A CONCISE GRANÍMAR

I. NOUNS

Swalrili nouns fall into various classes wlriclr, for convenience, are

usrrallv grouped o. ,t'á*'' in tlre Table of Concords on page 14, each

class *ittr its singrrlar ancl plural''*či|;;;,_tne ťl-tvA ctašs (e.g. 11tu watu) is tle personal class;

*'iin- á"ry one or two exceptionš all .tlre nourrs in it denote human

b;i'g.-. Ň.o.,' i" othlr clasles take tlre concords of this class if theydenote Persons or animals.""C;;'";' ffi; M:Mí-;io'' 1".g. rnti rniti) consists of the namcs o{

things. Trees and plants are in this class'"'.Ziil' 3;'ih" Ň;lÁs 1e.g. njia. njia) contains.the names of most

a'i-ot, á.,d .o'11" fruitď, in<l a large number of non-Bantu nouns.

I\{ost o{ the Bantu no,rrrr have ciropped their initial n. As lhe.pluralisthesameasthesingutar,N-class^nounsareslrowninthedictionary*itiiif* plural sign f1, clenoting. that there is no change' The lettern,

-.".,,", ih..,g". l" !.ji"á folow:ing lettcrs, ancl these are given in a

note following-this section.-."č š'- +, iti" Nt-it class-.(e.g, kit}r vitu) consi.sts mostly of the

names of concrete things. lÝorás belonging to other classes can be

iliá..sl'i l"to this .;" Éí a change'of their prefix to s}row smallness or

some c1iminution 1e.g. íniuto, .á

tog; kittiko, a little bag; kipofll, a

ííiiá *""l. They t|'"'' t.t." ih" c.i.'co'ds of this class, unless they

á"í't" ri"í"g beiígs and take tlre concords of Class r. Where the noun

;il i; á Áo.Lo'yriáur",_oi "o"fusion .miglrt. occtrr with anotlrer word,

ih;-p*fi*r.i;i iš used (e.g. rnto., a,,?2,; kijito, a stream). Kibeiorea r,olvel other than ; uJ.ď-"' ch and' tlreref|re most nouns beginningwitin ch, belong to this class.

Class 5, tt,e ruÁ-ít;;;-i".g. yai.rnayai) lras 19.:ilq"lor prefixexcept before a vowel "' 'i'ořo'yllabic

root rvhen ji is prefixed (e.g.

;i š;;;;J).* r-Í." tt'" N-clirsďit contains many non.Bantu u'orcls,

lijir*'"l..ái.tr''"g-l.' th" fo'. of the word to show which of the two

"toi.". it belongs tol Some rvor<ls are well-established, but others vary'

š" á. ""iu" '.iip'iš"á if you find a word marked (-) in the dictionary

usecl with a NÍA plural, or vice versa.

Just as.nolrns "u"í! lrought into'the KI_VI class to shou' small-

ness, so they can be-broughi into the MA-class to show largeness.

Then tlrey tta.re noJr;fr; ii the singular (unless-they requite ii.) and

ii'Á tnL plural (elg. rntu \^r'atu, .man, .men; jitu rnajitu, giants;

fuko mafuko, largc bags).];or tmore aaout ihe-Ň. a,nd' ]|I A classes see Teaclr Yourself Swalrili,

ch-apters 5, 6, anct 44, and' for largeness amd sntallness chapter to'","Z-i;;;

d' ;ť''" U-;ť;;' 1e]g. uzí nyuzi) consísts' of nouns beginningwit]n u or, before ."-"l*"r] '. Mošt aré abstract nouns (e.g. uzuri,beauty) or names of substances (e.g.}nÉa, flou.r) and these, of course,

h;;; i'á plurat' rr*".it**, *itii J f"*""*.."ptions, ta]<e the plural 'of

llre N-ctáss n"ith the us"al'changes caused by the Letter n. As the

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 foundabout it in Teach Yourself Saahili, chapter 7.

