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Swahili Grammar Essentials

78 cards · 🇺🇸 English

Swahili grammar essentials: noun classes and prefixes, plurals, concord, locatives, demonstratives, pronouns, and verb structure (subject/TAM/object prefixes, tense markers, extensions).

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Language family of Swahili

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  1. 1Language family of Swahili
    Bantu languages (Afro-Asiatic family)
  2. 2Basic word order in Swahili
    SVO (Subject-Verb-Object), though flexible due to verbal inflection
  3. 3Is Swahili an agglutinative language?
    Yes - it constructs words by joining together discrete roots and morphemes with specific meanings
  4. 4Does Swahili mark nouns for case?
    No - nominal roles are indicated by word order and verb agreement markers, not changes to the nouns themselves
  5. 5Swahili term for grammatical gender
    Noun class (preferred term since gender isn't based on natural sex)
  6. 6Is Swahili a pro-drop language?
    Yes - verbs can be used without explicitly specifying subject or object with nouns/pronouns
  7. 7Swahili noun classes (basis)
    The prefix they have, with each class having a prescribed number (inherited from Proto-Bantu)
  8. 8Example of class 2 noun
    wasichana (girls) or wasimamizi (overseers) - characterized by the prefix wa-
  9. 9Example of class 7 noun
    kifuniko (lid, cover) or kisukari (diabetes) - characterized by the prefix ki-
  10. 10Swahili noun classes frequently have no prefix
    Classes 5, 9, and 10 - e.g., gari (car, class 6), chupa (bottle, class 9/10)
  11. 11Class 1 in Swahili (typical use)
    Humans, animate beings / Singular (prefix: m-)
  12. 12Class 2 in Swahili (typical use)
    Humans, animate beings / Plural (prefix: wa-)
  13. 13Singular-plural pairing for class 3
    Class 3 (m-, singular: plants/inanimate) → Class 4 (mi-, plural)
  14. 14Example: mtu → watu
    person → people (class 1 → class 2)
  15. 15Example: mti → miti
    tree → trees (class 3 → class 4)
  16. 16Example: kitabu → vitabu
    book → books (class 7 → class 8)
  17. 17Example: jicho → macho
    eye → eyes (class 5 → class 6)
  18. 18Class 15 (use) in Swahili
    Infinitives/gerunds (prefix: ku-), e.g., kula (eating, consuming)
  19. 19Three locative classes
    Class 16 (pa-, proximal/exact), 17 (ku-, distal/approximate), 18 (m-, interior)
  20. 20Plurals generally formed in Swahili
    By switching to the next higher even-numbered class (odd classes = singular, even = plural)
  21. 21Concord (agreement) in Swahili
    The process where other parts of speech (verbs, adjectives) take concordant prefixes matching the noun's class
  22. 22Translate: Mwanaume mkubwa alianguka
    The big man fell (class 1: m- concords throughout)
  23. 23Translate: Kitabu kikubwa kilianguka
    The big book fell (class 7: ki- concords throughout)
  24. 24Animate nouns not in classes 1/2
    They generally take agreement prefixes from classes 1/2 as if they belonged to them
  25. 25Example: Kifaru mkubwa alianguka
    The big rhinoceros fell (kifaru is class 7 but takes class 1 agreement: m-kubwa, a-li-anguka)
  26. 26Effect of animacy on the word 'ndege'
    Animate: bird(s) / Inanimate: aeroplane(s) - distinguished by different agreement patterns
  27. 27Prefix for class 1 (singular)
    m- (before consonants), mw- (before vowels)
  28. 28Prefix for class 2 (plural)
    wa- (often reduced to w- before vowels beginning with /a/)
  29. 29Prefix for class 7
    ki- (can become ch- before vowels)
  30. 30Prefix for class 8
    vi- (can become vy- before vowels)

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