Editing Zulu language (section)

==Morphology==
{{main|Zulu grammar}}
Here are some of the main features of Zulu:

* Word order is [[subject–verb–object]].
* Morphologically, it is an [[agglutinative language]].
* As in other Bantu languages, Zulu nouns are classified into [[noun class|morphological classes]] or ''[[grammatical gender|genders]]'' (16 in Zulu), with different prefixes for singular and plural. Various parts of speech that qualify a noun must agree with the noun according to its gender. Such agreements usually reflect part of the original class with which it is agreeing. An example is the use of the class "aba-":

::{{lang|zu|'''B'''onke '''aba'''ntu '''aba'''qatha '''ba'''sepulazini '''ba'''yagawula}}.

::''All the strong people on the farm are felling (trees).''

:The various agreements that qualify the word "abantu" (people) can be seen in effect.

* Its verbal system shows a combination of temporal and aspectual categories in their finite paradigm. Typically verbs have two stems, one for present-undefinite and another for perfect. Different prefixes can be attached to these verbal stems to specify subject agreement and various degrees of past or future tense. For example, in the word {{lang|zu|uyathanda}} ("he loves"), the present stem of the verb is {{lang|zu|-thanda}}, the prefix {{lang|zu|u-}} expresses the third-person singular subject and {{lang|zu|-ya-}} is a filler that is used in short sentences.
:Suffixes are also put into common use to show the causative or reciprocal forms of a verb stem.
* Most property words (words encoded as adjectives in English) are represented by relatives. In the sentence {{lang|zu|umuntu ubomvu}} ("the person is red"), the word {{lang|zu|ubomvu}} (root {{lang|zu|-bomvu}}) behaves like a verb and uses the agreement prefix {{lang|zu|u-}}. however, there are subtle differences; for example, it does not use the prefix {{lang|zu|ya-}}.

===Morphology of root ''Zulu''===
The root can be combined with several prefixes and thus create other words. For example, here is a table with some words constructed from the roots -{{lang|zu|Zulu}} and {{lang|zu|-ntu}} (the root for ''person/people''):

{|class="wikitable"
! Prefix !! {{lang|zu|-zulu}} !! {{lang|zu|-ntu}}
|-
| {{lang|zu|'''um(u)'''}} || {{lang|zu|um|italic=no}}{{lang|zu|Zulu}} (a Zulu person) || {{lang|zu|umu|italic=no}}{{lang|zu|ntu}} (a person)
|-
| {{lang|zu|'''ama, aba'''}} || {{lang|zu|ama|italic=no}}{{lang|zu|Zulu}} (Zulu people) || {{lang|zu|aba|italic=no}}{{lang|zu|ntu}} (people)
|-
| {{lang|zu|'''isi'''}} || {{lang|zu|isi|italic=no}}{{lang|zu|Zulu}} (the Zulu language) || {{lang|zu|isi|italic=no}}{{lang|zu|ntu}} (culture, heritage, mankind)
|-
| {{lang|zu|'''ubu'''}} || {{lang|zu|ubuZulu|italic=no}} (personification/Zulu-like tendencies) || {{lang|zu|ubu|italic=no}}{{lang|zu|ntu}} (humanity, compassion)
|-
| {{lang|zu|'''kwa'''}} || {{lang|zu|kwa|italic=no}}{{lang|zu|Zulu}} (place of the Zulu people) || –
|-
| {{lang|zu|'''i(li)'''}} || {{lang|zu|i|italic=no}}{{lang|zu|zulu}} (the weather/sky/heaven) || –
|-
| {{lang|zu|'''pha'''}} || {{lang|zu|phe|italic=no}}{{lang|zu|zulu}} (on top) || –
|-
| {{lang|zu|'''e'''}} || {{lang|zu|e|italic=no}}{{lang|zu|zul}}{{lang|zu|wini|italic=no}} (in, at, to, from heaven) || –
|-
|}