ntliziyo ‘heart’, ii-ntliziyo ‘hearts’

  IsiXhosa classes 9 and 10 refer to things in general, e.g., indlela ‘road, path’, imvula ‘rain’ and izinto ‘things’, most notably animals, e.g., inja ‘dog’, ingonyama ‘lion’ and iinkomo ‘cattle’.

  Nouns referring to exceptional people or animals are found in class 9/10 derived from verbs by prefixing the prefix of this class to a verbal stem and replacing the final vowel of the verb stem with -i as in:

  • ingqondi ‘an intellectual’ from ukuqonda ‘to understand’
  • imfundi ‘an expert reader’ from ukufunda ‘reading’
  • imbaleki ‘athlete’ from ukubaleka ‘to run’.

  The singular of several nouns is of class 9 while their plural is of class 6 (cf. Oosthuysen, 2016: 37-39):

  • indoda man > amadoda
  • intombazana girl > amantombazana
  • intsimi ploughing field > amasimi.
• Noun class 11 (ulu-ulwa-ul-u-) and 10 (izin-iin-izim-iim-ii-)
  • ulutya ‘string’, zintya ‘strings’
  • udonga ‘wall’, iindonga ‘walls’
  • ubisi ‘milk’
  • uhadi ‘piano’, iihadi ‘pianos’
  • ulwimi ‘language’, iilwimi ‘languages’

  Nouns of class 11/10 refer to several common objects such as ukhuko/iinkukho ‘mats’ and unyawo/iinyawo ‘foot’/ ‘feet’ (cf. Oosthuysen 2016: 39, 40).

• Noun class 14 (ubu-ub-uty-utyw-u-)
  • ubomi ‘life’
  • ubusuku ‘night’
  • utywala ‘liquor’
  • utyani ‘greenery’
  • uboya ‘wool’

  Nouns of class 14 have no plural. With several exceptions, nouns of class 14 consist of abstract and semi-abstract nouns derived from other parts of speech as in the following (cf. Oosthuysen, 2016: 41-43):

  • Noun
    • ubudenge ‘foolishness’ < isidenge ‘fool’
    • ubudoda ‘manliness’ < indoda ‘man’
  • Verbs
    • ukutyeba ‘become fat/rich’ < ubutyebi ‘prosperity, wealth’
    • ukuxoka ‘to lie’ < ubuxoki ‘falsehood’
  • Adjectives
    • -hle ‘beautiful’ < ubuhle ‘beauty’
    • -mnandi ‘pleasant, nice’ < ubumnandi ‘pleasure’
• Noun class 15 (uku-)
  • ukusebenza ‘working’
  • ukulamba ‘being hungry’
  • ukufa ‘death’

  Nouns of class 15 indicate processes (events) as objects, i.e., they are the infinitive mood of verbs as in ukusebenza ‘to work’. See also Oosthuysen (2016: 43).

• Noun classes 16 (pha-), 17 (ku-) and 18 (mu-)
  • phambili ‘in front, before’
  • phesheya ‘on the opposite side’
  • kufuphi ‘nearby’
  • kudala ‘long ago’

  IsiXhosa has lost the regular use of the nouns of the locative classes 16, 17 and 18 (pha-, ku- and mu-). Some of the words now being used as locative adverbs are relics of class 16 nouns as the following:

  • phezulu ‘on top’
  • phesheya ‘on the opposite side’
  • phakathi ‘inside’

  The surviving noun class 17 ukwindla ‘autumn’ is usually found in its locative form ekwindla ‘in autumn’. See also Oosthuysen (2016: 43-46).

