When prepositions and adverbs become nouns and locatives in Xitsonga

This article aims to clarify the lexical category membership of noun classes 16, 17 and 18 in Xitsonga. These noun classes can be described as both nominal and locational, but also have constrained membership. The study follows a criterion-based approach rather than a traditionalist definitional approach. In terms of their translation equivalents, the study finds that these noun classes constitute prepositions and adverbs. Morphologically, the prepositions take two parallel structures with the same functional properties. In relation to their syntactical distribution, the prepositions seem to co-occur meaningfully with other prepositions in order to form bound prepositions. It is observed that none of the members of these classes is a noun or a locative, prompting the conclusion that noun classes 16, 17 and 18 are non-existent in Xitsonga. It appears that the lexical category membership of these noun classes has been taken for granted as locative classes. Further research should be conducted in order to develop a deeper understanding of lexical category membership of these ‘noun classes’ across the Bantu languages.