A CONCISE GRANMAR

are Swalrili nouns fall into various classes wlriclr, for convenience, each page 14, usrrallv grouped o. ,t'*'' in tlre Table of Concords on class *ittr its singrrlar ancl plural' '*i|;;;,_tne I. NOUNS

class; l-tvA ctas (e.g. 11tu watu) is tle personalhuman *'iin- "ry one or two exception all .tlre nourrs in it denote if they b;i'g.-. .o.,' i" othlr clasles take tlre concords of this class denote Persons or animals. ""C;;'";' ffi; M:M-;io'' 1".g. rnti rniti) consists of the namcs o{ things. Trees and plants are in this class' "'.Ziil' most 3;'ih" ;ls 1e.g. njia. njia) contains.the names of a'i-ot, .,d .o'11" fruit, in<l a large number of non-Bantu nouns. n. As lhe.plural I\{ost o{ the Bantu no,rrrr have ciropped their initial isthesameasthesingutar,N-class^nounsareslrowninthedictionary is no change' The *itiiif* plural sign f1, clenoting. that there ancl these are givenletter -.".,,", in a ih..,g". l" !.ji" folow:ing lettcrs, n, note following-this section. -." of the '- +, iti" Nt-it class-.(e.g, kit}r vitu) consi.sts mostly of concrete things. lors belonging to other classes can be names or a . ili..sl'i l"to this .;" change'of their prefix to s}row smallness a kipofll, some c1iminution 1e.g. niuto, tog; kittiko, a little bag; class, unless they ii *""l. They t|'"'' t.t." ih" c.i.'co'dsofof this r. Where the noun Class "'t" ri""g beigs and take tlre concords occtrr with anotlrer word, ;il i; o.Lo'yriur",_oi "o"fusion .miglrt. a stream). Kibeiore ih;-p*fi*r.i;i i used (e.g. rnto., a,,?2,; kijito,most nouns beginning a r,olvel other than ; uJ.-"' ch and' tlreref|re witin ch, belong to this class. prefix Class 5, tt,e ru-t;;;-i".g. yai.rnayai) lras 19.:ilq"lor (e.g. root rvhen ji is prefixed except before a vowel "' 'i'oo'yllabic ;i ;;;;J).* r-." tt'" N-clirsit contains many non.Bantu u'orcls, lijir*'"l..i.tr''"g-l.' th" fo'. of the word to show which of the two vary' it belongs tol Some rvor<ls are well-established, but others "toi.". if you find a word marked (-) in the dictionary " . ""iu" '.iip'i" usecl with a NA plural, or vice versa. KI_VI class to shou' smallJust as.nolrns "u"! lrought into'theMA-class to show largeness. ness, so they can be-broughi into the and .man, .men; Then tlrey tta.re noJr;fr; ii the singular (unless-they requite ii.) jitu rnajitu, giants; ii' tnL plural (elg. rntu \^r'atu,

plurals are shown in the dictionary, it is not necessary to remember -these, but the U-class is a very interesting one, and more can be found about it in Teach Yourself Saahili, chapter 7. Class 7, the PA-cIass, contains only one word, mahali, place'(ound sometimes as rnuahali, or pahali) ancl all its concords are made with the prefix pa. The other concords given in the Table are explained in the note on Place on Page r2. Class 8, t]ne I{U-class, contains all infinitives used as verbal-nouns (e.g. kuimba, si'ngi.ng). It is not given separately in the Table, but in 1tr" last columrl, under the prefix hu, there is a lote "similarly infinitives". Infinitives begin rvith ku, and when uscd as nouns, all their concords begin rvith ku or kw before a vou'el.
Noum Prcfires
'rr,'ill see two kincls of prefixes, called there, Adjectiue Prefi,xes and Verb Pre.fixes' I{ere we are considering the first kind only. Tn the first four classes they are the same as the prefixes of the nouns: rrl-wa, rn-rni, n-n, ki-vi. In the \{A-class there is a singular prefix ji. This is put in brackets, because it is only used when the djective begins witlr a vowel. In tlre U-class tlre singtrlar prefix is rn foi adjcctives, with one or trvo exceptions. Thus, taking the keyworcls in the Table, and adding the adjective 'zuri, good, we get rntu

In the Table of Concords you

beings of any clnss take the concords of the personal class, the adjectiveJwith words lil<e nde$e, bird; kipofu, bli'nd, man, rvill be rnzuri

watu wazuri; rnti rnzuri, rniti mizuri; njia nzuri, njia nzwti; kitu kizuri, vitu vizuri; yai zuri, tnayai rrr.azwti; uzi trzwri, nyuzi nzuri; rnahali pazruri; kuirnba kuzuri. As living
x7'z:uti'

wazuri.