Class 7, the PA-cIass, contains only one word, mahali, place'(Íoundsometimes as rnuahali, or pahali) ancl all its concords are made withthe prefix pa. The other concords given in the Table are explained inthe 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, butin 1tr" last columrl, under the prefix hu, there is a lote "similarlyinfinitives". Infinitives begin rvith ku, and when uscd as nouns, alltheir concords begin rvith ku or kw before a vou'el.

Noum PrcfiresIn the Table of Concords you 'rr,'ill see two kincls of prefixes, calledthere, Adjectiue Prefi,xes and Verb Pre.fixes' I{ere we are consideringthe first kind only.

Tn the first four classes they are the same as the prefixes of thenouns: rrl-wa, rn-rni, n-n, ki-vi. In the \{A-class there is a singularprefix ji. This is put in brackets, because it is only used when theádjective begins witlr a vowel. In tlre U-class tlre singtrlar prefix is rnfoi adjcctives, with one or trvo exceptions. Thus, taking the key-worcls in the Table, and adding the adjective 'zuri, good, we get rntuÍx7'z:uti' watu wazuri; rnti rnzuri, rniti mizuri; njia nzuri, njianzwti; kitu kizuri, vitu vizuri; yai zuri, tnayai rrr.azwti; uzitrzwri, nyuzi nzuri; rnahali pazruri; kuirnba kuzuri. As livingbeings of any clnss take the concords of the personal class, the adjec-tiveJwith words lil<e nde$e, bird; kipofu, bli'nd, man, rvill be rnzuriwazuri.

Changes beJore a Vowel

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

lVI becomes MWN{I ,, MY in adjectivesKI ,, CHVI ,, VYU"lV'I,,Y

KU ,, KWN,,NY

LI, JI, ZI drop their vowel, ancl prefixes encling in A anta,lgamatethe A with a {ollorving E or I to mal<e E.

Changes caused by NExcept in one or two monosyllables where it forms a separate svllableand takes the stress (e.g. írchi) N is found in Sr,vahili only be{ored, g, j and z. Before a vowel it becomes ny, and before b, p, v or wit becomes rn. nl and nr become nd. Thus the follov'ing rvords allbelong to the N-class: nde$e, n$uo, njia, nzi$e, nyani, rnbwa,Ínpya, mvua, rnbin$u, ndirni (pl. of ulinri).

Noutr, Suf,ixes

Trvo suffixes can be acided to nouns.- Ji."" b" iuffixecl to a noun ending in a, formed fr-om a verb, to shorv

lrabitual actiont ".g. "ftnttg",

to tlcrd,; inchun$aii, a herdsmart' ni.]i""n"' the noun r'"o- á"''íting a thing to clenoting ? place,.e.g:^Tnii';..;,;,;i Áíii,í, í, tt,e-totull,; heřa, the áir; hewani,.il,t.-th.e.air. Tlrese

aclverbial nouns no longcr take the noun class prefixes but the pr-e-

Íi*"s .ho*'. in the TablJ trnder Place. More about t1rem is said in tlrenote on Place on Page 12.

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

i-i;.il';"-";.;il" šii;ahili, rve class as acljectives.'tlrc rvords rvltichia]ie, .rvith a Ícrí cxccptions, tl'" '.*" prefixes'as tlrc'nollnS. Thcseaic 1iy clescripti'c

"a-1-J"ti"".'; (z)-nunrbers.; (3) tlre *'orcls,-in$i, nzuclt,

i,,o,iy; -ins,ihe, sonll, otl.let,;.á"a -n$api, .ltow

utalty. It is easy torcmémber t-hese three lvords as tlrey all contain rzg.

D e s cri P tiu e A dj e ctia e s

Bantu languages have very {erv acljectives, but srvahili has borrorvedsevera1 troď Rráoic. Tlrcse do not. take the Bantu prefi.xes. In theA.;i"".ry a short line before a wortl shows that ttre right prefix mustbe attachecl. Swahili having grolvn up as a spoken language'-lvheremuch can be ConveYe.l thrďu[tr tone bnd gestr're, as rvell as by.the

"o"t"*t, some of le adjecŇes lrave a *ide range o.f meaning.:

-tt'i.rti",t (from "Vitr",-i, wiithhold,\ can denote econot'nical, carefttl,

thr"ijty, ni,ggard.ly, t'ttri,rgy,' eren niseriy; -shupavu, intr.epid' resohtte'

ot','ítíáte,"higoteá.. 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 oÍ .a,b.f , o, ..,ye, hauing.' rnaji ya Ínoto' Jnt wateri

wátoto-wenye afya, healtlry children.(z) Bv the usc or t,iía or,pasipo, witlrcut: mahali pasipo. Til1: n'

otice aítt,oltt trees, j.c' a trccIess place; rnji bila watu, a,L 7t,tlnlla1ltea''lo*',r.

