Do Swahili speakers know what a noun class is?
Generally, Swahili speakers do not know what a noun class is unless they’re formally educated in Swahili. For example, Kenyans living in Nairobi are generally educated in English, as English is one of the two “official” languages of Kenya. Kenyans take a Swahili class in school, and maybe even do a minor in university.
Where can I find entries for verbal nouns in Swahili?
Wiktionary entries for nouns in this class can be found among the entries in Category:Swahili verb forms, and are listed as words marked as verbal nouns of the ku class.
Do Tanzanians speak Swahili as a mother language?
The above is aside from Kenyans in Mombasa or elsewhere on the Swahili coast, who likely speak Swahili as a mother tongue. Similarly, Tanzanians who have studied Swahili at a university level will be very familiar with the concept of Swahili noun classes.
How do you make a plural of a noun?
The countable nouns take a plural by using Class XII, which as a class is sometimes considered as nonexistent, because it is impossible to distinguish from Class X, the plural of the N class. All the rules of prefixing n-to a noun stem apply when creating such plurals.
What are the noun classes in Swahili?
Swahili noun classesM-wa class.M-mi class.Ma=ji class.Ki-vi class.N class.U class.Ku class.Pa locative class.More items...
How many noun classes are there?
Languages with noun classes Alternatively, the Meinhof system of counting singular and plural as separate classes gives a total of 21 classes including the four locatives.
How many cases are there in Swahili?
It has no grammatical case marking on the noun. Nominal roles are indicated by a combination of word order and agreement markers on the verb, with no change to the nouns themselves.
How many noun classes does Zulu have?
The Zulu noun consists of two essential parts, the prefix and the stem. Nouns are grouped into noun classes based on the prefix they have, with each class having a number....Possessive.ClassPrefixPrefix + class 1a17kwá-kuká-13 more rows
What are the 8 classes of nouns?
The 8 types of nouns in English grammar and examples include proper, common, concrete, abstract, collective, compound, countable and non-countable nouns.
What are the classes of nouns?
There are different types of nouns like common nouns, proper nouns, abstract nouns, collective nouns, concrete nouns and so on.
Is Swahili hard to learn?
How hard is it to learn? Swahili is said to be the easiest African language for an English speaker to learn. It's one of the few sub-Saharan African languages that have no lexical tone, just like in English. It's also much easier to read as you read out Swahili words just the way they are written.
Who speaks Swahili in the world?
With its origin in East Africa, Swahili speakers spread over more than 14 countries: Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), South Sudan, Somalia, Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia, Comoros, and as far as Oman and Yemen in the Middle East.
What are pronouns called in Swahili?
Swahili PronounsEnglish PronounsSwahili PronounsPronounsViwakilishiImimiyouweweheyeye24 more rows
What are noun classes in Sepedi?
Terms in this set (12)1st Noun Class. Mo-Ba.2nd Noun Class. Mo-Me.3rd Noun Class. Le-Ma.4th Noun Class. Se-Di.5th Noun Class. N-Di.6th Noun Class. Bo-Ma.Mo-Ba Concords. o / ba.Mo-Me Concords. o / e.More items...
What is Deverbative noun?
Noun. deverbative (plural deverbatives) (linguistics, grammar, rare) A word or a component of a word that is derived from a verb.
What are noun classes in Zulu?
Zulu nouns are composed of two main parts: a noun prefix and a stem. A noun may have several prefixes, but only the first prefix reflects the noun class and is considered significant, so all other prefixes after the first are considered part of the stem.
What is a noun class 5?
A Noun is the name of a person, place or thing.
What are the 10 types of noun?
10 Types of Nouns That You Use All The TimeCommon Noun.Proper Noun.Abstract Noun.Concrete Noun.Countable Noun.Uncountable Noun.Compound Noun.Collective Noun.More items...•
How many Spanish noun classes are there?
The different types of Spanish nouns – Los tipos de sustantivos. There are two main types of Spanish nouns: concrete and abstract nouns.
What are noun classes in Sepedi?
Terms in this set (12)1st Noun Class. Mo-Ba.2nd Noun Class. Mo-Me.3rd Noun Class. Le-Ma.4th Noun Class. Se-Di.5th Noun Class. N-Di.6th Noun Class. Bo-Ma.Mo-Ba Concords. o / ba.Mo-Me Concords. o / e.More items...
What is a Swahili noun?
Swahili noun classes. Swahili nouns, like those in other Bantu languages, are noted for a system of semantically based classing, which affects not only nouns but also their modifiers (adjectives, numbers, demonstratives) and verbs. Just as gender accord is required in many Indo-European languages (e.g., French, Spanish, German, Russian), ...
What is the inanimate category in Swahili?
This class is also known as Class III (in the singular) and Class IV (in the plural). It is used to refer to inanimates almost solely, but Swahili considers plants and groupings of animals or people to be inanimate. Natural phenomena and active body parts also belong in this category, as well as anything inanimate that has a connection to one of the concepts listed above, like an object made from a plant or shaped like one. These prefixes may be added to noun stems to express the name of a plant that bears a certain fruit, like tende (“date”) → mtende (“date palm”) .
What does the Ma class mean?
This class is usually used for foreign loanwords referring to inanimates that do not fit easily into the noun class system, because the singular does not necessarily require a prefix and the plural form is the same as the singular form, although they are often given Ma class concords and the ma- plural by many speakers. Some N class words may also take a Ma class plural to indicate a collective grouping.
What class do animate nouns take?
Animate nouns in the N class (principally those referring to people and animals) take the concords of the M-wa class. There is an important exception with the possessive adjectives, which, for the N class only, take the N class concords instead of the M-wa concords their animacy would appear to require.
What does it mean when a word takes a Ma class plural?
There are a few words in the U class that take a Ma class plural, and some N class words that may take a Ma class plural to indicate a collective grouping. Animate nouns in the Ma class (principally those referring to people) take the concords of the M-wa class.
What is the class of ji-ma?
This class is also known as Class V (in the singular) and Class VI (in the plural). It is used to refer to a wide variety of items, especially the names of fruits (and other round things), and collectives, inanimate objects that are usually found in groups, like jino (“tooth”). Some of these collectives may only exist in the plural forms, and these usually refer to liquids or small things that can literally or metaphorically cover wide expanses. The Ji-ma class prefixes may be added to noun stems to express an augmentative, like nyoka (“snake”) → joka (“serpent”) .
Why are borrowings in the N class?
Borrowings referring to people are still habitually placed in the Ma class because of animacy concerns. There are a few words in the U class that take a Ma class plural, and some N class words that may take a Ma class plural to indicate a collective grouping.
Wednesday, 27 August 2014
Noun classes are very frustrating when you begin learning Swahili, partly because the whole concept is so different from anything we have in English, and partly because it takes time to learn the rules of each class.
Noun Classes
Noun classes are very frustrating when you begin learning Swahili, partly because the whole concept is so different from anything we have in English, and partly because it takes time to learn the rules of each class.