Sonle changes tal<e place in these prerxes before a r'owel, brrt not al] beforc the vowel i:-

Changes beJore

a Vowel

the

LI, JI, ZI drop their vowel, ancl prefixes A with a {ollorving E or I to mal<e E.
Changes caused by

N{I ,, KI ,, VI ,, U"lV' I,,Y KU ,, N,,NY

lVI becomes

MW MY in CH VY KW

adjectives

encling in

anta,lgamate

fuko mafuko, largc bags).

Swalrili, ];or tmore aaout ihe-. a,nd' ]|I A classes see Teaclr Yourself to' chapter ch-apters 5, 6, anct 44, and' for largeness amd sntallness ","Z-i;;; uz nyuzi) conssts' of nouns beginning
wit]n

uzuri, u or, before ."-"l*"r] '. Mot ar abstract nouns (e.g. course, beauty) or names of substances (e.g.}na, flou.r) and these, of h;;; i' plurat' rr*".it**, *itii J f"*""*.."ptions, ta]<e the plural the 'of llre N-ctss n"ith the us"al'changes caused by the Letter n. As

d' ;''" U-;;;' 1e]g.

Except in one or two monosyllables where it forms a separate svllable and takes the stress (e.g. rchi) N is found in Sr,vahili only be{ore d, g, j and z. Before a vowel it becomes ny, and before b, p, v or w it becomes rn. nl and nr become nd. Thus the follov'ing rvords all belong to the N-class: nde$e, n$uo, njia, nzi$e, nyani, rnbwa, npya, mvua, rnbin$u, ndirni (pl. of ulinri).

Noutr, Suf,ixes

Trvo suffixes can be acided to nouns. verb, to shorv Ji."" b" iuffixecl to a noun ending in a, formed fr-omaa herdsmart' ni to tlcrd,; inchun$aii, lrabitual actiont r'"o- "''ting .]i""n"' the noun ".g. "ftnttg", a thing to clenoting ? place,.e.g:^Tnii' ;..;,;,;i ii,,, tt,e-totull,; hea, the ir; hewani,.il,t.-th.e.air. Tlrese

The numbers given below are those used in counting; rvhen used as adjectives the six just named must be given prefrxes.

aclverbial nouns no longcr take the noun class prefixes but the pr-ei*"s .ho*'. in the TablJ trnder Place. More about t1rem is said in tlre note on Place on Page 12.

z. AoJBcrrvns In English u,e thinli of acljectives as lvords used rvith a noun, and o,o.,o.i,-', as lvorcls used rvithout a noun. But if \e use these names

i-i;.il';"-";.;il" .rvith
ia]ie,

a crcxccptions, tl'" '.*" prefixes'as tlrc'nollnS. Thcse (z)-nunrbers.; (3) tlre *'orcls,-in$i, nzuclt, .ltow aic 1iy clescripti'c "a-1-J"ti"".'; utalty. It is easy to i,,o,iy; -ins,ihe, sonll, otl.let,;."a -n$api, rcmmber t-hese three lvords as tlrey all contain rzg.
Bantu languages have very {erv acljectives, but srvahili has borrorved the severa1 tro Rroic. Tlrcse do not. take the Bantu prefi.xes. In A.;i"".ry a short line before a wortl shows that ttre right prefix must be attachecl. Swahili having grolvn up as a spoken language'-lvhere much can be ConveYe.l thru[tr tone bnd gestr're, as rvell as by.the some of le adjeces lrave a *ide range o.f meaning.: "o"t"*t, (from wiithhold,\ can denote econot'nical, carefttl, -tt'i.rti",t t'ttri,rgy,' eren niseriy; -shupavu, intr.epid' resohtte' thr"ijty, ni,ggard.ly,"Vitr",-i, ot','tte,"higote.. lt ili dcpends on lrorv you.look at it! ' There are scveral tu.y. it rvhich other-adjectivcs can be made: |r) Bv tlre trse o .a,b.f , o, ..,ye, hauing.' rnaji ya noto' Jnt wateri wtoto-wenye afya, healtlry children. (z) Bv the usc or t,ia or,pasipo, witlrcut: mahali pasipo. Til1: n' otice att,oltt trees, j.c' a trccIess place; rnji bila watu, a,L 7t,tlnlla1ltea'
'lo*',r.
D
e s

ii;ahili, rve class as acljectives.'tlrc rvords rvltich

cri P tiu e A dj e ctia e s

r z 3 4 5 6 7 S 9 ro rr rz r 3 rq 15 16 rT rB 19 20 22

rnoja rnbili tatu nne tano sita saba nane tisa (kenda) kurni kumi na moja kurni na rnbili kurni na tatu kurni na nne kurni na tano kurni na sta kurni na saba kumi na nane kurni na tisa (kenda) ishirini ishirini na rnbili