(s) By the relative i|iyo, wltich is, and isí1lo, u1hi1| is ltot: ITranenoy"iÍyo -kweti, tn,e aš.,]š; rnatendo yasíyo |akj,..1tliiust actiotzs.

These relatives are tisecl rvith verbs, e.g. kitabu kilichopotea, .theíi'i-toon; rniti isivotaá, useless poles." As will be seen írom the;;;;pi"', the syllables in italics háve to be changed according to thenoun class..^-Áái""ti""s

follorv the noun they qualify, except |<i!2, eue1y, v'lriclrp."""'a"i it- There are,no specialiofms for comparison,- zaidi, rnore;

kupita, to pass, or kuliko 6an be used: Ali ni rnrefu, lakini Jurna

''i.Á.eru žzidi, aíí1' tat, but Jurua is taller; Ali ni mrefu kuliko

(or) kumpita Jurna, Ali is taller than Juma'Nttntbers

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

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

r rnoja 30 thelathiniz rnbili 33 thelathini na tatu3 tatu 4" arobaini4 nne 4+ arobaini na nne5 tano 50 harnsini6 sita 55 harnsini na tano7 saba 6o sitiniS nane 66 sitini na sita9 tisa (kenda) ?o sabini

ro kurni ?T sabini na sabar r kumi na moja 8o themaninirz kurni na rnbili 88 thernanini na naner 3 kurni na tatu 90 tisinirq kurni na nne gg tisini na tisa15 kurni na tano roo rnia16 kurni na síta rot mia na neojarT kurni na saba rro rnia na kurnirB kumi na nane 2oo mia rnbiti19 kurni na tisa (kenda) 25o rnia rnbili na harnsini20 ishirini gg9 rnia tisa tisini na tisa22 ishirini na rnbili rooo elfu

\\rhen the numbers denote ordcr they are formecl v-ith -a, of, v-ith theriglit 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 offl.ou,r; watu wengine, other people; vitabu vingapi? how manyboohs ?

Horv often? is shown by the rvord rnara, tiruels: Mara n$api?ÍIow oftenl lVlara rnbili, twice.

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

Personal Pronou,nsBcíore dealing rvith the other noun classes, '!ve give lrere t}rose

belonging to Class r:

Possess'iuePronoun Pron.oun

rr:.irrt'i, f , rne -anguwewe, yow (one) -akoye e, he, hiru.; she, lter -akesisi, are, as -etuninyi, yow (manY) -enuwao, they, them -ao

this thi,s (z\rnirni iwewe I truyu huyo yule rnwenye rn\ /enyeweyeye )

anvone atl whi'ch? who (rel')rnirni Iwewe I ye yote YuPi? arrrbaye

Iyeye ) these these (z) those haui'ng selues

sisi -l

ninyi I hawawao )

&nysisi Ininyi | *o wotewao )NorB:- -{.

This (z) is the form used when referring to someone justmentioned.-.á. rl'" possessive pronouns are shown with. a hyphen because theyfrur." t"

"gree with tire thing possessed, not rvith the posscssor:rnirni

na kitabu chan$,u, I and rnY book._--l. rr'" subjecíprefix is the first syllable in- " Y91b .(unless.the

neÉative ha precec1es it) and the h1'phe,n shows tlrat it is to be joinedá".tá the vdrb rvith otirer prefixeš. Tlre object prefix comes in tlre*o.a i^-ecliately before t e verb root and therefore has syllablesioinins it on both sides.,-

i. ťt"* much-ttsed words are frequently joincd to a strortened formof ttre pcrsonal pronoun: lnwananEu, my child; wenzetu, our com-pattioni; babayé, ltis father, etc.