  Table 1

  Class	Class prefix	Noun	Semantic content
  1	um-	umzali ‘parent’	Exclusively personal nouns.
  1a	u-	ubawo ‘father’	Exclusively personal nouns.
  2	aba-, abe-, ab-	abazali ‘parents’, abembi ‘diggers’, aboni ‘sinners’	Exclusively personal nouns.
  2a	oo-	oobawo ‘fathers’	Exclusively personal nouns.
  3	um-, u-	umthi ‘tree’, unyaka ‘year’	Miscellaneous: impersonal, parts of the body, tools, instruments, animals, natural phenomena, most names of trees and plants.
  4	imi-, iim-	imithi ‘trees’, iimandlalo ‘beds’	Miscellaneous: impersonal, parts of the body, tools, instruments, animals, natural phenomena, most names of trees and plants.
  5	ili-, i(li)-	Ilizwe ‘country’, ipolisa ‘policeman’	Miscellaneous: some animals, many plants, natural phenomena, collective nouns, strangers, regions, certain careers.
  6	ama-, ame-	amazwe ‘countries’, amehlo ‘eyes’	Miscellaneous: some animals, many plants, natural phenomena, collective nouns, strangers, regions.
  7	isi-, is-	isibaya ‘kraal’, isazi ‘scholar’	Miscellaneous: parts of the body, names of languages, customs, habits, languages, some plants, tools, instruments, some personal nouns.
  8	izi-, iz-	izibaya ‘kraals’, izabelo ‘shares’	Miscellaneous: parts of the body, names of languages, customs, habits, languages, some plants, tools, instruments, some personal nouns.
  9	in-, im-, i-	inja ‘dog’, imbabala ‘bushbuck’, itapile ‘potato’	Miscellaneous: mostly animal names, some plants, parts of the body, natural phenomena, personal nouns indicating people with a special rank.
  10	izin-, izim-, ii-, iin-, iim-	izinja ‘dogs’, izimvu ‘sheep’, iitafile ‘tables’, iintonga ‘sticks’, iimbabala ‘bushbucks’	Miscellaneous: mostly animal names, some plants, parts of the body, natural phenomena, personal nouns indicating people with a special rank.
  11	ulu-, ulw-, ul-, u-	uluthi ‘stick’, ulwandle ‘sea’, uluvo ‘idea’, uphawu ‘sign’	Miscellaneous: few nouns belong to this class.
  14	ubu-, ub-, utyw-, uty-, u-	ububi ‘ugliness’, ubusi ‘honey’, utywala ‘alcohol’, utyani ‘grass’, uboya ‘fur’	Mainly abstract concepts, also collective nouns.
  15	uku-, ukw-uk-	ukuthetha ‘talk’, ukwanda ‘expand’, ukosa ‘braai’	Infinitive forms of verbs that may be used as nouns.
  16	pha-	phakathi ‘middle’	Location or place.
  17	uku-, ukwa-	ukunene ‘right’, ukwindla ‘autumn’	Location or place.

Primary (original) nominal roots

Noun stems may be classified under two main headings, viz. primitive roots and derivative stems. Primitive roots bear no reduction to simpler forms and show no origin on any part of speech. Derivation stems are derived from some other part of speech or from simpler noun-stems by the addition of a suffix.

Amongst the primitive roots of isiXhosa are found many which are common to many Bantu languages appearing in varying forms according to varied phonetic conditions. Many of these primitive roots are mono syllabic as well as disyllabic:

• -ntu as in umntu ‘person’
• -thi as in umthi ‘tree’
• -yihlo as in uyihlo ‘your father’
• -tata as in utata ‘father’

Primitive stems have no simpler forms and cannot be traced to any other part of speech or from other languages.

Secondary nominal roots

Secondary noun roots are derived stems which are derived from some other parts of speech or from other languages. IsiXhosa nouns also differ in respect of their derivation. The derivation of nouns can be traced from various pericopes e.g., onomatopoeia, de-verbatives, de-nominatives etc.

Deverbatives

Deverbative nouns are derived by prefixing a noun-prefix to a verb stem, often within the final vowel -a of the verb stem being replaced by another vowel (cf. Oosthuysen, 2016: 47-46).

• ukuhamba ‘to go’ > um-hamb-i ‘traveller’
• ukulingana ‘to be equal’ > um-lingan-i ‘companion’
• ukukholwa ‘to believe’ > i-kholw-a ‘believer’
• ukutyala ‘to plant’ > isi-tyal-o ‘a plant’

Onomatopoeia

Various nouns are onomatopoeia, derived by prefixing a noun-prefix to a stem simulating a sound that is associated with the object indicated by the noun (cf. Oosthuysen, 2016: 47)

• isithuthuthu ‘motorbike’
• inkuku ‘fowl’
• umpu ‘a gun’
• impempe ‘whistle’

Denominatives

Abstract and semi-abstract denominative nouns are derived from other nouns by replacing the prefix as in the abstract noun (cf. Oosthuysen, 2016: 49-50):

• ubuntwana ‘childhood’ derived from the noun umntwana ‘child’
• ingomso ‘tomorrow’ derived from the noun umso ‘morning’

Roots adopted from other languages

According to Bosch (2013), owing to close contact between speakers of different languages, the borrowing of vocabulary items is inevitable. Borrowed nouns must be accommodated in one of the noun classes so that they can be used to generate agreement morphemes which will link them to other elements in a sentence.