30 thelathini 33 thelathini na tatu 4" arobaini 4+ arobaini na nne 50 harnsini 55 harnsini na tano 6o sitini 66 sitini na sita ?o sabini ?T sabini na saba 8o themanini 88 thernanini na nane 90 tisini gg tisini na tisa roo rnia rot mia na neoja rro rnia na kurni 2oo mia rnbiti 25o rnia rnbili na harnsini gg9 rnia tisa tisini na tisa rooo elfu

\\rhen the numbers denote ordcr they are formecl v-ith -a, of, v-ith the riglit prefix: siku yakwanza. the first da1'; siku ya pili, ya tatu. ..

up to siku ya rnwisho, the last.

-ingi, -ingine, -ngapi, These are the thrce other words that take the adjective prefi.xcs; lii<e the other adjectives they follorv the noun: un$a rnwin$i, a lot of fl.ou,r; watu wengine, other people; vitabu vingapi? how many
boohs ?

Iow oftenl lVlara

Horv often? is shown by the rvord rnara, tiruels: Mara n$api?

rnbili,

twice.

y"iyo

These relatives are tisecl rvith verbs, e.g. kitabu kilichopotea, .the i'i-toon; rniti isivota, useless poles." As will be seen rom the ;;;;pi"', the syllables in italics hve to be changed according to the noun class. .^-i""ti""s follorv the noun they qualify, except |<i!2, eue1y, v'lriclr p."""'a"i it- There are,no specialiofms for comparison,- zaidi, rnore; kupita, to pass, or kuliko 6an be used: Ali ni rnrefu, lakini Jurna

(s) By the relative i|iyo, wltich is, and is1lo, u1hi1| is ltot: ITraneno -kweti,

tn,e a.,];rnatendo yasyo |akj,..1tliiust

actiotzs.

zidi, a1' tat, but Jurua is taller; Ali ni mrefu kuliko ''i..eru (or) kumpita Jurna, Ali is taller than Juma'
Nttntbers

3. PnoNouxs The lov'er half of the columns in the Table of Concords shorvs the verb prefixes (oterr called pronominal). These looli very different from the adjective prefixes, but actually they are remains of old noun prefixes rvhich have been dropped in Swahili. In other Bantu languages we get urnti, the tree, irniti, the trees, and u and i are equivalent to saying it and they ..uvit}l^ a verb when referring to the M-MI class. Similarly rvith the other classes. These prefixes have to be prefixed to the verb whether the subject has been named or not, and also to the other rvords shown at the side of the table.

The numbers used in swahili are a mixture of Bantu and Arabic roots. The Arabic ones do not vary, but the Bantu ones (one' two' lr'i"", fotrr, fi.ve, and eight) talie tlre djective pre.fi.xgs.. In tlre N-class, r'oiu""".' tie only one.cttngea is .wili, luoj v'hich becomes rnbili.

belonging to Class r:

Bcore dealing rvith the other noun classes, '!ve give lrere

Personal Pronou,ns

t}rose

Pronoun Pron.oun -angu rne -ako wewe, yow (one) ye e, he, hiru.; she, lter -ake -etu sisi, are, as -enu ninyi, yow (manY) -ao wao, they, them thi,s (z\ this rnirni i huyo wewe I truyu yeye )
rr:.irrt'i, f ,

Possess'iue

o subject object -ni- I ni-kuua- or yrr- -rn(w)- L -tutu-warn(w)-wa- ) wathat hauing self yule rnwenye rn\ /enyewe
|

Verb

prefi,x

Verb Prefi,x

prefix. That is ormed by the verb prefix followed by .le. In

these two words re given for each of tlre noun so there is no need to repeat them here. The other demonstra"t."'' tive is'this wit]n its last letter changed to o. lt is used when someone o. *-"lning has already been mentionecl; maneno hayo, for instance' refers to words alreacly written; naneno haya to those about to be

"r" or Concords

tlre

written.

