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Noun Class and Number in Kiowa-Tanoan 77
table 4. Taos Northern Tiwa
Singular Dual Plural
Class Sfx Index Class Sfx Index Class Sfx Index
Class I -na Ø- -ną/-nemą i- -ną/-nema i-
Class II -ną/-nemą i- -ne u- -ne u-
Class III -na Ø- -ne u- -ne u-
Class IV -ne u-
table 5. Isleta Southern Tiwa
Singular Dual Plural
Class Sfx Index Class Sfx Index Class Sfx Index
Class I -(V)de Ø- -(ni)n i- -(ni)n i-
Class II i- u- u-
Class III Ø- u- u-
Class IV Ø-/i-/u-
As in all of the other Kiowa-Tanoan languages, class I for both Northern and Southern
Tiwa consists of all of the animate nouns and very few inanimate nouns. Class IV, which
makes no distinction for number, contains mostly non-count nouns. It is again classes II
and III that divide up most nouns with inanimate referents on a seemingly arbitrary basis.
In an attempt to analyze the semantic organization of the Tiwa noun class systems,
Trager (1961) and Leap (1970a, b) describe the A, B, C class marking distinction in terms
of a purely number construal schema wherein A is used for a ‘unit’, B is used for a ‘set’,
and C is used for an ‘aggregate’. These terms are only roughly defined in the Tiwa literature.
Leap (1970a:202) briefly describes units as “occurring singularly as discrete objects”,
sets as “composed of items in systematic, patterned relationship to each other”, and
aggregates as “a simultaneous occurrence of several single items, without any necessary
relationship or connection.” Nouns then appear in one of these classes depending upon
their construal in a given context which roughly, in translation, corresponds to an English
singular or plural.
While this innovative analysis may not be too inaccurate diachronically, it suffers
from being too post hoc in a synchronic analysis. There is no justification as to why a given
noun is construed in the way that is represented by the indexation classes with which it appears.
Also, if the system were purely based on number construal, one would expect more
inanimate nouns in class I (i.e., nouns that may be construed as units (A) or sets (B)) and
moreover, perhaps nouns that could take any of the three indexation classes, depending
upon the semantic/pragmatic context. The classes appear to be very fixed with very blatant
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