Borrowed nouns are usually accommodated in one of the noun classes based on either the sound structure (phonology) or the meaning (semantics). In isiXhosa, most borrowed nouns tend to be in noun class 9 (with plural in noun class 10):

• ilekese – iilekese ‘sweets’ from Afrikaans ‘lekker/s’
• ibhatyi - iibhatyi ‘coat’ from Afrikaans ‘baadjie’
• i-ofisi – ii-ofisi ‘office’
• ititshala - iititshala ‘teacher’

When borrowed words are accommodated in a Bantu language, the sound sequences are adapted to comply with the sound segments are adapted to comply with the syllable structure of the particular African language.

The diminutive

Diminutive nouns, that indicate being small, young, insignificant or a small amount, are derived from nouns by suffixing the morphemes –ana, -azana-anyana and -anana. In certain cases phonological rules apply, to create the final word:

• -ana
  • inkwenkwe ‘boy’ > inkwenkwana ‘young/small boy’
  • incwadi ‘book’ > incwadana ‘small book’
• -azana
  • intombi ‘girl’ > intombazana ‘young girl’
  • umfazi ‘woman’ > umfazazana ‘young woman’
• -anyana
  • isilo ‘animal’ > isilwanyana ‘small animal’
  • inkomo ‘cow’ > inkonyana ‘calf’
• - anana
  • intaba ‘mountain’ > intatyanana ‘small mountain’
  • intsimi ‘plough field’ > intsinyanana ‘small plough field’

(Cf. Oosthuysen, 2016: 53, 54).

The locative

Nouns may be used as adverbs of place and are formed in the following manner:

• by adding the ku- prefix of the uku- class (cf. Oosthuysen, 2016: 74-81)
  • ku + uJames > kuJames ‘at/to/from James’
  • ku + abafana > kubafana ‘at/to/from the boys’
  • ku + inkomo > kwinkomo ‘at/to/from the cow’
• by prefixing an e- before place names:
  • e + Kapa > eKapa ‘at/to/from Cape Town’
  • e + Gauta > eGoli ‘at/to/from Johannesburg’
• by prefixing e- and simultaneously suffixing -ini:
  • e + intaba + ini > entabeni ‘at/to/from the mountain’
  • e + isikolo + ini > esikolweni ‘at/to/from the school’

In all these cases specific phonological rules apply.

Feminine nouns

“In some cases feminine nouns, i.e., nouns that indicate the feminine gender biologically, and not grammatically, are derived from other nouns by suffixing the morpheme -kazi” (Oosthuysen, 2016: 55):

• ukumkani ‘king’ > ukumkanikazi ‘queen’
• ixhego ‘old man’ > xhegokazi ‘old woman’
• umnini ‘owner’ > umnikazi ‘female owner’
• inkosi ‘chief’ > inkosikazi ‘female chief’
• inja ‘dog’ > injakazi ‘bitch’

Augmentatives

Augmentative nouns with suffix -kazi are found, indicating excessive size, volume or status as in:

• umlambo ‘river’ > umlambokazi ‘great river’
• umthi ‘tree’ > umthikazi ‘big tree’
• ilizwe ‘country’ > ilizwekazi ‘continent’
• umzi ‘house’ > umzikazi ‘estate’

(Cf. Oosthuysen, 2016: 55-57).