Possessiue Promoums

As the possessive pronouns given,above all begin-with a vowel thechanges r-eferrecl to on page 3 will take plac.e, u becoming w, etc.So lvě get rntoto wan$u watoto wan$u; rnti wan$,u rniti yan$u;n3ia yángu njia zang:u; kitu changu vitu.vyan$u;. vai l.an$ur''ayái yangu; uzi wangu nyllzi z9nplu; qalali pan$u; kuirnbat*á''c". I.-n speaking ot ttrlngs -ake is used both for ils and their:rniti na rnatuAda yake, trees amd tbeft fruits.

D ernoustt'atiues

Swalrili lras no word íor a or the, but it lras three forrns of demon-strative where in English u'e have only two, th,is and that. Thi,s isformed by the verb prěfix preceded by ž with the same vor,vel as in tlre

ha(w)o wale wenye wenyewe

alt which ? who (rel.)

wote wapi? arnbao

prefix. That is Íormed by the verb prefix followed by .le. In tlreŤ"ír" or Concords these two words áre given for each of tlre noun

"táš."'' so there is no need to repeat them here. The other demonstra-

tive is'this wit]n its last letter changed to o. lt is used when someoneo. *-"lning has already been mentionecl; maneno hayo, for instance'refers to words alreacly written; Ínaneno haya to those about to bewritten.

R el atiue s

Tlrere are two ways of expressing who, uhich, uhen', where' whenthese words are used ás relativi pro''ě..'''s. One is by th9 relafive prefixattachecl to amba., and tlre otťrer more usual one by the relative pre-

n* p"t into the .r"rt. tn"se relative prefixes are sho*'n irr the Tableof Čoncords, near the bottom of the čolumns, and are íormcd Pv tqeverb 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 samé way. The otherrelative will bc explained in the section on Verbs'

Tlre o of refererice forms also tlre root of the Bantu rr'ords Íot a,ll,

refcrrirrg to thc completencss of thc thing mcntioned, and'tor atty:

kitabu"ch ote, the ,in|h, m,u vitabu vyoté, all tlte boohs., kitabu chochote, any booh.

4. Tnn VBnsTo 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, á,, are nrercl1. connectir'e_s ni can be used

foi all the noun classes, or even omittecl áltogetlrer. In the .negativ.eši-,"pl"c"s ni and .á""át be omitted: chaku1á (ni) tayari , the foo.d i.s

ii"ai; rnachungwa si rnazuri, the o.ranges--are not.good' If it isdesiie'd to strcssTh" p"r.o., the pronominallyllables ni u yu are used

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

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

gi""" "n"'e tďdenoté place: Upo wairi? Where are.y-ou? .Nipg 4.p?'

I arn here. Yuko *upí A|i? W.here is^Ali? Yurno jikoni, He is in the

hitchen. The negatiie forms with persons are sipo hupg !3.VtPohatupo harnpo Ěawapo. In the ot1ier classes ha is prefixed: Kitabukipo? Is tlre 6ooh there? Hakipo, It i-s mot here.

bnobhasis. Ndi (a mo." e'''ihatic form than ní)can be joined to a.il;iil"a.i; or.tn" persoáal pronouns or to the verb prefi'xes:

,'ái'.'i, It is I, ndiwe, ii is yow, ridiye, it is he, ndio, it is 'they. Theioilo*iitg verb should irave 6oth a relati,,e.prgfi",11d.an obje-ct one:

Ňaicnoj.itabu nilichokitaka, Thi's is the bboh which I uantec. Theseforms are shown in ttie Tabie of Concords. Note also the followingwords in common ot"t Naiyo (i't is so\ : Yes; siyo' No; Ndipo' 1l isthere, or It is then; Ndivyo ilivyo, That's hou it is'

Relatiue. To make the'relative the root li is used, preceded by lhe

'"ilj;;. p;"fix oÍ tlre right class and followed by tlre relative prefix.

