Noun classes categorize nouns in synthetic and polysynthetic languages. They can range from two to over 20 classes, with higher inflection in more classes. Grammatical gender is a subtype of noun class, based on reference characteristics, morphological similarities, or convention. Other parts of the sentence agree with the noun’s class. English has residual signs of noun classes. Common categories include masculine/feminine, animate/inanimate, human/nonhuman, and rational/nonrational. Some languages have unique categories such as form and texture or separate classes for edible fruits and vegetables.
A noun class is part of a noun categorization system found in synthetic language and polysynthetic language families. Languages with noun classes may have only two or more than 20 different classes. The more noun classes a language has, the higher the degree of inflection of the language. Distinctions between noun classes tend to be based on reference characteristics, morphological similarities, and arbitrary reasons.
Native English speakers who studied Spanish, French or German in school are familiar with the concept of grammatical gender. In Spanish, for example, all nouns fall into one of two groups: masculine nouns or feminine nouns. In the field of linguistics, it has not been fully agreed on whether to separate grammatical gender from noun class. Some linguists use “gender” to refer to all noun classes, and other linguists consider gender to be a special subtype of the noun class. Linguists in this second category tend to use the term “genre” only when describing nouns in languages that have two to four noun classes.
The class that a particular noun falls into will often align with the referent, which is what the noun refers to. For example, the Spanish word for “man” is masculine and the word for “woman” is feminine. With other nouns, the division is based more on morphological similarities than referential characteristics, such as how words ending in “–a” are more likely to be feminine and words ending in “–o” are more likely to be feminine. more likely to be masculine in Spanish. Other words fall into one or another class of nouns based on convention only.
In languages that have a system of noun classes, the system can have anywhere from two to more than 20 noun classes. All names must belong to one class and usually can belong to only one. Other parts of the sentence or noun phrase, such as adjectives, articles, and verbs, will show grammatical agreement with the noun based on its class. Using another Spanish example, the article “la” is used only with feminine singular nouns and “el” is used only with masculine singular nouns. English is no longer seen as using noun classes, but there are residual signs of noun classes from older forms of English in selected pronouns and in some nouns that retain gender-based endings, such as “actor” and “actress” as well as “waiter” and “waitress”.
Common noun class categories include masculine vs feminine, animate vs inanimate, human vs nonhuman, and rational vs nonrational. Some examples of less common categories are form and texture, classes that often appear in Athabaskan languages such as Navajo. Many African languages have multiple noun classes which can be difficult for English speakers to understand at first, and some Australian Aboriginal languages even have separate noun classes for edible fruits and vegetables, hunting weapons, and things that reflect light.
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