Subject Concords: Making Your Own Xhosa Sentences

Molo, mfundi!
(Hello, student!)

Wamkelekile!
(Welcome!)

Masifunde into entsha!
(Let’s learn something new!)

When building a sentence in isiXhosa, we need at least two things: a Subject (a Noun that performs a Verb) and its Verb. That’s it. Doesn’t sound too bad, does it? Of course not!

How about the Noun usisi (“sister”) and the Verb cula (“sing”)? We can use these to make the sentence: Usisi uyacula. “Sister is singing.”

But wait a minute. There’s something else going on here. Where do the u- and the -ya- come from?

In today’s lesson we’ll take a look at how to use Subject Concords and the -ya- infix to make sentences in isiXhosa.

Let’s take a look at the theory.

What are Subject Concords?

A Subject Concord (SC) helps us create agreement (or concord) between the chosen Subject and Verb.

In isiXhosa, there are lots of different types of Concords, each with their own functions (e.g. Subject Concords, which create agreement between Subjects and Verbs).

Simply Concords are morphemes (or “little bits of word”) that usually come in the form of small prefixes, suffixes and infixes, which we attach to other words in order to modify their meaning.

Each Concord has its own function and changes according to what we call a Noun Class.

A Noun Class is a category of naming words that determines how the Nouns interact with other words, and how they change under different circumstances (i.e. in different tenses, in positive or negative, in plural or singular, etc.).

At first this may seem strange. Isn’t this all a little complicated? Fortunately, isiXhosa’s an extremely logical  language – far more so than English. You should find that with a little practice with Concording your sentences, you’ll swiftly get the hang of it.

Let’s take a look at the Noun Classes below. We’ll use examples for each. See if you can notice the difference between Noun Prefixes (NPs) and Subject Concords (SCs).

Class 1a
NP: “u-”
SC: “u-”
-SC: “aka-”
(personal, singular of Cl. 2a)

1. Umama uyaqhuba. (Mother is driving.)
2. Ubhuti uyagula. (Brother is sick.)
3. Umakhulu uyalala. (Grandmother is sleeping.)

The u– sound at the beginning of the Nouns is the Noun Prefix. The u– sound before the –ya– tells us that the Noun (e.g. Umama) is performing the verb to which the subject concord is attached (e.g. uyaqhuba).

Class 2a
NP: “oo-”
SC: “ba-”
-SC: “aba-”
(personal, plural of Cl. 1a)

1. Oomama bayaqhuba. (The mothers/Mother and company are driving.)
2. Oobhuti bayagula. (The brothers/Brother and company are sick.)
3. Oomakhulu bayalala. (The grandmothers/Grandmother and company are sleeping.)

The oo– sound at the beginning of the Nouns is the Noun Prefix. The ba– sound before the –ya– tells us that the Noun (e.g. Oomama) is performing the verb to which the subject concord is attached (e.g. bayaqhuba).

Class 1
NP: “um-”
SC: “u-”
-SC: “aka-”
(personal, singular of Cl. 2)

1. Umpheki uyadlala. (The cook is playing.)
2. Umzali uyathetha. (The parent is talking.)
3. Umzobi uyasebenza. (The artist is working.)

The um– sound at the beginning of the Nouns is the Noun Prefix. The u– sound before the –ya– tells us that the Noun (e.g. Umpheki) is performing the verb to which the subject concord is attached (e.g. uyadlala).

Class 2
NP: “aba-”
SC: “ba-”
-SC: “-aba-”
(personal, plural of Cl. 1)

1. Abapheki bayadlala. (The cooks are playing.)
2. Abazali bayathetha. (The parents are talking.)
3. Abazobi bayasebenza. (The artists are working.)

The aba– sound at the beginning of the Nouns is the Noun Prefix. The ba– sound before the –ya– tells us that the Noun (e.g. Abapheki) is performing the verb to which the subject concord is attached (e.g. bayadlala).

Class 3
NP: “um-”
SC: “u-”
-SC: “-awu-”
(impersonal, singular of Cl. 4)

1. Umtshayelo uyema. (The broom is standing.)
2. Umthi uyakhula. (The tree is growing.)
3. Umsitho uyahambisa. (The festival continues.)

The um– sound at the beginning of the Nouns is the Noun Prefix. The u– sound before the –ya– tells us that the Noun (e.g. Umtshayelo) is performing the verb to which the subject concord is attached (e.g. uyama). 

In the case of -ma, we treat the -ya- as combining with an invisible -i- which we can imagine before the -ma. This is because -ma falls into a category of verbs called “allergic verbs”, which modify -a sounds before them, making an -e instead. But more on these another time!

Class 4
NP: “imi-”
SC: “i-”
-SC: “ayi-”
(impersonal, plural of Cl. 3)

1. Imitshayelo iyema. (The brooms are standing.)
2. Imithi iyakhula. (The trees are growing.)
3. Imisitho iyahambisa. (The festivals continue.)

The imi– sound at the beginning of the Nouns is the Noun Prefix. The i– sound before the –ya– tells us that the Noun (e.g. Imitshayelo) is performing the verb to which the subject concord is attached (e.g. iyama).