Tlrere are two ways of expressing who, uhich, uhen', where' when these words are used s relativi pro''..'''s. One is by th9 relafive prefix n* p"t into the .r"rt. tn"se relative prefixes are sho*'n irr the Table of oncords, near the bottom of the olumns, and are ormcd Pv tqe verb prefix iollowed by the same o of reference as is used in this (z). T1e imba relative is shown above in the section on personalpronou-ns, ancl in the other cla,sses it is formed in the sam way. The other relative will bc explained in the section on Verbs' Tlre o of refererice forms also tlre root of the Bantu rr'ords ot a,ll, refcrrirrg to thc completencss of thc thing mcntioned, and'tor atty: kitabu"ch ote, the ,in|h, m,u vitabu vyot, all tlte boohs., kitabu cho chote, any booh.
4. Tnn VBns To Be As in rnany other languages, the present tense of the verb to be is irregular, and is best talien separately. C"on,ectiues. When am, is o, ,, are nrercl1. connectir'e_s ni can be used foi all the noun classes, or even omittecl ltogetlrer. In the .negativ.e foo.d i-,"pl"c"s ni and .""t be omitted: chaku1 (ni) tayari , the If it i.s is ii"ai; rnachungwa si rnazuri, the o.ranges--are not.good' are used yu desiie'd to strcssTh" p"r.o., the pronominallyllables ni u attachecl to amba., and tlre otrer more usual one by the relative pre-

R el atiue s

rnirni

wewe

anvone

atl

whi'ch?

who (rel')

yeye

those haui'ng selues these these (z) sisi -l wenye wenyewe ha(w)o wale ninyi I hawa wao ) who (rel.) which ? alt &ny sisi I wapi? arnbao wote ninyi | *o wote wao ) NorB: - -{. This (z) is the form used when referring to someone just
mentioned. -..
frur." possessive pronouns are shown with. a hyphen because they with tire thing possessed, not rvith the posscssor:rnirni "gree _--l. na kitabu chan$,u, I and rnY book.

I
I

ye

yote

YuPi?

arrrbaye

rl'"
t"

rr'" subjecprefix is the first syllable in- " Y91b .(unless.the neative ha precec1es it) and the h1'phe,n shows tlrat it is to be joined ".t the vdrb rvith otirer prefixe. Tlre object prefix comes in tlre *o.a i^-ecliately before t e verb root and therefore has syllables ioinins it on both sides. ,i. t"* much-ttsed words are frequently joincd to a strortened form of ttre pcrsonal pronoun: lnwananEu, my child; wenzetu, our compattioni; babay, ltis father, etc.
As the possessive pronouns given,above all begin-with a vowel the changes r-eferrecl to on page 3 will take plac.e, u becoming w, etc. So lv get rntoto wan$u watoto wan$u; rnti wan$,u rniti yan$u; n3ia yngu njia zang:u; kitu changu vitu.vyan$u;. vai l.an$u r''ayi yangu; uzi wangu nyllzi z9nplu; qalali pan$u; kuirnba t*''c". I.-n speaking ot ttrlngs -ake is used both for ils and their:
Possessiue Promoums

instead of ni for tn three p"'.'o''s singulai, and tu n wa for the are olural: with si for all persons in the r'rgative: Tu wa$'eni, I,[:e the "t;;;;A;rt:U tt"ttil wt are you? Si haki", It isn't fair' 'For things

verb prefi.xes are used if necessary. e rr. The place tytt.bl"t ko rieo po can be added to the prefixes

gi"""
I

rniti na rnatuAda yake,

trees amd tbeft

fruits.

Swalrili lras no word or a or the, but it lras three forrns of demonstrative where in English u'e have only two, th,is and that. Thi,s is formed by the verb prfix preceded by with the same vor,vel as in tlre

D ernoustt'atiues

hitchen. The negatiie forms with persons are sipo hupg !3.VtPo hatupo harnpo awapo. In the ot1ier classes ha is prefixed: Kitabu kipo? Is tlre 6ooh there? Hakipo, It i-s mot here. bnobhasis. Ndi (a mo." e'''ihatic form than n)can be joined to a or.tn" persoal pronouns or to the verb prefi'xes: .il;iil"a.i; ,'i'.'i, It is I, ndiwe, ii is yow, ridiye, it is he, ndio, it isobje-ct one: 'they. The ioilo*iitg verb should irave 6oth a relati,,e.prgfi",11d.an aicnoj.itabu nilichokitaka, Thi's is the bboh which I uantec. These forms are shown in ttie Tabie of Concords. Note also the following words in common ot"t Naiyo (i't is so\ : Yes; siyo' No; Ndipo' 1l is there, or It is then; Ndivyo ilivyo, That's hou it is' Relatiue. To make the'relative the root li is used, preceded by lhe p;"fix o tlre right class and followed by tlre relative prefix. '"ilj;;. the forms for reference: Heie are

"n"'e arn here. Yuko

tdenot place: Upo wairi? Where are.y-ou? .Nipg 4.p?' *up A|i? W.here is^Ali? Yurno jikoni, He is in the

Pcrsons:

_tt'i.'g.' niliye tulio and or mti ulio, miti iliy.o uliye ;ii; 1ii" iliyo, njia.zLizo titu tiiictro, vitu vilivyo aliye '"ii"o