Deverbative nouns are derived by prefixing a noun-prefix to a verb stem with the simultaneous change of the final vowel:

• ukuhamba ‘to go’ > umhambi ‘traveller’
• ukusebenza ‘to work’ > umsebenzi ‘worker’
• ukuqonda ‘to understand’ > ingqondi ‘an intellectual’

Deverbative nouns may be derived from verb stems indicating both a passive and a reciprocal connotation as in:

• ukuzalwa ‘to be born’ > umzalwana ‘born of the same stock’
• ukulingana ‘to be same size’ > umlingane ‘spouse/friend’

“A few deverbative nouns are of class 5/6. They retain the final -a as in”:

• ukunxila ‘to be drunk’ > inxila ‘drunkard’
• ukuzingela ‘to hunt’ > izingela ‘an expert hunter’
• ukugqwetha ‘to speak with guile’ > igqwetha ‘attorney’

“Deverbative agentive nouns are also found where the noun is compounded, and the pre-prefix of the object has undergone elision” (Oosthuysen, 2016: 48) as in:

• ukudla ilifa ‘to inherit’ > indlalifa ‘heir’
• ukudla ukudla ‘to eat food’ > idlakudla ‘glutton’
• ukubetha uhadi ‘to play the harp’ > umbethi-luhadi ‘minstrel’
• ukufa amehlo ‘to have your eyes die’ > imfama ‘blind person’

“Impersonal de-verbative nouns indicating what in general terms can be ascribed as the instrument used in executing a process, the result of a process, or the process as an abstract matter, they usually have -o as their final vowel” (Oosthuysen, 2016: 49).

• ukuthandaza ‘to pray’ > umthandazo ‘prayer’
• ukudla ‘to eat’ > dlelo ‘pasture’
• ukutyala ‘to plant’ > isityalo ‘plant’
• ukufunda ‘to learn’ > imfundo ‘education’

Nouns derived from relative and adjectival noun roots

De-adjectival nouns are derived from adjectives by prefixing a noun prefix as in the following (cf. Oosthuysen, 2016: 50):

• Adjectives
  • -bi ‘ugly’ > ububi ‘ugliness’
  • -khulu ‘big’ > ubukhulu ‘greatness’
  • -dala ‘old’ > ubudala ‘age’
• Relatives
  • -mnandi ‘delicious’ > ubumnandi ‘nicety’
  • -bomvu ‘redness’ > ububomvu ‘redness’
  • -shushu ‘heat’ > ubushushu ‘temperature’

Nouns derived from ideophones and interjections

Nouns can also be derived from ideophones and interjections:

• Ideophones
  • thuthuthu ‘sound made by a motorbike’ > isithuthuthu ‘a motorbike’
  • bham-bham ‘gun sound’ > isibham ‘gun’
  • nkentenkente ‘sound from afar’ > unkentenkente ‘noise’
• Interjections
  • Nkosi! ‘oh chief!’ > inkosi ‘a chief’
  • Thixo! ‘oh God!’ > uThixo ‘God’
  • Bawo ‘oh father!’ > ubawo ‘father’

Compound nouns

“Some compound nouns are formed by combining a verb with two or more words, such as a noun, pronoun or adverb.” (cf. Oosthuysen, 2016: 51)

• indlulamthi ‘giraffe’ < ukudlula ‘to surpass’ and umthi ‘tree’
• umvandedwa ‘anguish, depression’ < ukuva ‘to feel’ and ndedwa ‘alone’
• imfakadolo ‘breach-loader’ < ukufaka ‘to insert’ kwidolo and ‘at the knee’

“Compound nouns are also formed by combining a noun and a qualifying word, such as an adjective, relative or often a possessive” (Oosthuysen, 2016: 51):

• umakhulu ‘grandmother’ < uma omkhulu ‘mother that is great’
• ubawomkhulu ‘grandfather’ < ubawo omkhulu ‘father that is great’
• undlebende ‘donkey’ < indlebe ende ‘an ear that is long’

Bosch, S. E. & Griesel, M. (2020) ‘Exploring the documentation and preservation of African indigenous knowledge in a digital lexical database’. Lexikos. 30: 1-28.

Bosch, S. E. (2013) ‘Communication dynamics in African languages’. University of South Africa Study guide. (AFL 2601).

Bosch, S. E. (2020) ‘Computational morphology systems for Zulu–a comparison’. Nordic Journal of African Studies. 29(3): 1-28.

Cope, A. T. (1957) ‘The Grammatical structure of Zulu’. African Studies. 16(4). Johannesburg: Wits University Press.

Doke, C. M. (1973) A Textbook of Zulu Grammar. Cape Town: Longman.

Kosch, I. M. (2006) Topics in Morphology. Pretoria: University of South Africa.

Oosthuysen, J. C. (2016) The Grammar of IsiXhosa. Stellenbosch: SUN MeDiA.