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Hedvig Skirgård edited this page May 16, 2023 · 20 revisions

Is there a noun class/gender system where a noun’s phonological properties are a factor in class assignment?

Summary

A noun class/gender system categorizes nouns, typically for the purposes of grammatical agreement with other constituents in the noun phrase or to create classes that correspond to other inflectional morphology. See the classification wiki page for more information on our definition of noun class/gender. Noun class/gender assignment may be based on one or several factors. This feature focuses on whether the phonological properties of a noun constitute one of these factors for a given language. For this feature to be coded 1, there must be a clear preference for certain nouns to be classified in certain gender categories as a result of specific phonological properties. That is, some phonological property of a noun must be one relevant factor in the assignment of gender; however it does not need to be an absolute deciding factor or the only relevant factor in gender/class assignment. Examples of phonological properties that may play a role in gender/class assignment include tone, initial consonants, or root-final segments. Note that noun class/gender morphology may create phonological similarities across members of a certain noun class or gender; however, this is not sufficient for a 1 coding for this feature. Phonological properties must contribute to the categorization of nouns to classes/genders, rather than simply result from associated morphology.

Procedure

  1. If there is a system of nominal classification where some markers vary based on the category of the noun,
  2. And if these markers are not used only with numerals, demonstratives, and possessors (or some subset of these categories),
  3. And if these markers are involved in agreement within the noun phrase, inflectional marking of the noun, or indexing,
  4. And if there seems to be a correlation between a noun's noun class/gender and specific phonological properties of the noun, then code 1.
  5. Code 0 if there is no class/gender system or the assignment of nouns to classes/genders does not pattern according to phonological properties of the noun.

Examples

Lavukaleve (Glottolog: lavu1241)

Lavukaleve has three classes of nouns, described as masculine, feminine, and neuter. The phonological shape of a noun is one of the primary factors in its assignment to one of these classes. Noun classes in Lavukaleve trigger agreement on targets such as definite articles, adjectives, and adnominal demonstratives.

Nouns ending in /io/ and /f/ are feminine, and trigger feminine agreement. Some examples are tagio 'snake', kiokio 'kingfisher', and lefalef 'basket'.

Nouns ending in /m/ and /n/ are masculine, and trigger masculine agreement. Some examples are leumam 'upper lip', houm 'dolphin', funfun 'firefly', and sigun 'birth hut'.

Nouns ending in /ae/ and /r/ are neuter, and trigger neuter agreement. Some examples are leukae 'cuttlefish', folufoluae 'fat', lar 'daylight', and fegir 'sweat'.

Other factors contribute to the categorization of Lavukaleve into these three classes, including morphology of derived nouns and semantic properties of some nouns. Exceptions to the phonological generalizations described above also exist, especially in loanwords. The phonological principles for noun class assignment described above are nevertheless sufficiently clear to code a 1 for Lavukaleve (Terrill 2003: 132-142).

Kilen (Glottolog: kile1243)

There are two inflectional classes of nouns in Kilen: one for /n/-final stems and one for vowel-final stems. Allomorphy of nominal suffixes is determined by these two categories, which correspond to the final sound of the stem (Zhang 2013: 77, 80). The same goes for adjectives and verbs. Some suffixes change their form depending on whether their host is vowel-final or /n/-final. This includes case and possessor suffixes on the noun, 'degree weakening' suffix on the adjective, and active participle marker on the verb. While gender/noun class counts even if it is only expressed on the noun, Kilen does not qualify for a 1 here because the system is not noun-specific.

Kilen is coded as 0.

North Levantine Arabic (ISO 639-3: apc, Glottolog: nort3139)

For nouns that are neither names nor human designations, gender cannot be inferred from meaning but usually from form: singular nouns ending in -e/-a/-ʔ/-t are feminine (Cowell 1964: 209). This language is coded 1.

Ashéninka Perené (Glottolog: ashe1272)

The membership of nouns in Ashéninka Perené noun classes is assigned based on semantic criteria, and not on phonological criteria.

"Alto Perené nouns are allotted to the genders based on a relatively transparent gender assignment system. The assignment criteria include sex for human nouns (males are masculine and females are non-masculine) and animacy for non-human nouns (inanimate entities are non-masculine by default)." (Mihas 2015: 332)

Ashéninka Perené is coded 0.

Further reading

Corbett, Greville G. 1991. Gender. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Senft, Gunter. 2000. Systems of nominal classification. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

References

Cowell, Mark W. 1964. A reference grammar of Syrian Arabic (based on the dialect of Damascus). (Arabic Series, 7.) Washington, D.C.: Georgetown Univ. Press.

Mihas, Elena. 2015. A grammar of Alto Perené (Arawak). Berlin: de Gruyter.

Terrill, Angela. 2003. A grammar of Lavukaleve. Berlin: de Gruyter.

Zhang, Paiyu. 2013. The Kilen language of Manchuria: grammar of a moribund Tungusic language. Hong Kong: University of Hong Kong. (Doctoral dissertation.)

Related Features

Patron

Hannah J. Haynie

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