'.'t'.ti For negative in all classes substitute si for li' To Haae what seems to be thc Haue isexpressecl in Srvahili by.b-e with' and etc. I-rith, vou-with, p'"'.]"i l;;'J o ]laie is reirlly

#itllf'ff;'.;,.?'j'o paiipo; kuirnba

kuliko

- affirmativc nina tuna negitive sina hatuna huna harnna una nna hana hawana elrra wana ha to Preix, prefixing In tlre otlrer class". tr'" i" i' aclded the tlre r.erb h'oytt,s; ]\4ti hauna tree has ,,,iib', in tlre negative' lit^'." an object the relative prefix rniiba, llrc tree t,o,io t,i,,. I{ ttre'reischan$ri? Ninaco. Iaue yotl kitabu is a<ldecl at tlre .na."u"nit,o *,,?i!|!,!':)' !{:,':I"as tlrat for be ollorvecl by n.a. If there is p'#;i'.;it*n".t" tlre na: Watu wasio na watoto' -Noti"" an object the -o the subject and object are t>eoble wllo haue ,;:i;',;,;;;, ; ,,,'ii;\aii. nilcho that the boh ,!,l.n I haue (it). i,o ''ino, ';.".'Kii il;,i-i" ,"*-i,i ,o,tj,,gated lihe any otlter The other tettses "} in. the next sectr'om' aerb, as shourt
Verb Tenses only in the lmperative' The verb as given in a clictionafY l-s founcl Infinitive, kutazama, in tlre e.g'. Tazarnal u,,i;;';i"*;g;.l tnu Tense, it i' p;"."ed by p.fi*".,l'' the order: Subicct,
to-looh. Usually

The subject prefixes already given in the Table of concorcls- are given again ittre^table of Verb Tnses on page 16. In the simple pr999n!, o tn" tense prefix begins with a vowel, tley yr]l be slightly modified, combining *itt' tt'e as in o/ in tlre Table of Concords. In t}re egative tenses tlre egatir'e prerx ha'precedes all tlre subject prefixes exept tlrose for I ind' yoit,; here hani becomes si, a'nd hau, hu. Tcnses willtottt prefxes The st ju,nctiue, also used as a polite imperativc, is formed by the subject peixfolorvec1 by the veib with its last letter, if a, clranged to . In ttre negative tlre prefixes remain tile sarne, and the otlrer rregative sign si |rececles tlr verb: Nitazame, Let rue looh; IJsiende,

Dtt.,tgo;iRtiii, Let
change.

l,erbs'borrowed,

frow Arabic end

urc thinh.

itt,

oy

u and

the ending does uot

A"habitu,al ten,se, use for any time and any person, is' made v'itlr tlre prefix hu: husema, they sy; Maari lrupita kila siku' Trains is no corresponding negative tense.' 'pasi euery d.ay. There is formec1 by the. negative subject The n.egatue present ^P'"!T, followed y the.verb, witlr its fina] Ietter, if a, changed to i: Sitaki,

d,o

'l'he object prefix comes immcdiately before the verb:

not w,n't;

Hawafikiri,l.hey

don,,t tlt,i.nh.

usingatiilzonyesha kitabu nisn$ali&itaka, If

sholln, me tlie book

sllottld not lt,aue wanted

it.

yot,t,

had

ttot

T-he Relatiue

i,"to'" them. 'I1.::.:1: Relative, object, wiih often a ngativ-t' The prefixes givcn tn is retlexive tr,e ou;eci p-;J; !s rcilaced by ii' ana o61e9t. Those or uotti tor-i"j"t the Table of ConcJr",'*,"" lt'o*'' in th Table of Verb
persons are s1ightl}^il"dhi, but are
Tenses.

The tense Prefixes are as {ollows: ffirmatiue --" r uattt

na Dresent

simple present; nataka'

"o".ii'"o".; i i."t"'"; nitataka , I

nge,

li Past; nilitaka, I wanted' and I wanted il#;;;;ii""; ttitt^ttka, uattt Li if, *h"tt; nikitaka, if I titi"iaka' ninp'alitaka' if I ngali,
had, uartted,.

