[ARCHIVE] Ki-Vi

[Fnirk1]

Originally posted by: machieng https://forum.duolingo.com/comment/34547797

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All the nouns in this noun class are inanimate objects (the converse, however, is not true). These nouns are a little easier to identify because they all have the prefix ki- in singular and vi- in plural OR the prefix ch- in singular and vy-in plural (again, the converse is not true).

Noun	Singular	Plural
Spoon	Kijiko	Vijiko
Cup	Kikombe	Vikombe
Bed	Kitanda	Vitanda
Mirror	Kioo	Vioo
Toilet	Choo	Vyoo
Organization/club	Chama	Vyama
Certificate	Cheti	Vyeti

Note that other nouns do have the Ki/Vi prefixes, but they do not belong to this noun class because of the affixes they are associated with. (For reference, nouns in the noun class 'Ki/Vi' always take on the affixes 'ki/vi')

Sentence	Singular	Plural
The chick is lost	Kifaranga amepotea	Vifaranga wamepotea
The last born is selfish/stingy	Kitinda-mimba ni mchoyo	Vitinda-mimba ni wachoyo
The class monitor is writing a report	Kiranja anaandika ripoti	Viranja wanaandika ripoti

This is why the noun classes are sometimes identified by their affixes rather than the noun prefixes themselves, e.g. the noun class 'M/Wa' is also referred to as 'A/Wa', because the latter is consistent regardless of the noun's prefix.