Characteristics of the Zulu language in AX Semantics
Fundamentals
In Zulu, you need to know the case, number, and gender/bantu class of a noun to form the accompanying adjectives, determiners, numerals, and pronouns correctly.
Zulu has 16 morphological noun classes (i.e. bantu classes), which are similar to the concept of gender in other languages.
There are also two numbers: singular and plural. Every noun class is inherently singular or plural. Odd-numbered noun classes are singular, even-numbered classes are plural, with the exception of class 14, which is also singular in meaning.
Additionally, Zulu has four case: nominative, vocative, copulative and locative.
| grammatical name | values | examples |
|---|---|---|
| number | singular | udokotela omdala [bantu class 1] (old doctor) |
| plural | odokotela abadala [bantu class 2] (old doctors) | |
| bantu class/gender | class 1 [sg] | umúntu (person) |
| class 2 [pl] | abántu (people) | |
| class 1a [sg] | úbabá (father) | |
| class 2a [pl] | ṓbabá (fathers) | |
| class 3 [sg] | uḿlenze (leg) | |
| class 4 [pl] | imílenze (legs) | |
| class 5 [sg] | ī́qandá (egg) | |
| class 6 [pl] | amáqandá (eggs) | |
| class 7 [sg] | isícebi (rich person) | |
| class 8 [pl] | izicêbi (rich people) | |
| class 9 [sg] | înjá (dog) | |
| class 10 [pl] | ízinjá (dogs) | |
| class 11 [sg] | ū́phaphé (feather) | |
| class 14 [sg/pl] | ubúhlalú (bead(s)) | |
| class 15 [sg] | ukúkhanya (light) | |
| class 17 [sg] | úkúdlá (food) | |
| case (noun) | nominative (full form) | indlu [class 9] (a/the house) |
| vocative (simple form) | Ndlu! [class 9] (House!) | |
| copulative | yindlu [class 9] (It is a house.) | |
| locative | Ngizowela endlini. [class 9] (I am going inside the house.) | |
| adjectives (noun) | after noun | i-apula elibomvu (a red apple) |
| verb tenses | present | yena udla (he eats) |
| past (Recent) | yena udle (he ate) | |
| future (Immediate) | yena uzokudla (he will eat) |
The standard order of a noun phrase in Zulu is the following:
preposition + noun + determiner + numeral + adjective
See for example:
mayelana nalaba baculi abathathu abadumile
about these artists three famous
PREP NOUN DET NUM ADJ
"about these three popular singers"
Lexicon
Nouns
Zulu nouns are inflected for case and number. Nouns should be added to the lexicon with their bantu class if they do not inflect regularly.
Lexicon entries for nouns may also be necessary for inflecting determiners, adjectives, numerals, and pronouns correctly. They are omitted, if a lexicon entry is required, but missing.
Examples
The basic lexicon entry for indlu (house) contains:
- gender/bantu class: Bantu class 9
- inflection table for case and number:
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | indlu | izindlu |
| Vocative | ndlu | zindlu |
| Locative | endlini | ezindlini |
| Copulative | yindlu | yizindlu |
Adjectives
In Zulu, "after noun" is the default for adjective position.
Verbs
Zulu verbs inflect for gender, number, person, and tense. The most common verbs are encoded in our software. If a verb inflects incorrectly, you should add it to the lexicon.
Container settings
Determiner
The AX NLG platform supports the following determiners for Zulu: demonstratives (proximal + distal) and possessives.
Demonstratives determiner or pronoun may either precede or follow a noun. If it precedes, the noun appears in the simple form (e.g, ncwadi), while if it follows, the noun is in the full form (e.g., incwadi). For example:
Le ncwadi
(This book)
-> "ncwadi(book)" appears in its simple form,
because the demonstrative "le" precedes it
Incwadi evela kwami
(Book that comes from me)
->"incwadi(books)" appears in its full form,
because the relative pronoun "that" stays after it
The default position for demonstratives is "after noun", so the preceding demonstrative should be added as plain text if it is needed.
Possessive Determiner
In Zulu, possessive determiners agree with the class of the possessed noun, and therefore their form changes depending on the noun class.
incwadi zami
[Class 1]
(my book)
iizincwadi zami
[Class 2]
(my books)
igama lami
[Class 5]
(my name)
amagama ami
[Class 6]
(my names)
Pronoun
The AX NLG platform supports the following pronouns for Zulu: demonstratives (proximal + distal) and personal.
Numerals
Four types of numerals are possible on the AX NLG platform: cardinal, cardinal as digit, ordinal, and ordinal as digit.
| cardinal | ordinal | |
|---|---|---|
| text | izinsuku eziyisishiyagalolunye [class 10] (nine days) | ngosuku lwesishiyagalolunye [class 11] (the ninth day) |
| digit | izinsuku 9 [class 10] (9 days) | ngosuku lwesi-9 [class 11] (the 9th day) |
For Zulu, both cardinal and ordinal numerals are written out until 10 on the platform, otherwise (above 10) the output is in digit form. Take cardinal numerals for example:
izimoto eziyishumi
[class 10]
(ten cars)
vs.
izimoto 11
[class 10]
(11 cars)
The ordinal numeral in digital form (e.g., the 9th day) will get an ordinal prefix and dash before the number, and the ordinal prefix differs depending on the Bantu class, for example:
ingane yesi-2
[class 9]
(the 2nd child)
iqanda lesi-2
[class 5]
(the 2nd egg)