Editing Lingala (section)

==Grammar==
[[File:Digestive system diagram ln.png|thumb|Body parts in Lingala]]

===Noun class system===
Akin to all [[Bantu languages]], Lingala has a [[noun class]] system in which nouns are classified according to the [[Prefix (linguistics)|prefix]]es they bear and the prefixes they trigger in sentences. The table below shows Lingala's noun classes ordered according to the numbering system widely used in descriptions of Bantu languages.

{|class="wikitable"
!Class!!Noun prefix!!Example!!Translation
|-
|'''1'''||mo-||mopési||''giver''
|-
|'''2'''||ba-||bapési||''givers''
|-
|'''3'''||mo-||mokíla||''tail''
|-
|'''4'''||mi-||mikíla||''tails''
|-
|'''5'''||li-||liloba||''word''
|-
|'''6'''||ma-||maloba||''words''
|-
|'''7'''||e-||elɔ́kɔ||''thing''
|-
|'''8'''||bi-||bilɔ́kɔ||''things''
|-
|'''9'''||m-/n-||ntaba||''goat''
|-
|'''10'''||m-/n-||ntaba||''goats''
|-
|'''9a'''||Ø||sánzá||''moon''
|-
|'''10a'''||Ø||sánzá||''moons''
|-
|'''11'''||lo-||lolému||''tongue''
|-
|'''14'''||bo-||bosɔtɔ||''dirt''
|-
|'''15'''||ko-||kosála||''to work (infinitive)''
|-
|}

Individual classes pair up to form singular/plural pairs, sometimes called genders. There are seven genders. 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: ''lútu'' → ''balútu'' 'spoon', ''mésa'' → ''bamésa'' 'table', ''sáni'' → ''basáni'' '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 [[assimilation (linguistics)|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. ''mbísi'' 'fish'). There is also a prefixless class 9a and 10a, exemplified by ''sánzá'' → ''sánzá'' 'moon(s) or month(s)'. Possible ambiguities are resolved by context.

Noun class prefixes show up not only on the noun itself, but as markers throughout a sentence. In the sentences below, the class prefixes are underlined. (There is a special verbal form 'a' of the prefix for class 1 nouns.)

{{interlinear|indent=2|<u>mo</u>lakisi <u>mo</u>laí yangó <u>a</u>bíkí|CL1.teacher CL1.tall that CL1:recovered|'That tall teacher recovered'}}
{{interlinear|indent=2|<u>ba</u>to <u>ba</u>kúmisa Nkómbó ya Yɔ́|CL2.people CL2.praise name of You|'(Let) people praise Your name' (a sentence from the Lord's Prayer)}}

To a certain extent, noun class allocation is [[Semantics|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 obscured by many exceptions.

===Verb inflections and morphology===

====Verbal extensions====
Four morphemes modify verbs. They are added to a 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 attaches to the semantic morpheme attached to its root.
* present perfect (LH-í)
* simple present (LL-a)
* recurrent present (LL-aka)
* undefined recent past (LH-ákí)
* undefined distant past (LH-áká)
* future (L-ko-L-a)
* subjunctive (HL-a)