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Linglib.Fragments.Xhosa.Basic

Xhosa: Basic Types #

@cite{carstens-2026} @cite{taraldsen-et-al-2018}

The Xhosa noun class system with five singular/plural pairings (genders A–E) and semantic core associations following @cite{carstens-2026}.

Xhosa has ten active noun classes (1–10) plus class 15 (infinitives/gerunds), organized into five genders. Three genders have interpretable semantic cores: A (1/2) = [human], D (7/8) = [inanimate], E (9/10) = [animal]. Two genders (B = 3/4, C = 5/6) are uninterpretable — their members are semantically arbitrary.

Agreement with conjoined singulars #

The interpretability split directly predicts agreement patterns with uniform conjoined singulars (@cite{carstens-2026} §3, Tables 13–14):

Default agreement: class 2 ba- for [human], class 8 zi- for non-human.

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inductive Fragments.Xhosa.NounClass :
Type

Xhosa noun classes. Standard Bantu numbering (1–10, 15). Classes 11–14 and 16–18 are absent in modern Xhosa.

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    @[implicit_reducible]
    instance Fragments.Xhosa.instDecidableEqNounClass :
    DecidableEq NounClass
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    @[implicit_reducible]
    instance Fragments.Xhosa.instReprNounClass :
    Repr NounClass
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    def Fragments.Xhosa.instReprNounClass.repr :
    NounClass → ℕ → Std.Format
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      def Fragments.Xhosa.NounClass.classNumber :
      NounClass → ℕ
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        def Fragments.Xhosa.NounClass.isSingular :
        NounClass → Bool
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          def Fragments.Xhosa.NounClass.subjPrefix :
          NounClass → String

          Subject marker prefix for each class on the verb. From @cite{carstens-2026} and @cite{taraldsen-et-al-2018}.

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            inductive Fragments.Xhosa.Gender :
            Type

            Xhosa genders: singular/plural noun class pairings. @cite{carstens-1991} (17): five genders A–E for classes 1–10.

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              @[implicit_reducible]
              instance Fragments.Xhosa.instDecidableEqGender :
              DecidableEq Gender
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              @[implicit_reducible]
              instance Fragments.Xhosa.instReprGender :
              Repr Gender
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              def Fragments.Xhosa.instReprGender.repr :
              Gender → ℕ → Std.Format
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                def Fragments.Xhosa.Gender.singularClass :
                Gender → NounClass
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                  def Fragments.Xhosa.Gender.pluralClass :
                  Gender → NounClass
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                    def Fragments.Xhosa.Gender.status :
                    Gender → Bantu.GenderStatus

                    Semantic core status for each Xhosa gender.

                    @cite{carstens-2026} (71):

                    • Gender A (1/2): nₐ₁ = i[entity] i[human], nₐ₂ = i[entity] (arbitrary)
                    • Gender B (3/4): nB = uninterpretable for all members
                    • Gender C (5/6): nC = uninterpretable for all members
                    • Gender D (7/8): nD₁ = i[entity] i[inanimate], nD₂ = i[entity] (arbitrary)
                    • Gender E (9/10): nE₁ = i[entity] i[animal], nE₂ = i[entity] (arbitrary)
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                      def Fragments.Xhosa.humanCanonical :
                      Bantu.NPStack

                      Sample nP structure for a [human] noun in its canonical class 1/2. E.g. umntwana 'child': [n₁/₂ √MNTWANA] — single layer.

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                        def Fragments.Xhosa.humanInClass3 :
                        Bantu.NPStack

                        Sample nP structure for a [human] noun in non-canonical class 3/4. E.g. umgewu 'criminal': [n₃/₄ [n₁/₂ √GEWU]] — stacked.

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                          def Fragments.Xhosa.humanInClass5 :
                          Bantu.NPStack

                          Sample nP structure for a [human] noun in non-canonical class 5/6. E.g. ibutho 'warrior': [n₅/₆ [n₁/₂ √BUTHO]] — stacked.

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                            def Fragments.Xhosa.animalCanonical :
                            Bantu.NPStack

                            Sample nP structure for an [animal] noun in its canonical class 9/10. E.g. indlovu 'elephant': [n₉/₁₀ √DLOVU] — single layer.

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                              def Fragments.Xhosa.animalInClass1 :
                              Bantu.NPStack

                              Sample nP structure for an [animal] noun in non-canonical class 1a/2a. E.g. unonkala 'crab': [n₁/₂ [n₉/₁₀ √NONKALA]] — stacked.

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                                def Fragments.Xhosa.Gender.toSurfaceGender :
                                Gender → Features.SurfaceGender

                                Map Xhosa gender classes to the shared surface-level gender type. Gender A (cl1/cl2, human) → animate; all others → inanimate. Xhosa's finer-grained semantic cores ([animal] for E, [inanimate] for D) are captured in GenderStatus, not at the SurfaceGender level.

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