A computational implementation of the Northern Sotho infinitive

Abstract

The aim of this article is to describe the infinitive in Northern Sotho based on corpus data and the respective literature; so far, all share the same view: The infinitive is a noun (of class 15) and a verb at the same time – ‘it manifests both nominal as well as verbal features’ (Poulos & Louwrens, 1994:42). When implementing these constellations in a parser, however, a new perspective is found: to achieve its successful implementation, the infinitive must be defined as a verb on the one hand and as a noun of class 15 on the other, derived from this verb through nominalization (transposition). Instead of a subject concord, the verb stem in the infinitive is preceded by the respective class prefix.