This article examines the use of prefixes and prepositions in classes 5 and 6 in Xitsonga. A qualitative approach was used to collect and analyse data. The focus group method was used to collect data through assigning some practical exercises to students enrolled for a BA degree in Xitsonga. Words studied were purposefully sampled from various prescribed Xitsonga schoolbooks and one monolingual Xitsonga dictionary. Though there is no specific rule that explicitly addresses the use of prefixes and prepositions, rules 4.1 (a), (b) and (c) of Milawu ya Matsalelo na Mapeletelo ya Xitsonga [Xitsonga Rules] were considered for analysis of the findings. The study identified three prefix challenges for the classes 5 and 6 nouns, namely (1) the class 5 words, which are used either with a prefix or with zero prefix, and (2) words which are classified either in classes 5 and 6 or 11/10, and lastly, (3) words with two syllables which start with the ri- syllable. The study found that there is no consistency in the use of the preposition for class 6. The article proposes rules that can be followed to standardise the use of prefixes and prepositions for the classes under investigations. It is recommended that the rule identified in the study be considered when revising the Xitsonga spelling rules and orthography booklet.

本文研究Xitsonga中第5类和第6类中前缀和介词的用法。定性方法用于收集和分析数据。焦点小组方法用于通过为参加Xongsonga学士学位的学生分配一些实践练习来收集数据。所研究的单词是有目的地从各种规定的Xongsong教科书和一本单语的Xongsonga字典中取样的。尽管没有明确规定使用前缀和介词的特定规则，但《米拉武译本》的规则4.1（a），（b）和（c）考虑使用[Xitsonga规则]进行结果分析。该研究确定了第5类和第6类名词的三个前缀挑战，即（1）第5类词与前缀或零前缀一起使用，以及（2）分类为第5类和第6类或11/10，最后，（3）用的话两个音节，其与启动[1-音节。该研究发现，对于第6类的介词使用并不一致。该文章提出了一些规则，可以遵循这些规则来规范所调查类的前缀和介词的使用。建议在修改Xongsonga拼写规则和拼字法小册子时考虑研究中确定的规则。