Heie are the forms for reference:

Verb prefi,x Verb Prefi,xsubject objectni- -ni- Iu- -ku-

|

a- or yrr- -rn(w)- Ltu- -tu- Irn(w)- -wa- |wa- -wa- )

that hauing self

oÍ

Pcrsons: niliye tulio and Íor mti ulio, miti iliy.ouliye ;ii;

_tt'i.'g.' 1ii" iliyo, njia.zíLizo

aliye '"áii"o titu tiiictro, vitu vilivyo

#itllf'ff;'.;,í.?'j'o'.'át'.ti

paiipo; kuirnba kulikoFor negative in all classes substitute si for li'

To Haae

Haue isexpressecl in Srvahili by.b-e with' and what seems to be thc

p'"'.]"i l;;'J oÍ ]laie is reirlly I-ríith, vou-with, etc.- affirmativc nina tuna negitive sina hatuna

una Ínna huna harnnaelrra wana hana hawana

In tlre otlrer class". tr'" i" i' aclded to tlre r.erb Preíix, prefixing ha

in tlre negative' lití^'." ,,,iib', the tree has íh'oytt,s; ]\4ti hauna

rniiba, llrc tree t,o,io tí,i,,. I{ ttre'reis an object the relative prefix

is a<ldecl at tlre .na."u"nit,o kitabu chan$ri? Ninacžo. ÍIaue yotl

*,,?i!|!,!'íí:)'í !{:,':I"as tlrat for be íollorvecl by n.a. If there is

an object the -o p'#;i'.;it*n"á.t" tlre na: Watu wasio na watoto'

t>eoble wllo haue ,,,'ii;\aíii. -Noti"" that the subject and object are

,;:i;í',;,;;;, ; ';.".'Kii ái,o nilícho ''áino,

the báoh ,!,l.n I haue (it).

The other tettses "} il;,ií-i" í,"*-i,i ,o,tj,,gated lihe any otlter

aerb, as shourt in. the next sectr'om'

Verb Tenses

The verb as given in a clictionafY l-s founcl only in the lmperative'

e.g'. Tazarnal u,Á,i;;';i"*;g;.l tnu in tlre Infinitive, kutazama,

to-looh. Usually it i' p;"."áed by p.éfi*".,l'' the order: Subicct, Tense,

Relative, object, wiih often a négativž-t'á i,"to'" them. 'I1.::.:1:is retlexive tr,e ou;eci p-;J; !s rcilaced by ii' The prefixes givcn tn

the Table of ConcJr"á,'*,"" uotti tor-i"új"čt ana o61e9t. Those íor

persons are s1ightl}^il"dhi, but are u lt'o*'' in thě Table of Verb

Tenses.

The tense Prefixes are as {ollows:Áffirmatiue--"á

simple present; nataka' r uatttna Dresent "o".ii'"o".;

nínataka , r ant, uantingiá i."t"'"; nitataka , I shall wantli Past; nilitaka, I wanted'il#;;;;ii""; ttitt^ttka, and I wanted

Li if, *h"tt; nikitaka, if I uattt -

nge, ngali, ""iiiiiilii titi"iaka' ninp'alitaka' if I uanted' if rhad, uartted,.

N esatiae- ll<rroast: sikutaka, I did not wantt" titt"tb; sitataka, I shall not wattt

ia not-vet t""t"l "ii"taka' I haue not wanted (yet)

šipo it]"ot; nisipotaka, tt|tless.r .watttnÉe, nÉali,

"o.,á,iiio,1Ji ,,i"i''g"t.ťá, nisin$alitaka, if I did nol

' -w'antl tJ I had not wanted'

The subject prefixes already given in the Table of concorcls- are givenagain iďttre^table of Verb Těnses on page 16. In the simple pr999n!,oš tn" tense prefix begins with a vowel, tley yr]l be slightly modified,combining *itt' tt'e ď as in o/ in tlre Table of Concords.

