The class system · the Bantu family
Noun classes drive the equation.
NOUN = AUG(cl) + PREFIX(cl) + STEM. The class picks the augment + prefix; singular and plural are two classes of one stem (the class pairing). Concord — the agreement a class forces on verbs, adjectives, possessives and numerals — is the backbone of Bantu grammar across the whole family. The system below is worked in Bemba; every language carries its own prefixes and concord for the same classes.
NP01 · 10,296NP03 · 9,273NP04 · 3,232NP02 · 1,548NP14 · 913NP09 · 119NP10 · 73
| Class | Number | Full prefix | Pairing | Examples | Concord (sm/om/adj/poss/num) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Singular | umu- | PBC1/PBC2 | umuntu (a person), umwana (a child), umwaice (a young child) | · / -mu- / mu / · / mu- |
| 2 | Plural | aba- | PBC1/PBC2 | abantu (people), abana (children), abaice (young children) | · / -ba- / ba / · / ba- |
| 3 | Singular | umu- | PBC3/PBC4 | umuti (Baseline Class 3), umupando (Standard object), umunani (Essential food item) | · / -u- / u / · / mu- |
| 4 | Plural | imi- | PBC3/PBC4 | imiti (Baseline Class 4), imipando (Plural inanimate object), iminani (helpings of food) | · / -i- / i / · / i- |
| 5 | Singular | ili- | PBC5/PBC6 | ilinso (Baseline Class 5 body part), itanda (Latent prefix (ili- reduced to i-)), iboko (Body part) | · / -li- / li / · / li- |
| 6 | Plural | ama- | PBC5/PBC6 | amenso (Coalesced plural (a+i > e)), amatanda (Standard Class 6 plural), amaboko (Standard Class 6 plural for body parts) | · / -ya- / ya / · / ya- |
| 7 | Singular | ici- | PBC7/PBC8 | icipeya (Class 7 object prefix (included for anatomy completeness)), icintu (Baseline Class 7 object), icinso (From your list) | · / -ci- / ci / · / ci- |
| 8 | Plural | ifi- | PBC7/PBC8 | ifipeya (Class 8 plural of Class 7), ifintu (Baseline Class 8 plural), ifinso (Standard Class 8 plural for anatomy) | · / -fi- / fi / · / fi- |
| 9 | Singular | in- | PBC9/PBC10 | inkoko (chicken), inkanda (Anatomy), inkopyo (Anatomy) | · / -i- / i / · / i- |
| 10 | Plural | in- | PBC9/PBC10 | inkoko (chicken), inkanda (Standard Class 10 plural for anatomy), inkopyo (Standard Class 10 plural) | · / -shi- / shi / · / shi- |
| 11 | Singular | ulu- | PBC11/PBC10 | ulupwa (Baseline Class 11), ulwala (Anatomy (from your notes)), ulubafu (Anatomy) | · / -lu- / lu / · / lu- |
| 12 | Singular | aka- | PBC12/PBC13 | akamuti (Diminutive), akantu (Baseline diminutive of 'icintu'), akana (Diminutive of 'umwana') | — |
| 13 | Plural | utu- | PBC12/PBC13 | utumuti (Plural diminutive), utuntu (Plural diminutive baseline), utwana (Diminutive plural) | — |
| 14 | Mass | ubu- | PBC14 | ubwali (Core cultural mass noun), ubunonshi (Abstract mass noun), ubulanda (Abstract noun) | · / -bu- / bu / · / · |
| 15 | Infinitive | uku- | PBC15 | ukulanda (Baseline verbal noun), ukubomba (Verbal noun), ukulyamo (Verb with locative suffix) | — |
| 16 | Locative | pa- | PBC16/17/18 | pantanshi (in front), pafupi (Locative of proximity) | — |
| 17 | Locative | ku- | PBC16/17/18 | kunuma (behind), kutali (Locative of distance) | — |
| 18 | Locative | mu- | PBC16/17/18 | mushinda (Locative Class 18 (inside)) | — |
| 2a | Singular | ba- | PBC1a/PBC2a | batata (my father), bamayo (my mother), ba Michael (Mr. Michael) | — |
Class inventory + concord from the native-curated bem registry; template counts are live across all aligned languages. Build any class-inflected form in the interactive builder.