Noun classes
In common with all Bantu languages Swahili grammar arranges nouns into a number of classes. A total of 22 noun classes - according to the Meinhof system - are possible across all Bantu languages, with all languages sharing at least ten of these. Swahili employs a total of fifteen noun classes. Words beginning with m- whose plural changes it to wa- denote persons, e.g. mtoto 'child', plural watoto. The infinite of verbs begins with ku-, e.g. kusoma 'to read'. Other classes are harder to categorize. Singulars beginning ki- take plurals in vi-: this even applies to foreign words where the ki- is originally part of the root, not a prefix, so vitabu 'books'. This class also contains diminutives, and languages. Words beginning with u- are often abstract, with no plural, e.g. utoto 'childhood'.
A fifth class begins with n- or m- or nothing, and its plural is the same. Another m- class takes plurals in mi-, e.g. mti 'tree', miti trees. Another class usually has no ending in the singular, and takes ma- in the plural. When the noun itself does not make clear which class it belongs to, its concords do. Adjectives and numerals take the noun prefixes, and verbs take a different set of prefixes.
Mtoto mmoja anasoma Watoto wawili wanasoma
child one is reading children two are reading
One child is reading Two children are reading
Kitabu kimoja kinatosha Vitabu viwili vinatosha
book one suffices book two suffice
One book suffices Two books suffice
Ndizi moja inatosha Ndizi mbili zinatosha
banana one suffices banana two suffice
One banana suffices Two bananas suffice
Verb Affixation
Swahili verbs consist of a root and a number of affixes (mostly prefixes) which can be attached to mean express grammatical persons, tense and many clauses that would require a conjunction in other languages (usually prefixes). As sometimes these affixes are sandwiched inbetween the root word and other affixes, some linguists have mistakenly assumed that Swahili uses infixes which is not the case.
In most dictionaries verbs are listed in their root form, for example -kata meaning 'to cut/chop'. In a simple sentence prefixes for grammatical person are added, e.g. ninakata. Ni- means 'I' and na- means . Note that na is not an infix even though it is inbetween two morphemes:
ni- na- kata 'I am cutting'
1stSING. PRES.PROG. cut/chop
Now this sentence can be modified either by changing the subject prefix or the tense prefix, for example:
u- na- kata 'You are cutting'
2ndSING. PRES.PROG. cut/chop
u- me- kata 'You have cut'
2ndSING. PRES.PROG. cut/chop
The simple present is more complicated and learners often take some of the phrases for slang before they discover the proper usage. Nasoma means 'I read'. This is not short for ninasoma ('I am reading'). a- is the tense prefix for simple past and the vowel of the prefix ni- is assimilated. That way it is difficult to tell the prefixes as part and easier to consider them as one, e.g.:
na- soma 'I read'
1stSING.:PRES. read
mwa- soma 'You (pl.) read'
2ndPLUR.:PRES. read
The complete list of basic subject prefixes is (for m-/wa- or human class):
SINGULAR PLURAL
1st PERSON ni- tu-
2nd PERSON u- m-
3rd PERSON a- wa-
The most common tense prefixes are:
a-
na-
me-
li-
ta-
However it is not only tenses in the sense the word is used in English that can be expressed by tense prefixes: conjunctions can be used in this context as well. For example ki- is the prefix for - the sentence "nikinunua nyama wa mbuzi sokoni, nitapika leo" means 'If I buy goat meat at the market, I'll cook today'. The conjunction 'if' in this sentence is simply represented by -ki.
A third prefix can be added, the object prefix. It is placed just before the root and can either refer to a person, replace an object or emphasize a particular one, e.g.:
a- na- mw- ona 'I (am) see(ing) him/her'
3rdSING. PRES.PROG. OBJ3rdSING see
ni- na- mw- ona mtoto 'I (am) see(ing) the child'
1stSING. PRES.PROG. KL.1 see child
There are not just prefixes. The root of a word is not really the one proposed by most dictoraries - the final vowel is an affix too. The suffix provided by dictionaries means . Other forms occur for instance with negation, e.g. sisomi (the 0 in this case means zero-morpheme, i.e. it represents an empty space):
si- 0 som -i 'I am not reading/ I don't read'
1stSING:NEG PRES read NEG
Other instances of this change of the final vowel include the conjunctive, where an -e is implemented. This goes only for Bantu verbs ending with -a, ones derived from Arabic follow more complex rules.
Other suffixes, which once again look suspiciously like infixes, are placed before the end vowel, e.g.
wa- na- pig -w -a 'They are being hit'
3rdPLUR. PRES.PROG. hit PASSIVE IND.
Dialects
Since colonial times circa 1870 to 1960 and into the present time Kiunguja, the Zanzibar dialect of Swahili has become the basis of Standard Swahili as used in East Africa. Nevertheless Swahili encompasses more than fifteen distinct dialects including:
- Kiunguja: Spoken on Zanzibar island and environs. The basis of Standard Swahili.
- Kimrima: Spoken around Pangani, Vanga, Dar es Salaam, Rufiji and Mafia.
- Kimgao:Spoken around Kilwa and to the south.
- Kipemba: Spoken around Pemba.
- Kimvita: Spoken in and around Mvita or Mombasa. Historically the major dialect alongside Kiunguja.
- Kiamu: Spoken in and around the island of Lamu (Amu).
- Kingwana: Spoken in the western regions of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
- Kingazija: Spoken in the Comoros Islands.
- Kingozi: Is a special case as it was the language of the inhabitants of the ancient town of "Ngozi" and is perhaps the basis of the Swahili language.
- Sheng: More of a corruption or street slang than a proper dialect, it is the blend of Swahili, English, and some Ethnic tongues which is spoken in and around Nairobi, in informal settings. Sheng originated in the Nairobi slums and is not considered proper Swahili, but it is considered fashionable and cosmopolitan among a growing segment of the population.
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