In t}re řegative tenses tlre íegatir'e preírx ha'precedes all tlre subjectprefixes exčept tlrose for I ind' yoit,; here hani becomes si, a'ndhau, hu.Tcnses willtottt prefxes

The st ju,nctiue, also used as a polite imperativc, is formed by thesubject píeíix folíorvec1 by the veib with its last letter, if a, clrangedto é. In ttre negative tlre prefixes remain tile sarne, and the otlrerrregative sign si |rececles tlré verb: Nitazame, Let rue looh; IJsiende,Dčtt.,tgo;ŇiRtiii, Let urc thinh.

l,erbs'borrowed, frow Arabic end itt, i oy u and the ending does uotchange.

A"habitu,al ten,se, useď for any time and any person, is' made v'itlrtlre prefix hu: husema, they sáy; Maéari lrupita kila siku' Trainspasi euery d.ay. There is no corresponding negative tense.'' The n.egatíue present is formec1 by the. negative subject ^P'"!T,followed Ěy the.verb, witlr its fina] Ietter, if a, changed to i: Sitaki,I d,o not wá,n't; Hawafikiri,l.hey don,,t tlt,i.nh.

'l'he object prefix comes immcdiately before the verb:usingatiilzonyesha kitabu nisín$ali&itaka, If yot,t, had ttot

shoílln, me tlie book I sllottld not lt,aue wanted it.T-he Relatiue

On page Z or:e rvay of expressing who, ahich, u''hen,,o,r alteve wbenused als ielátives wďs expláined. Ťlre commoner, and better w.aY,.isto put the relative prefix-into the v-erb. All the prcfixes, 9:c"P-t !1 tttgsin'gular of ilre perional class, end in o. They are in the Table ofCoricords, ancl riere givcn again in these notes on page 8 r,r,'ith theverb lo be. T]IIe Tablě of \rerb Tenses shorvs lrow to use tlrenr in thepresent, past, ancl future tenses. Except In -the simple present theyiollow ttrě te'ise prefix; in tlre simple prešent tlle tense p.r.eÍix is omittcdand tlrey come át the end. This,-lrowever, is for the affrrmative only.

In thé negative tlrere is only one form for all three tense.s:.subje.ctprefix, negaíi'oe si, relative, verb, u-itlr object (if any) just beforc theverb.Com'pound' Tenses can be formed lvith the P-ast tense oÍ huwa (to be)as .ho*'' at the bottom oÍ the Table. Tlre Kl-tense given above forif 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 aíterthe ku, very often-u'ith another ku: kutotaka or kutokutaka, not towant. A monosyllabic verb (see below) must always have the secondku: kutokuwa, not to be.

The infinitive is a verbal noun and takes the ku prefixes as shorvn inthe Table of Concortls: Kuserna ni kuzuri, na kutokusema nikuzuri, Speaking is good, and silence is good.

The ímperativ"e is-the simplest form of thc verb: Soma, read|, Inspeaking to *o'e than one pérson ni is added and the last letter o{ the

II10

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

,b,,,,,,: Nenda! Nendeni! from kuenda, to go..---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

Thereareafewverbswhich,withouttheku,haveonlyonesyllable:Uuii, io be; kufa, to-d,ie;kwja, to come;kwla, to eat' For ease o{ pro-

nunciation, these t"lui" irt" "f..i in the na, lrle, a,nd-ta tenses' in the

;;á't';;'í, and utiái " relative pronoun: anakuja 'he.is coru,i^ngi

watakuwa , they *iti ui; ''iii"t'ot.i'!a,.

which I ate. The ku is oítenretained in the íerbs enda, go, and isÍtz, fi,nish.

Inr.Personal Forms

There is, there a,re are translated by kuna,_negative.hakuna: Kuna.."ji-"iií.il Hakuna. Is there uáter on the íuay?--(No,) there isn,t.pá.";r-.i'r'"n used ;;;';"ity, ttre singtrlar of thé N-c]1s9, i, is used:

vír"Átuenae, lt t'.i\ia_in*t .ii go, i'e. e had, better go; 11'aifzi kuche-í"*u, tt;' i,ot good, t3 be late, Three very common phrases of this kindare: haifai, better i,íi iii*ezekani,,it can,t be áone; haidhuru' ildoesn't matter.

There is also the hu tense, already mentioned, huseÍna, they say.

