The morphology of the pronoun

Traditionally, pronominalisation is regarded as a process according to which a pronoun is used to act in the place of a noun. In other words, a pronoun substitutes a noun. In languages such as Afrikaans and English pronominalisation is a process of substitution because the pronoun substitutes the noun (UNISA, 1986: 28). In isiXhosa, words or morphemes which agree with nouns have potential co-referential characteristics and can therefore under certain conditions have a pronominal function. However, such words or morphemes are not primarily pronouns, but owing to their concordial agreement with nouns, they may acquire a secondary status as pronominal forms:

• Abafundi bavuya. ‘The pupils were pleased.’
• Baphumelela ezimviweni. ‘They passed the exams.’

The subject noun abafundi appears in the sentence and the subject agreement morpheme has no pronominal function at all. In such cases agreement markers perform their basic grammatical function as mere agreement markers of the syntactic relation subject: verb.

The secondary function of agreement morphemes is, however, illustrated in the second sentence where the subject noun is omitted from the discourse context because it is known information to the reader/listener. The subject concord is co-referential with the deleted noun and therefore acquires a pronominal function, therefore the noun abafundi is pronominalised in the second sentence (UNISA, 1986: 30-31).

Pronouns

Four types of pronouns are normally distinguished by authors, namely, the so-called absolute, demonstrative, quantitative and qualificative pronouns (Wilkes, 1987: 167). Pronouns are independent words which convey a complete sense. For this reason, they should not be confused with concords which are only formative elements, that cannot be used independently of one another to form a complete word. Pronouns show close relationship to the nouns because they share the same concords, and the pronouns show some derivation from the noun prefix.

isiXhosa pronouns

In many instances the use of explicit pronouns is obviated in isiXhosa as the subject and object concords used give a clear indication of the party referred to as in:

• Amakhwenkwe abone umvundla. ‘The boys have seen a hare.’
• Afuna ukuwubamba, awuxhele, awutye. ‘They want to catch, slaughter, and eat it.’

In the second sentence the subject concord a- of class 6 in afuna and awuxhele is sufficient indication that amakhwenkwe in the previous sentence is the subject of these predicates (Oosthuysen, 2016: 101).

The absolute pronoun is that type of pronoun which does nothing more than indicate a certain thing or collection of things (Oosthuysen, 2016: 103). It signifies a noun without qualifying it or giving any particular characteristics.

The uses of the absolute pronouns

It may be used in the place of a noun:

• Abantu bayathetha. ‘The people are speaking.’
• Bona bayathetha. ‘They are speaking.’
• Izinja ziyakhonkotha. ‘Dogs are barking.’
• Zona ziyakhonkotha. ‘They are barking.’

It may be used with a noun and when it comes before the noun,the latter loses its initial vowel:

• Bona abantu > Bona bantu ‘They, the people.’
• Yena umhlobo > Yena Mhlobo ‘He/she, the friend.’

It may be used for purposes of contrast:

• Yona ilele, zona zihleli. ‘It is asleep, they are awake.’
• Yena uyasela, bona bayatya. ‘He/she is drinking, they are eating.’

It may be used in apposition to another substantive:

• Abafazi bona bayapheka. ‘As for the women they are cooking.’
• Ezi zona azifundi. ‘As for these, they do not learn.’
• Le yona ayihambi. ‘This one is not moving.’

Like the noun, it may be used as subject or object in a sentence:

• Subject: Bona bayathetha. ‘They the people are talking.’
• Object: Bafuna zona. ‘They want them.’

It may be used for emphasis:

• Endizithengileyo zona zintle. ‘The ones I bought are beautiful.’
• Endibabambileyo bona babile. ‘The ones I caught had stolen.’
• Yona le andiyithandi. ‘This one, I don’t like.’

The demonstrative is a pronoun that is used when an object is in sight. In Nguni the demonstrative has three positional types: each signifying: here, there and yonder. These are close demonstrative pronouns, e.g., lo ‘this’, that indicate closeness to the speaker, the mediate demonstrative pronoun, e.g., lowo (that) and its contraction loo ‘that’, that indicates some separation from the speaker, but not necessarily from the one spoken to, and the remote demonstrative pronouns, e.g., lowa ‘that, that yonder’ and its contraction laa ‘that, that yonder’, that indicate relative remoteness from the speaker and usually also from the one spoken to (Oosthuysen, 2016: 112). These demonstratives are also referred to as being of the first, second or third distance.