shall want

nnataka , r

ant,

uanting

On page Z or:e rvay of expressing who, ahich, u''hen,,o,r alteve wben used als ieltives ws explined. lre commoner, and better w.aY,.is to put the relative prefix-into the v-erb. All the prcfixes, 9:c"P-t !1 tttg sin'gular of ilre perional class, end in o. They are in the Table of Coricords, ancl riere givcn again in these notes on page 8 r,r,'ith the verb lo be. T]IIe Tabl of \rerb Tenses shorvs lrow to use tlrenr in the present, past, ancl future tenses. Except In -the simple present they iollow ttr te'ise prefix; in tlre simple preent tlle tense p.r.eix is omittcd and tlrey come t the end. This,-lrowever, is for the affrrmative only. In th negative tlrere is only one form for all three tense.s:.subje.ct prefix, negai'oe si, relative, verb, u-itlr object (if any) just beforc the verb. Com'pound' Tenses can be formed lvith the P-ast tense o huwa (to be) as .ho*'' at the bottom o the Table. Tlre Kl-tense given above for if and, wlten, is also a present participle, nikitaka, I aanti'ng.
I nfi,nitiue an d, f ru,P erat iue Tlre infinitive is preceded by ku; to form the negative.to is-put ater the ku, very often-u'ith another ku: kutotaka or kutokutaka, not to want. A monosyllabic verb (see below) must always have the second ku: kutokuwa, not to be. The infinitive is a verbal noun and takes the ku prefixes as shorvn in

N esatiae -

""iiiiiilii

uanted'

if r

ll<rroast:

wanted ia not-vet t""t"l "ii"taka' I haue ipo it]"ot; nisipotaka, tt|tless.r .wattt nisin$alitaka, if I did nol ,,i"i''g"t.,
(yet)

sikutaka, I did not want t" titt"tb; sitataka, I shall not wattt not
ne, nali, ' -w'antl
tJ

the Table of Concortls: Kuserna ni kuzuri, na kutokusema ni

kuzuri, Speaking is

"o.,,iiio,1Ji I had not wanted'

speaking to *o'e than one prson ni is added and the last letter o{ the

good, and silence is good. The mperativ"e is-the simplest form of thc verb: Soma, read|, In

10

II
piga, to hi.t; pi$wa, to be hit;jibu, lo answertjibiwa, to be answered; nunua, to buy; nunuliwa, to be bought, The apparent irregularities in the last two words are explained in Teach Yowrself Saahi,li, ika or eka gives a meaning rather similar to the passive, but instead of thinl<ing of the act and who caused it, we think of the restrlting state; e.g. kikornbe kirnevunjwa, the cup has been' broh.en (by some' one);kikornbe kirnevunjika, the cup'is brohen; Barua haikusomwa, read;Barwa haikusorneka,
the lettev was unreada,ble.

made verb, if a, is changed to e: Sorneni! This changg !o : is usually even i" tne singular as"well if there is an objectl 1"{,t1!et?'-lrinC' Lete, *itt,out ai object: i""'',", read, themiboohs1; Nipg, g.iu-e me; from There.r"'u t"* iiregular imperatives: Njoo! Njoni!

brins Ut\. ,b,,,,,,: Nenda! Nendeni! from kuenda, to go.. tuj, ---i-tL ,r"gotive subjun"tl.r" i, used in place of a negative imperative: Ijsisorne"or Msisorne, Do not read. Usije, Do not corne, etc. MonosYllabic Verbs

chapter zz.

Thereareafewverbswhich,withouttheku,haveonlyonesyllable: eat' For ease Uuii, io be; kufa, to-d,ie;kwja, to come;kwla, toa,nd-ta tenses' o{ pro"f..i in the na, lrle, in the nunciation, these t"lui" irt" ;;'t';;', and utii " relative pronoun: anakujaThe ku coru,i^ngi 'he.is is oten which I ate. watakuwa , they *iti ui; ''iii"t'ot.i'!a,. retained in the erbs enda, go, and istz, fi,nish.
Inr.Personal Forms There is, there a,re are translated by kuna,_negative.hakuna: Kuna isn,t. .."ji-"ii.il Hakuna. Is there uter on the uay?--(No,) there used: p.";r-.i'r'"n used ;;;';"ity, ttre singtrlar of th N-c]1s9, i, is vr"tuenae, lt t'.i\ia_in*t .ii go, i'e. e had, better go; 11'aifzi kuche"*u, tt;' i,ot good, t3 be late, Three very common phrases of this kind il are: haifai, better i,i iii*ezekani,,it can,t be one; haidhuru' doesn't matter. say. There is also the hu tense, already mentioned, husena, they I'erb Swffixes The following syllables can be attached to the end o{ a verb: What . je,--how? ,in".u|,l"3"l How d,id yott' hnow? Asernaje?
does lte saY ? haue th,ey gone? pi, .ni, where? arnekwendapi? Where