I'erb Swffixes

The following syllables can be attached to the end o{ a verb:. je,--how? ,in"íí.u|,l"á3"l How d,id yott' hnow? Asernaje? What

does lte saY ?pi, where? ýarnekwendapi? Where haue th,ey gone?.ni,

ptural .is", }o*ing thá plural of the r-rypéráti.,e. This ni canalso make . 'á.o"a

p"lural .ot y,, as an objéct prefix; in speak,ing

to morc than one p"ttott the usual object pr.efix is wa (see

Personal r,'""o"".,'page 6) but the siágu'ai ktr can be used

with the ."m" "i '

Ňii''En'á'''bia, I hauě told you (one person,);

Nirnetuambi;;i,- 7 haue tolcl yo'w (many)' - Notice that the

same chang" "iin" a to e takes.placc as in thejTp-":-1lť:: -^

porkororm'ocanbeaddedtotheothertensesoltheverDrcoejust as trt"y *"i" t; ih" pT9tg"t tense: Nitakuwapo' I shallbethere:Yitabuvikiwako.,iftheboohsarethere;HawakuwaÍnonyurnbani, They uere not L" tl'! howse'

For more about ";;bí "o"."ii Teach Yourself Saahi'li or any good

grammar.

5. DonrverrvB VBnssBantu languages have a very interesti-ng and rseful way of alteringtr'" *""ifig o"f ' verb by chánges at.thě end. The notes here are to

á"ia".tr'" 'B'a"i io tr'e íse of "the dictionary and to enable him tomake out the -"".'i''íot .,erbs of this sort thal he meets in his r9ad1ng'

References .r" gi.r".r-[o in" i"t".r".tt chapters of Teach Yourself Swahil'ifor further study iÍ desired.

wa at tlre end áiu .,".u (except kuwa) shows the passive, e.g.

piga, to hi.t; pi$wa, to be hit;jibu, lo answertjibiwa, to be answered;nunua, to buy; nunuliwa, to be bought, The apparent irregularitiesin the last two words are explained in Teach Yowrself Saahi,li,chapter zz.

ika or eka gives a meaning rather similar to the passive, but insteadof thinl<ing of the act and who caused it, we think of the restrltingstate; e.g. kikornbe kirnevunjwa, the cup has been' broh.en (by some'one);kikornbe kirnevunjika, the cup'is brohen; Barua haikusomwa,the letter was not read;Barwa haikusorneka, the lettev was unreada,ble.A suffrx na is sometimes added, and so we get the very cornmon words,patikana, be obta,inable; wezekaÍla., be possible; onekana, be u,is,ible;julikana, be hnown. This íorm is rrsrrally called the stative, and tl.rereis more about it inTeach Yowrself Suahili, chapter zz.

ia or ea is a prepositional ending, showing to, for, etc., e.g. leta, tobring; 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 thething: Kilete, bring it (the food); Niletee, bring-to rrre. See'I'eachYottrself Swahili, chapter 34.

sl:'a', za) nya as well as being ordinary verb endings, often denotetlre causative {orm: an$uka, Jall; an{uslra, mahe fall (i.e. d,rop orbreak dozun); jaa, get full; iaza, ntahe full, Jill; pona, get well; ponya,mahe well, cuve. Causative verbs can be macle from adjectives byadding 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; oÍlaÍla, see each othey(r.e. meet). See 1-eaclt, Yottrself Saahi,li', chapter 37.

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 stativeending, ponyeka, get cured or be curable; niletee, bring to nte, canmake a passive, niletewe, be brottght to we.

Doubling a verb shows either a repezrted action, or some modificationof it: Mbona unasitasita? lVhlt 6s you go on hesitat'itzgl Anajari-bujaribu, he is trying (but tcot uery hard).