Close demonstrative pronouns

These demonstratives are mainly found indicating a basic noun which follows on the demonstrative:

• lo mntu ‘this person’,
• aba bathengi ‘these buyers’,
• olu lwandle ‘this sea’ and
• ezi ndaba ‘this news’

Close demonstratives are used independently to represent an indicated close object, as in:

• Le asiyiyo na ibhasi ‘Is this one not the bus ?’
• Sithi aba. ‘it is us these ones, i.e., here we are.’
• Zintle zonke ezi zindlu, kodwa mna ndikhetha le ‘All these houses are beautiful, but I choose this one.’

Mediate demonstrative pronouns

Mediate demonstrative pronouns are used in similar fashion to, to close demonstrative pronouns and are frequently used as in:

• Hayi, andiyiqhubi leyo. ‘No, I do not drive that one.’
• Ndiza kubandwendwela abo bahlali. ‘I shall those residents.’
• Zithengise ezo mpahla. ‘Sell (singular) those clothes.’
• Babulele abo bantu. ‘Thank [imperative singular] those people.’

Remote demonstrative pronouns

When the remote demonstrative pronouns are used independently they are in the longer variant with the semi-vowel, as in:

• Incwadi endiyithandayo ukuyifunda isesikolweni sam. ‘The book I like to read is at my school.’
• Badlala wuphi umdlalo abaya? ‘Which sport are those playing?’
• Andingeni kwesi sitrato ndingena kwesiya. ‘I do not enter into this street, I enter into that one.’

Remote demonstrative pronouns are also in the full form when used in apposition to a substantive, as in:

• Ngubani utitshala lowa? ‘Who is that teacher?’
• Enye imali ndiyifake kwidrowa leya. ‘The other money I put into that drawer.’

When indicating a substantive, the remote demonstrative is usually found in its short form. It precedes the substantive, which is in its basic form as in:

• Ezaa zitulo ‘those chairs’
• Aaba bantu bebeze kusibona ngalaa mini ‘Those people who visited us on that day’
• Esaa sitya ‘yonder dish’

The qualificative as a pronoun signifies the person or thing as possessing a definite quality. Thus, when it is used with a noun it limits it under a specific quality whether it is used before or after the noun:

• Obomvu umntu. ‘The red person.’
• Omhle umntwana. ‘The beautiful child.’

Qualificative pronouns correspond to 4 types of qualificatives, namely:

• the adjective
• the relative
• the enumerative and
• the possessive.

The above become pronouns when they are used in the place of the nouns as in the following:

As the name signifies the quantitative pronoun signifies number or quantity. Some linguists regard the quantitative as primarily a qualificative and secondary as a pronoun because they contend that it gives some additional characteristics to the noun or ascribes certain qualities to a noun regards exclusiveness.

There are 3 main types of the quantitative pronouns.

• The quantitative root -onke which signifies all:
  • Bonke abahambi bahambile. ‘All the visitors have gone.’
  • Zonke iimoto ezintsha zidulu ‘All new cars are expensive.’
  • Lonke ulutsha lufuna ukufunda ‘All the youth want to learn.’

• Quantitative root -dwa which signifies ‘only’:
  • Uthetha yedwa. ‘He/she speaks alone.’
  • Ndisebenza ndedwa. ‘I work alone.’
  • Iinkomo zihamba zodwa. ‘The cattle are by themselves.’
• Numeral roots signify both, all five, all six etc:
  • Thatha ngazo zozibini. ‘Take with both hands.’
  • Bemke bobane, akwasala namnye. ‘All four left, no one was left behind.’
  • Thina sobane sihlala kunye ‘We four stay together.’

Uses

• Like all other pronouns the quantitative is used in the place of the noun:
  • Bonke bayafunwa. ‘All are needed.’
  • Uhambe yedwa. ‘He/she left alone.’
• It may be used with a noun before or after it:
  • Isizwe sonke. ‘The entire nation.’
  • Mna ndedwa ‘I alone.’
  • Imithi yomibini. ‘Both trees.’

Oosthuysen, J.C., 2016. The Grammar of IsiXhosa. Stellenbosch: SUN MeDIA.

UNISA, 1986. Study guide for XHS302 – 8/1/87 -91. University of South Africa.

Wilkes, A. 1987. ‘Comments on the function of the abbreviated absolute pronouns in Zulu grammar’. South African Journal of African Languages, 7:4 137 – 142.