A suffrx na is sometimes added, and so we get the very cornmon words, patikana, be obta,inable; wezekala., be possible; onekana, be u,is,ible; julikana, be hnown. This orm is rrsrrally called the stative, and tl.rere is more about it inTeach Yowrself Suahili, chapter zz. ia or ea is a prepositional ending, showing to, for, etc., e.g. leta, to bring; letea, bring to; pata, to get; patia, get for; toa, to ofler; tolea, to o-ffer to. Notice that in this form the object is the person, not the thing: Kilete, bring it (the food); Niletee, bring-to rrre. See'I'each Yottrself Swahili, chapter 34. sl:'a', za) nya as well as being ordinary verb endings, often denote tlre causative {orm: an$uka, Jall; an{uslra, mahe fall (i.e. d,rop or break dozun); jaa, get full; iaza, ntahe full, Jill; pona, get well; ponya, mahe well, cuve. Causative verbs can be macle from adjectives by adding sha: safi, cleam; safisha, mahe clean; irnara, Jirm;irnatisha, wahe fi,rnc. See'f each Yourself Swahili, chapter 39. ana makes a reciprocal verb, denoting each other or one another: penda, loue; pendana, loue ome another; ona, see; olala, see each othey

the letter was not

th plural of the r-ryprti.,e. This ni can .ot y,, as an objct prefix; in speak,ing '.o"a p"ttott the usual object pr.efix is wa (see to morc than one used
also make

ptural .is",

}o*ing

Of course, these dcrived verbs can also make other forms; e.g. ponya, cure; tT:.e causative {orm of pona, get better, can add a stative ending, ponyeka, get cured or be curable; niletee, bring to nte, can make a passive, niletewe, be brottght to we.
of it: Mbona unasitasita? lVhlt 6s you go on hesitat'itzgl Anajaribujaribu, he is trying (but tcot uery hard). 6. AovBnns Adverbs, having nothing to do with nouns, do not need any class prefix. There are, howevcr, three advcrbial preixes whiclr lrelp to
Doubling a verb shows either a repezrted action, or some modification

(r.e. meet). See 1-eaclt, Yottrself Saahi,li', chapter 37.

p"lural

be Personal r,'""o"".,'page 6) but the sigu'ai ktr can person,); ii''En''''bia, I hau told you (one with the ."m" the

"i ' Nirnetuambi;;i,- 7

same chang"

grammar.

there:Yitabuvikiwako.,iftheboohsarethere;Hawakuwano nyurnbani, They uere not L" tl'! howse' Teach Yourself Saahi'li or any good For more about

"iin" porkororm'ocanbeaddedtotheothertensesoltheverDrcoe just as trt"y *"i" t; ih" pT9tg"t tense: Nitakuwapo' I shallbe
";;b "o"."ii

a to e takes.placc as in thejTp-":-1l::

haue tolcl yo'w (many)'

Notice that

-^

form adverbs: vi makes adverbs rom adjectives: vizuri, vibaya, v(y)ema, etc. It also makes adverbs like hivi, th.rls; vilevile, in tlLe sa?ne way, and is used as an adverbiai relative in verbs: hivyo ulivyoserna, thus as you said. ki rrsed with a noun denotes ..in the manner o',: Sirnarneni European fashion. pa, ku, and rnu make adverbs of place: hapa, here; pale, there, etc. They can also denote time: papa hapa, jwst th,en. Apart from adverbs made with these prefixes there are a large number without any prefix, showing how, wlten, or where. They will all be found in the dictionary. Three of them are really intensifiers: sana, rnno and (sometimes) kabisa. Although the general meaning is uery, they can be translated in various ways: kirnbia sana, rtnt fast; shika sana, hold ti.glr,t; Urnekaa tnno, yow lraue stayed a uery long

kiaskari, stand lihe soldiers; arnevaa kizun$u, he 'is

dressed

in

5. DonrverrvB VBnss way of altering Bantu languages have a very interesti-ng and rsefulnotes here are to tr'" *""ifig o"f verb by chnges at.th end. The "the and to enable him to "ia".tr'" 'B'a"i' io tr'e se of of thisdictionary he meets in his r9ad1ng' sort thal make out the -"".'i''ot .,erbs Swahil'i References .r" gi.r".r-[o in" i"t".r".tt chapters of Teach Yourself for further study i desired. wa at tlre end iu .,".u (except kuwa) shows the passive, e.g.

12

t3
/ie: Nyarna ni nzuri leo, si karna today, not li.ke th.at of YesterdaY.

time. T]rre reverse is shorvn by kido$o, a little: Yuko rnbali kido$o-, ni ts a little way off; kaz yae nzuri kidopo, hi,s worh is fairly good. The chief inter;ogatir'es are: lini? whelt,? wapi? wltere? nanna

ile ya jana;

the rneat is good

$ani?

lzow

? k:wa

nini or

rlt'bona? whY

as: Fanya karna upendavyo, Do it as ilott, like.