Class 5
NP: “ili-”
SC: “li-”
-SC: “ali-”
(singular of Class 6)

1. Ihashe liyabaleka. (The horse is running.)
2. Igumbi liyaphuka. (The room is broken.)
3. Igqabi liyawa. (The leaf is falling.)

In this case, the i– sound at the beginning of the Nouns is the initial vowel, rather than the Noun Prefix. But do not be deceived – they’re still members of the ili- group! We know this based on their. The li– sound before the –ya– tells us that the Noun (e.g. Ihahshe) is performing the verb to which the subject concord is attached (e.g. liyabaleka).

Class 6
NP: “ama-”
SC: “a-”
-SC: “aka-”
(plural of Class 5)

1. Amahashe ayabaleka. (The horses are running.)
2. Amagumbi ayaphuka. (The rooms are broken.)
3. Amagqabi ayawa. (The leaves are falling.)

Class 7
NP: “isi-”
SC: “si-”
-SC: “asi-”
(singular of Class 8)

1. Isiteyidiyum siyacula. (The stadium is singing.)
2. Isikolo siyahamba. (The school is walking.)
3. Isibane siyakhanya. (The light is shining.)

The isi– sound at the beginning of the Nouns is the Noun Prefix. The si– sound before the –ya– tells us that the Noun (e.g. Isiteyidiyum) is performing the verb to which the subject concord is attached (e.g. siyacula).

Class 8
NP: “izi-”
SC: “zi-”
-SC: “azi-”
(plural of Class 7)

1. Iziteyidiyum ziyacula. (The stadiums are singing.)
2. Izikolo ziyahamba. (The schools are walking.)
3. Izibane ziyakhanya. (The lights are shining.)

The izi– sound at the beginning of the Nouns is the Noun Prefix. The zi– sound before the –ya– tells us that the Noun (e.g. Iziteyidiyum) is performing the verb to which the subject concord is attached (e.g. ziyacula).

Class 9
NP: “i-/in-”
SC: “i-”
-SC: “ayi-”
(singular of Class 10)

1. Intombi iyadlala. (The girl is playing.)
2. Itoyilethi iyaguquka. (The toilet is flushing.)
3. Inja iyatya. (The dog is eating.)

The i– sound at the beginning of the Nouns is the Noun Prefix. The i– sound before the –ya– tells us that the Noun (e.g. Intombi) is performing the verb to which the subject concord is attached (e.g. iyadlala).

Class 10
NP: “ii-/iin-/izin-”
SC: “zi-”
-SC: “azi-”
(plural of Class 9)

1. Iintombi ziyadlala. (The girls are playing.)
2. Iitoyilethi ziyaguquka. (The toilets are flushing.)
3. Izinja ziyatya. (The dogs are eating.)

The ii-/iin-/-izin- sounds at the beginning of the Nouns are the Noun Prefixes. The zi– sound before the –ya– tells us that the Noun (e.g. Izinja) is performing the verb to which the subject concord is attached (e.g. ziyatya).

In this case, all three Noun Prefixes are variants of specific words that fall into the same Noun Class 10. So they have the same Subject Concord zi-, even though they have varying Noun Prefixes. Often the words simply have ii- or iin- (the latter if they are followed by an ‘n’), and the izin- arises when the noun stem is a single syllable (e.g. the -nja in inja).

Class 11,
NP: “ulu-”
SC: “lu-”
-SC: “alu-“

1. Usana luyalila. (The baby is crying.)

The u– sound at the beginning of the Nouns is the Noun Prefix. The lu– sound before the –ya– tells us that the Noun (e.g. Usana) is performing the verb to which the subject concord is attached (e.g. luyalila).

Class 12
NP:”ubu-”
SC: “bu-”
-SC: “abu-“

1. Ubuxoki buyaxoka. (The liar is lying.)

The ubu– sound at the beginning of the Noun is the Noun Prefix. The bu– sound before the –ya– tells us that the Noun (e.g. Ubuxoki) is performing the verb to which the subject concord is attached (e.g. buyaxoka).

Class 15
NP: “uku-”
SC: “ku-”
-SC: “aku-“

1. Ukutya kungxola iimpahla. (The food dirties the clothes.)

Using ya in isiXhosa

In isiXhosa, –ya- has several functions:

1. When Nothing Follows the Verb: As seen in the the example sentence for Class 15 (the “uku” class), we sometimes use the -ya-, and sometimes not. We use it when nothing follows the verb.
2. Present Continuous: The -ya- also has the effect of lending to the present continuous tense of a sentence. (e.g. Umama uyadada means “Mother is swimming”, not merely “Mother swims”.)
3. The Verb “Go To”: As its own finite verb, -ya can mean “go to”, as in the sentence Ndiya eMonti (“I go to Claremont”).
4. Agglutination: In general, -ya- functions to create rhythm in the language by helping to bring separate morphemes (“word parts”) together.

Homework Exercise:

Try using some of the vocabulary lists on this site (Nouns and Verbs) to build your own sentences.