with each other to form singular/plural pairs, sometimes called 'genders'. There are seven genders in total. The singular classes 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9 take their plural forms from classes 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, respectively. Additionally, many household items found in class 9 take a class 2 prefix (ba) in the plural: lutu → balutu 'spoon', mesa → bamesa 'table', sani → basani 'plate'. Words in class 11 usually take a class 10 plural. Most words from class 14 (abstract nouns) do not have a plural counterpart. Class 9 and 10 have a nasal prefix, which assimilates to the following consonant. Thus, the prefix shows up as 'n' on words that start with t or d, e.g. ntaba 'goat', but as 'm' on words that start with b or p (e.g. mbisi 'fish'). There is also a prefixless class 9a and 10a, exemplified by sánzá → sánzá 'moon(s) or month(s)'. Possible ambiguities are solved by the context. Noun class prefixes do not show up only on the noun itself, but serve as markers throughout the whole sentence. In the sentences below, the class prefixes are underlined. (There is a special verbal form 'a' of the prefix for class 1 nouns.) molakisi molai yango abiki (CL1.teacher CL1.tall that CL1:recovered) That tall teacher recovered bato bakúmisa Nkómbó ya Yɔ́ (CL2.people CL2.praise name of You) (Let) people praise Your name (a sentence from the Lord's Prayer) Only to a certain extent, noun class allocation is semantically governed. Classes 1/2, as in all Bantu languages, mainly contain words for human beings; similarly, classes 9/10 contain many words for animals. In other classes, semantical regularities are mostly absent or are obscured by many exceptions. Verb inflections and morphology Verbal extensions There are four morphemes modifying verbs. They are added to some verb root in the following order: Reversive (-ol-) e.g.: kozinga to wrap and kozingola to develop Causative (-is-) e.g. : koyéba to know and koyébisa to inform Applicative (-el-) e.g. : kobíka to heal (self), to save (self) and kobíkela to heal (someone else), to save (someone) Passive (-am-) e.g. : koboma to kill and kobomama to be killed Reciprocal or stationary (-an-, sometimes -en-) e.g. : kokúta to find and kokútana to meet Tense inflections The first tone segment affects the subject part of the verb, the second tone segment attaches to the semantic morpheme attached to the root of the