yes-no questions there is often a High-Low fall on the final syllable of the question: 'are you also weeding the maize?' There does not seem to be any consistent, direct correlation between tone in Tumbuka and focus. Nouns Noun classes As is usual with Bantu languages, Tumbuka nouns are grouped into different noun classes according to their singular and plural prefixes. Each class of noun has its own adjective, pronoun, and verb agreements, known as 'concords'. Where the agreements disagree with the prefix, the agreements take precedence in deciding the class of noun. For example, the noun 'possessions', despite having the prefix ka-, is placed in class 1, since one says 'these possessions' using the class 1 demonstrative . Malawians themselves (e.g. in the University of Malawi's Citumbuka dictionary) refer to the noun classes by traditional names such as "Mu-Ŵa-"; Bantu specialists, however, refer to the classes by numbers (1/2 etc.) corresponding to the noun-classes of other Bantu languages. Occasionally nouns do not correspond to the classes below, e.g. 'chief' (class 9) irregularly has a plural mafumu in class 6. Class 1/2 (Mu-Ŵa-) Some nouns in this class lack the prefix Mu-: pl. = person pl. = foreigner, white man pl. = child pl. = donkey pl. = maternal uncle (no pl.) = goods, possessions Class 3/4 (Mu-Mi-) pl. = head pl. = fig-tree pl. = life pl. = heart Class 5/6 (Li-Ma-) pl. = breast pl. = government, district pl. = bottle pl. = tribe, nation pl. = eye (no singular) = water pl. = hill pl. = problem, trouble pl. = hand Class 7/8 (Ci-Vi-) pl. = year pl. = country, land pl. = farm animal pl. = drunkard pl. = whip Class 9/10 (Yi-Zi-) pl. = plate pl. = money pl. = brick pl. = chicken pl. = fish Class 11 (Lu-) Some speakers treat words in this class as if they were in class 5/6. = side = fame = tongue Class 12/13 (Ka-Tu-) pl. = small thing pl. = baby pl. = bird (no singular) = sleep Class 14/6 (U-Ma-) These nouns are frequently abstract and have no plural. = night = farming pl. = bridge pl. = bow Class 15 (Ku-) Infinitive = to buy, buying = to steal, stealing Classes 16, 17, 18 (Pa-, Ku-, Mu-) Locative = underneath = in front, before = inside Concords Verbs, adjectives, numbers, possessives, and pronouns in