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The Waswahili Community Trust UK
(Wadhamini wa jumuiya ya Waswahili)

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SECTION 8

THE INTRODUCTION TO SWAHILI NOUNS' CLASSES

The Swahili nouns consist of a stem with a prefix attached, and they fall into seven different noun classes, according to their prefixes. In order to demonstrate this let us take the examples of the nouns from each of those seven classes as shown below, beginning with ( KI - VITU CLASS ). Then we are going to consider each one of them separately in different sections. Remember! Swahili is a logical language, so think logically, for your own goodness sake. Agreed !


NOUN CLASSES
KI - VITU CLASS M - MI CLASS M - WA CLASS MA - CLASS U CLASS PA AND KU CLASS N - CLASS

(1) " KITU " and " VITU CLASS " ( A THING / THINGS CLASS )

Nouns in this class ( see the 1st Table above ) are for things. The noun prefixes are:

( KI ) singular and ( VI ) plural.

Now Let's take 20 nouns from this class, and see how they are simply formed.


  1. Kiatu / A shoe - Viatu / Shoes
  2. Kidude / A toy - Vidude / Toys
  3. Kichwa / A head - Vichwa / Heads
  4. Kitanda / A bed - Vitanda / Beds
  5. Kikapu / A basket - Vikapu / baskets
  6. Kijiko / A spoon - Vijiko / Spoons
  7. Kikombe / A cup - Vikombe / Cups
  8. Kisahani / A saucer - Visahani / Saucers
  9. Kisanduku / A box - Visanduku /Boxes
  10. Kitambaa / A cloth - Vitambaa / Clothes
  11. Kiti / A chair - Viti - Chairs
  12. Kitabu/ A book - Vitabu / Books
  13. Kimanda / An omelette - / Vimanda / Omelette
  14. Kisiwa / An Island - Visiwa / Islands
  15. Kiazi / A potatoe - Viazi / Potatoes
  16. Kibanda / A hut - Vibanda / Huts
  17. Kisima / A well - Visima / Wells
  18. Kipande / An I.D. Card - Vipande / I.D.Cards
  19. Kipande / A part of anything - Vipande / parts of things
  20. Kibakuli / A bowl - Vibakuli / Bowls
  21. Kidaraja / A small Bridge - Vidaraja / Small Bridges
NOTE!

The exception is that there are also some nouns, beginning with ( KI ) that are derived from from Arabic words, in which the (KI) is part of the word, and not the stem prefix. But these words are treated as if they belong to the ( KITU CLASS ) like "kitabu" referred above, unless they the names of people or animals.

Standard Swahili English Dictionary - Oxford. This dictionary identified those words which are of Arabic derivation. However they may also be the names of people or animals, given ( KI ) and ( VI ) as part of the noun.
For example, Kijana / A young person | Vijana / Young people.

SECTION 9

Demontratives : "KITU" and "VITU CLASS"

NOTE!

The word " THAT " and its plural " THOSE " are formed from the sylable -LE in the "KITU"
and " VITU CLASS". For example:


NOTE AGAIN!

" THIS " and its plural " THESE " are formed by using " HIKI " for " THIS. "
And " HIVI " for " THESE " at the end of a noun.

This is shown in the following examples:

SECTION 10

Possessive Adjectives " KITU " and " VITU CLASS "
-Angu - My -Ako - Yours ( Singular ) -Ake - His / Her / It
-Etu - Ours -Enu - Yours ( Plural ) -Ao - Their

NOTE!

In English there are different forms for a possessive adjectives to be used with a noun, for example, " my book " , and possessive pronoun used with the noun, for example, " This is mine. " But in Swahili, there is no difference.

It is worth remembering that the possessive adjectives agree with the noun, they refer to, that is the thing spoken of. So, if we go back to our " KITU - VITU CLASS " (see the following section 10)

SECTION 11

Possessive Adjectives - ( Conjugation " KITU " " VITU CLASS ")
Kitabu changu - My book Kitabu chako - Your book ( Singular ) Kitabu chake - His / Her book
Kitabu chetu - Our book Kitabu chenu - Your book ( Plural ) Kitabu chao - Their book

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