7. Pracn As we sarv, when consiclering nollns and their classcs, there is one Swalrili *oi.l o' f>lace, rnahli. But neiglrbouring Bantu langrrages lrave tlrree words,-ancl probabll'Su'ahili did too, in the forms of p,atw, iirti, rrrno, each witli its orvn prefixes, roughly denoting at, to, and in' \vhen the Arabic word camc into use these three rvords dropped

Dis-association is shorvn bY:

abottt: karna futi kumi, abot ten, feet. as thowgh: Si karna (kwarnba) aliona rnweryerve, though he had seen it himself.
arIl^, oz:

It is

,not as

au or

wala, and, 'ttot, noi: Sik:utnwona wala sikusikia habari zake, I didn't see ltir;n, rzor did I hear abowt hiru..
Tltere are no people, except on'e ch,ild.

Nipe chai au rnaji,

Gfue rne tea or aater,

out, but their prefixes remained. 'Ihese are sho'ivn in the last column of tlre'Iable oi Concorcls. When the v'or<l mahali is used, the pa-prefi*". o." usecl rvith it; othcrrvise the pa prefixes denotc a definite uosition' or at a place;tlre ku an indenite one, or to a placc; and the i'' o'' inside o''-", i', a place. Tlrese preixes form adverbs like hapa, here; tltey orm tre strbject of tlre impersonal verbs tllere is and there yerb be to slrow are, kwn, pana' rnna;-ancl they arc irttaclred to tlre place: nitakuwapo, I slrull be tliere. But perhaps their most freque-nt i'. i' t'ith l.eral nouns: Yumo nyurnbani mwake, ke is in his

lakini or bali, but: Alikuja lakini sikurnwona, I{e ca.ne but I did ttot see him. ila or isipokuwa, except: Hakuna watu ila rntoto rnmoja tu,
hiyo, therefore; in$awa, althottgh; ijapo, eaen. if. Insteacl of the introdtictory u'ords lI/ell, So, Nou, etc., rvitir rvhich many sentences begin in Englisir, basi, hata, tena, ikawa are common in Swahili. F'or more about thesc rvords see Teach Yowrself swaltili, chaptcrs 32,
becawse;'i<wa 33, 36, 38

Among other important words are

ili, in

order that;

kwa sababu,

i,,',; Arnekwenda sharnbani kwake, he has.gone.to his cornfield. Anasirnarna pale rnlangoni pake, IIe is standittg there at ltis door. Many olk-tlcs bcgin rapo zao.ni palikuwa na ntu''; Long
ago tlt.ere w&s
cr,

nran.

8. PnrPostrIoNS exo CoNJUNCTIoNS l\Iost of the work of these is clone by the prepositional form of a verb, and bv the KA-tense, see pages 8, rr. It is difficult to disting-uish prepoitions frorn conjunction; it is better to loo]; upon them ali as u'orcls of association. l\{any are made from the -a of association: .a piececlecl by the class preix makes of ; rnalali vamti, the leaues of the'tyee. A1l tlre forms o.of arc slro.ivn in the Table of Concords. , -a prcceded by ku make k:wa, to, Jrollt, with, Jor,.ctc.: Tuende kwa inwa|rnu, Let us go to the teachcr; Barua irnetoka kwa nani? IVho has the letter corue"frotn? Kata kwa kisu, cut it witlt a hnife; Nimekuja kwa dawa,-r haae come for medicine. Kwa can be com-

OnrnocRePHY AND PRoNuNcr,c.rrox commcnts are made on this, whcre necessary, in the follotving Notes on the Srvahili section of the Dictionarl'' It should be remcmbered that St'ahili words are stressed on thc syllzrble before the last, an<1 therefore any suffixes move tlre stress forrvarcl: e.g. kitbu, bo'o!;.kitabwni, itt, tt book; Arnekwnda, I.Ie has gotte; Arnekwendpi? trVhere has
he gone?

Nakwenda kwetu, I am. going home; Kwenu ni rnbali? Is your home ,far off? Tuende kwao, Let aots go to their home' ndani, Put i't inside; yuitn an adr,erb forms preposition: Weka W ta ndani ya nyurnba, Put it ito the hott'se; Nipe zaidi, Giue me ,norei Watu ,iai ya ishirini, more than taenty p.eople, na can be translitecl in several ways: Lete chai na rt].aziwa, Bring tea and. milh; lJnaitwa na baba yako, Yow are called by 1'our father; Nenda na Hamisi, Go rvith Harnisi. For the introductory that we use kama, ya kwarnba, orya kuwa: Aliserna karna atakirja, He said that he would come. Karna has other imPortant uses: if : Karna akija, If he conzes,t,,rh,,. sijuikaila atakuja, I don,t hltow whetller he will come.

bined r.'iilr the possessive pronouns:-Njo-ni \w3tgY' Cotne to me; Naornba kwako^, I ash from yott,; lJlifika kwakeP Did 1toy. get to ltint ?

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