Language/Lingala/Grammar/Gender
Hi Lingala learners! 😊
In this lesson, we will explore the concept of gender in Lingala grammar. It's an important aspect of the language, and understanding it will help you communicate more effectively. We will look at the different types of genders and how they affect the words you use. We'll also include some cultural information and interesting facts. By the end of this lesson, you'll have a better grasp of the gender system in Lingala. So let's get started!
Don't hesitate to look into these other pages after completing this lesson: The First 10 Verbs & Simple present tense.
What is Gender in Lingala?
In Lingala, just like in many other languages, we have a system of gender. Gender helps us classify nouns based on different characteristics such as biological gender or other criteria, such as shape or size. In Lingala, we have two genders: masculine and feminine. This means that each noun falls under one of these two categories.
For example, the word for "man" in Lingala, "moto", is masculine while the word "woman", "mwasi", is feminine. There are also some nouns that have no gender. These are usually objects such as "nzela" meaning "road" or "miso" meaning "eye".
Masculine and Feminine Gender
In Lingala, the masculine gender is used to describe male humans or animals, as well as any inanimate objects that are considered to have a masculine quality such as a rock or mountain. The feminine gender is used to describe female humans or animals, as well as any inanimate objects that are considered to have a feminine quality like lakes or rivers.
Here are some examples:
| Lingala | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| moto | mo-to | Man |
| ngombe | ŋo͡m-be | Cow |
| ntoto | ⁿto-to | Baby boy |
| bato | ba-to | Boys |
| liboso | libo-so | Lip |
| mokolo | mo-ko-lo | Day |
| malamu | malamu | Friend (masculine) |
| molende | mo-lɛn-de | Road |
| likolo | li-ko-lo | Chair |
| nzumba | nzum-ba | House |
| omba | o-mba | Cook |
| mbiya | mb-ya | Fish |
| mongongo | mo-ngo-ŋo | Monkey |
| ntumu | ntu-mu | Waist |
| nabuko | na-bu-ko | Student (masculine) |
| mokili | mo-ki-li | World |
| mosala | mo-sa-la | Knife |
| molongi | molon-gi | Friend (feminine) |
| mikolo | mi-ko-lo | Market |
| ebele | e-be-le | School |
| moto | mo-to | Vehicle |
| ndundu | ⁿdu-ndu | Banana |
Feminine nouns are often identified by the use of the prefix "ma-" or "na-" before the word. For example, "mwasi" (woman) has the prefix "ma-", and "na-sala" (knife) has the prefix "na-". However, this is not always the case, as there are still many feminine nouns that do not use these prefixes.
Singular and Plural Gender
In Lingala, we also have two types of gender based on grammatical number: singular and plural. For masculine singular nouns that end in a vowel, we add the suffix "-na" to make it plural. For masculine singular nouns that end in a consonant, we add the suffix "-ma". For feminine singular nouns, we add the prefix "ba-" to make it plural.
Here are some examples:
| Lingala | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| moto | mo-to | Man |
| mot na | moːt-nɑ | Men |
| sango | sɑ-ngo | Drum |
| san ma | saːn-mɑ | Drums |
| mwasi | mwɑːsi | Woman |
| ba mwasi | bɑmwɑːsi | Women |
| liboso | libo-so | Lip |
| lib ma | liː-mɑ | Lips |
| malamu | malamu | Friend (masculine) |
| ma malamu | mɑmalamu | Friends (masculine) |
| mokili | mo-ki-li | World |
| mi kili | mi-ki-li | Worlds (plural) |
Note that when forming the plural form of masculine nouns, there is a difference between those ending in a vowel vs. those ending in a consonant.
Cultural Information and Interesting Facts
Lingala gender system may seem complex to some learners, but it's actually quite intuitive. The Lingala speakers usually have no problem categorizing nouns as masculine or feminine. This is because the gender system in Lingala is closely related to the natural gender of humans and animals. For inanimate objects, the gender classification may seem a bit arbitrary, but still, one can guess the gender of the objects by their shape, size, or even their sound.
Lingala being a member of the Bantu language family, it shares some characteristics with other Bantu languages. One of them is the use of noun prefixes to indicate grammatical gender.
Also, remember that some words in Lingala may have no gender. For instance, some words borrowed from French such as "parapluie" (umbrella) don't have a gender.
Dialogue
To help you understand gender in Lingala, here's an example dialogue:
- Person 1: Moto na ngombe ezalaki maleko na liboso. (A man and a cow were standing near the lip.)
- Person 2: Ba moto na bato ba lingana na molende. (The boys and the men walk on the same road.)
- Person 1: Wumela na mikolo oyo, ebele ezongi. (Take a right at that market, the school is nearby.)
- Person 2: Ba molamu ba na mikanda mingi. (The male friends have many tasks to do.)
- Person 1: Mwasi na mikolo ba longoma na bana. (The women at the market are playing with their kids.)
Conclusion
Gender is an essential aspect of Lingala, and understanding it will help you communicate better in the language. By now, you should be able to recognize if a noun is masculine or feminine and how to form plural nouns. To improve your Lingala Grammar, you can also use the Polyglot Club website. Find native speakers and ask them any questions! And don't forget to check out more Lingala Grammar on Grammar tab. Keep learning, practicing and exploring the wonderful world of Lingala.
➡ If you have any questions, please ask them in the comments section below.
➡ Feel free to edit this wiki page if you think it can be improved. 😎
Sources
Finished this lesson? Check out these related lessons: Conditional Mood & Present Tense.
Other Lessons
- Irregular verbs – koya – to come
- Time adverbs
- Irregular verbs – kokende – to go
- The first 10 words
- How to Use Be
- Negation
- The Imperative Mood
- Nouns
- Present Tense
- Give your Opinion