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[ARCHIVE] The M-Wa class

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Fnirk1
Sweden

[ARCHIVE] The M-Wa class

Post by Fnirk1 »

Originally posted by: davidvdb https://forum.duolingo.com/comment/33438939


Meaning
The M-Wa noun class is generally used to refer to human beings. Singular words get the m- prefix and plural words get the wa- prefix.

SingularPluralEnglish
mtuwatuperson
mtotowatotochild
mgeniwageniguest
mgonjwawagonjwasick person
mpishiwapishicook
mkulimawakulimafarmer

This also includes nationalities and ethnical and religious identities.

SingularPluralEnglish
MtanzaniaWatanzaniaTanzanian
MchinaWachinaChinese
MrenoWarenoPortuguese
MswahiliWaswahilia Swahili person
MkikuyuWakikuyua Kikuyu person
MkristoWakristoChristian
MyahudiWayahudiJew

Notable exceptions, M-Wa words that don't refer to humans, include mnyama (animal) and mdudu (insect).

Formation

Disclaimer: only for people who love morphology. Some people might prefer to study these rules by heart, while others might unconsciously acquire the rules by a lot of practice and input. Do whatever you feel comfortable with. :)

M- & Wa-

The M-Wa nouns in all previous examples have a stem starting a consonant. These words follow this basic rule m- for singular words and wa- for plural words. The following formation rules will apply to word stems starting with a vowel.

M- + -U = Mu-
Words with stems starting with -u follow the normal M-Wa pattern, for example mume - waume (husband).

M- + vowel = Mw-

If the first letter of the stem is another vowel than -u, the m- usually becomes mw-.
Examples are Mwingereza (Brit), Mwarabu (Arab), mwalimu (teacher), mwizi (thief) and mwenyeji (inhabitant).

Wa- + -A = Wa-

Because waanafunzi would be too long ;)

SingularPluralEnglish
mwanawanachild
mwalimuwalimuteacher
mwanafunziwanafunzistudent

! Exception: Mwarabu (Arab) --> Waarabu

Wa- + -I/E = We-

SingularPluralEnglish
mwiziwezithief\nmwenyewewenyeweowner\nmwenyejiwenyejiinhabitant

! Exceptions: Mwislamu (Muslim) --> Waislamu (not Weslamu) and Mwingereza (Brit, Englishman) --> Waingereza (not Wengereza)

Remarks
*The Swahili word for woman, mwanamke, is a compound word. It is derived from the words mwana (child/daughter) and mke (wife). The plural form is wanawake, in which you can recognize the words wana (plural of mwana) and wake (plural of mke).

*tAn alternative for the word mwanaume (man, pl. wanaume) is mwanamume, derived from mwana (child/son) and mume (husband). Its plural form is the same as the plural of mwanaume (wanaume)

:sweden: N :gb: C1 :ru: B2 :fr: :es:B1 :de: :it: :netherlands: A1

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