Etymology
Inflection of Nouns — Gender, Number, Derivative Prefixes
§32. GENDER
Umbundu has no grammatical gender. Nouns are not masculine or feminine.
Sex is distinguished only by separate words or by adding -lume (male) or -kai (female):
o-njila o-ndume = male bird
o-njila o-nkai = female bird
o-mbua o-ndume = male dog
o-mbua o-nkai = female dog (bitch)
A small number of nouns inherently denote sex:
u-lume = man u-kai = woman
o-selenge = billy-goat o-hombo = she-goat
o-ngombe = ox o-njindi = cow
e-kota = elder brother omu-kai = sister
§33. NUMBER
Singular and plural are formed by changing the preformative:
u-lume / a-lume omu-nu / oma-nu
e-kapa / a-kapa ochi-ndele / ovi-ndele
o-ngombe / olo-ngombe olu-si / olo-si
oka-ndimba / otu-ndimba
Some nouns occur only in singular (abstract nouns):
e-kavo (weariness), ou-esi (laziness), i-lu (sky)
Some occur only in plural (collective or natural plurals):
ovi-ta (war — literally: armed men)
oma-si (oil, fat)
ova-va (water)
ova-te (saliva)
§34–35. DERIVATIVE PREFIXES
The preformative of one class may be replaced by another to derive a new meaning:
AUGMENTATIVE: replace any preformative with ochi- (sg) / ovi- (pl):
u-lume (man) → ochi-lume (big man, hulking fellow)
o-mbua (dog) → ochi-mbua (great dog)
DIMINUTIVE: replace any preformative with oka- (sg) / otu- (pl):
o-ndimba (hare) → oka-ndimba (little hare)
u-kai (woman) → oka-kai (little woman)
e-kapa (potato) → oka-kapa (small potato)