Unit 3
A. Nouns in the Family Category
B. The Verb ‘there is/are’ ‘kuna’
E. The Reciprocal Verb
F.
The Preposition 'kwa'
A. Nouns in the family category
This
group of nouns is also identified as m-wa or class 1 & 2 nouns. Class 1 refers to the singular nouns and class 2, their plurals.
The second group below does not bear any distinguishing markers for singular
or plural. Speakers use context to disambiguate.
| no prefix (singular) | no prefix (plural) |
| kaka ‘brother’ | kaka ‘brothers’ |
| dada ‘sister’ | dada ‘sisters’ |
| baba ‘father’ | baba ‘fathers’ |
| mama ‘mother’ | mama ‘mothers’ |
These nouns are often included in a class with nouns whose singular and
plural forms
are not distinguishable. The class is often referred to as Ø-Ø or class 9 & 10 nouns (to be discussed later). However, as it will become evident later, nouns like baba, mama, dada, and other nouns referring to animals behave like the nouns designated class 1 & 2 and not like nouns in class 9 & 10 in which they are often listed in different grammars of Kiswahili. One noun which refers to living beings but remains in class 9&10 is familia ‘family’.
B. The Verb ‘there is/are’ ‘kuna’
Review the verb ‘to have’in unit 1 then consider kuna ‘there is/are’ as used in this example in the text:
Katika familia ya bwana Ahmed kuna watu watano.
‘In Mr. Ayub’s family, there are five people.’
Ku- is used to indicate that the noun in reference describes a location. Thus the translation has the preposition in making Mr. Ayub’s family to be the place where the five members reside.
Click on more for examples showing the behavior in different noun classes.
|
Class & Noun |
Swahili example |
English translation |
|
1. mtoto |
Mtoto ana chakula |
The child has food |
|
2. watoto |
Watoto wana chakula |
The children have food |
|
3. mti |
Mti una matunda |
The tree has fruit |
|
4. miti |
Miti ina matunda |
The trees have fruit |
|
5. tunda |
Tunda lina sukari |
The fruit has sugar |
|
6. matunda |
Matunda yana sukari |
The fruits have sugar |
|
7. kiti |
Kiti kina chakula |
The chair has food |
|
8. viti |
Viti vina chakula |
The chairs have food |
|
9. nyumba |
Nyumba ina ukuta |
The house has a wall |
|
10. nyumba |
Nyumba zina kuta |
The houses have walls |
|
11. ukuta |
Ukuta una picha |
The wall has a picture |
|
10. kuta |
Kuta zina picha |
The walls have pictures |
|
14. uhuru |
Uhuru una furaha |
Independence has joy |
|
15. kusoma |
Kusoma kuna furaha |
Reading has joy |
|
16. mahali (pa) |
Nyumbani pana wageni |
At the house there are guests (definite) |
|
17. mahali (ku) |
Nyumbani kuna wageni |
At home there are guests (indefinite) |
|
18. mahali (m) |
Nyumbani mna wageni |
In the house there are guests (inside) |
C. Personal Object Marker Pronouns
Personal
object marker pronouns are
also pronouns which may appear immediately after the tense marker and before
the verb stem. These include:
-ni- ‘me’ |
-tu- ‘us’ |
| -ku- ‘you’ | -m/wa- ‘you all’ |
| -m- ‘him/her’ | -wa- ‘them’ |
An example from the reading and video:
Mama Omar anawaonyesha Omar na Abduli picha za familia.
‘Omar’s mother is showing (them) Omar and Abduli pictures of the family.’
More Examples
1.
Ananipenda ‘He loves/likes me’
2. Anakupenda ‘He
loves/likes you’
3. Anampenda ‘He
loves/likes him/her’
4. Anatupenda ‘He
loves/likes us’
5a.
Anakupendeni ‘He loves/likes you all’ (variety used in Zanzibar)
5b.
Anawapendeni ‘He loves/likes you all’
6. Anawapenda
‘He loves/likes them’
Notice 5a & b. the final ni indicates plural.
The object marker pronoun is considered obligatory when the object is animate. This explains its usage in the example above. It functions as both an agreement marker and as a pronoun that may replace the full object noun in the sentence. For example:
Anawaonyesha (XXX) picha za familia.
She is showing them pictures of the family/family pictures.
XXX
indicates the omitted object that is also referenced by –wa- ‘them’.
In the video and text, the replaced object is Omar and Abduli
This is often referred to in some grammars as the perfect tense. The me -tense indicates an action that has been completed and has resulted in the present state of affairs. Consider the following example from the text.
Babu na wajukuu wake wamevaa kanzu nyeupe.
‘Grandpa and his grandchildren are wearing (dressed in) white robes.’
The act of putting on the white robes took place before the described present state (i.e. the act of grandpa and his grandchildren dressing in white robes took place earlier than the moment of speech). The me- tense is often found in descriptions of states of being. For example:
Mtoto
amelala ‘the child is (in a state of ) sleeping’
Mtoto
amesimama ‘the child is (in a state of ) standing’
Mtoto
amekaa. ‘the child is (in a state of) sitting.’
The reciprocal form of the verb expresses a concept of mutuality of interaction. The specific meaning depends on the verb with which it is used. The suffix -an- which is added to the verb translates as ‘each other.’ We have examples in the text: -tembeleana, ‘visit each other’,
-amkiana ‘greet each other’.
There is no specific meaning for kwa. Its use is largely dependent on the context. The general meaning and functions are prepositional. Look at its use in the reading text in this unit.
Kuamkia kwa heshima. ‚to greet with respect’.
In some cases it can be used with a meaning that implies instrument and translates as ‘by’ or ‘with.’ It can also be used to mean ‘on’, ‘at’ ‘for’ and ‘in’ as in:
For
example:
|
a. Anakwenda kwa miguu. |
‘She is going on foot.’ |
| b. Anakaa kwa mwalimu wake. | ‘She is staying at her teacher’s (house).’ |
| c. Ameishi kwa miaka kumi. | ‘He has lived for ten years.’ |
| d. Anasema kwa sauti kubwa. | ‘He is speaking in a loud voice.’ |
| e. Unalia kwa sababu gani? | ‘You
are crying for what reason(s)' ‘Why are you crying?’ |