6. AovBnnsAdverbs, having nothing to do with nouns, do not need any classprefix. There are, howevcr, three advcrbial preÍixes whiclr lrelp toform adverbs:

vi makes adverbs írom adjectives: vizuri, vibaya, v(y)ema, etc.It also makes adverbs like hivi, th.rls; vilevile, in tlLe sa?ne way, andis used as an adverbiai relative in verbs: hivyo ulivyoserna, thus asyou said. ki rrsed with a noun denotes ..in the manner oí',: Sirnarnenikiaskari, stand lihe soldiers; arnevaa kizun$u, he 'is dressed inEuropean 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 largenumber without any prefix, showing how, wlten, or where. They willall be found in the dictionary. Three of them are really intensifiers:sana, rnno and (sometimes) kabisa. Although the general meaningis 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

t312

time. T]rre reverse is shorvn by kido$o, a little: Yuko rnbali kido$o-,ni ts a little way off; kazí yaÉe nzuri kidopo, hi,s worh is fairly good.

The chief inter;ogatir'es are: lini? whelt,? wapi? wltere? naÍnna$ani? lzow ? k:wa nini or rlt'bona? whY ?

7. PracnAs we sarv, when consiclering nollns and their classcs, there is oneSwalrili *oi.l ío' f>lace, rnaháli. But neiglrbouring Bantu langrrageslrave 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 droppedout, but their prefixes remained. 'Ihese are sho'ivn in the last columnof tlre'Iable oi Concorcls. When the v'or<l mahali is used, the pa-pre-fi*". o." usecl rvith it; othcrrvise the pa prefixes denotc a definiteuosition' or at a place;tlre ku an indeínite one, or to a placc; and thei'' o'' inside o''-", i', a place. Tlrese preÍixes form adverbs like hapa,here; tltey Íorm tÍre strbject of tlre impersonal verbs tllere is and there

are, kwná, pana' rnna;-ancl they arc irttaclred to tlre yerb be to slrowplace: nitakuwapo, I slrull be tliere. But perhaps their most freque-nti'.á i' t'ith l.erÚal nouns: Yumo nyurnbani mwake, ke is in hisi,á,',; Arnekwenda sharnbani kwake, he has.gone.to his cornfield.Anasirnarna pale rnlangoni pake, IIe is standittg there at ltis door.

Many Íolk-tálcs bcgin Ťrapo zaÍo.ni palikuwa na Íntu''; Longago 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-uishprepošitions frorn conjunctionš; it is better to loo]; upon them ali asu'orcls of association.

l\{any are made from the -a of association:.a piececlecl by the class preíix makes of ; rnalali vamti, the leaues

of the'tyee. A1l tlre forms oÍ.of arc slro.ivn in the Table of Concords., -a prcceded by ku makeš k:wa, to, Jrollt, with, Jor,.ctc.: Tuende

kwa inwa|írnu, 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-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 ?Nakwenda kwetu, I am. going home; Kwenu ni rnbali? Is your home

far off? Tuende kwao, Let ots go to their home', yuíitn an adr,erb forms a preposition: Weka ndani, Put i't inside;W ta ndani ya nyurnba, Put it ito the hott'se; Nipe zaidi, Giue me,norei Watu ,áiai ya ishirini, more than taenty p.eople,

na can be translitecl in several ways: Lete chai na rt].aziwa, Bringtea 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,,. sijuikaťila atakuja, I don,t hltow whetller he will come.

/iÁe: Nyarna ni nzuri leo, si karna ile ya jana; the rneat is goodtoday, not li.ke th.at of YesterdaY.

as: Fanya karna upendavyo, Do it as ilott, like.abottt: karna futi kumi, abot ten, feet.as thowgh: Si karna (kwarnba) aliona rnweÍryerve, It is ,not as

though he had seen it himself.Dis-association is shorvn bY:au or arÍIl^, oz: Nipe chai au rnaji, Gfue rne tea or aater,wala, and, 'ttot, noi: Sik:utnwona wala sikusikia habari zake,

I didn't see ltir;n, rzor did I hear abowt hiru..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,

Tltere are no people, except on'e ch,ild.Among other important words are ili, in order that; kwa sababu,

becawse;'i<wa 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 arecommon in Swahili.

F'or more about thesc rvords see Teach Yowrself swaltili, chaptcrs 32,33, 36, 38

OnrnocRePHY AND PRoNuNcr,c.rroxcommcnts are made on this, whcre necessary, in the follotving Notes

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tt book; Arnekwénda, I.Ie has gotte; Arnekwendápi? trVhere hashe gone?

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