 | Chapter 7 - The Subject Pronouns |
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In Swahili, the subject pronouns have the particularity of being always affixed to the verb as prefixes.
In the 3rd person singular and plural, there is no substitution between the subject noun and the subject prefix, but complementarity : the subject prefix is there, even when the subject noun is already expressed in the sentence.
1. AFFIRMATIVE SUBJECT PREFIXES :
| GENDERS / Classes | SINGULAR | Equivalent | PLURAL | Equivalent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1° 2° M-/WA- Gender (Cl 1 / 2) 3° |
NI- U- A- |
= I = you = he, she |
TU- M- WA- |
= we = you = they |
| M-/MI- Gender (Cl 3 / 4) | U- | = it | I- | = they |
| JI-/MA- Gender (Cl 5 / 6) | LI- | = he / she / it | YA- | = they |
| KI-/VI- Gender (Cl 7 / 8) | KI- | = he / she / it | VI- | = they |
| N- Gender (Cl 9 / 10) | I- | = he / she / it | ZI- | = they |
| U- Gender (Cl 11 / 14) | U- | = it | ||
| KU- Gender (Cl 15) | KU- | = it | ||
| LOCATIVE CLASSES | PA-, KU- or M- | = it | ||
Only the M-/WA- gender (Classes 1 / 2) comprises subject prefixes for the 1st and 2nd persons singular and the 1st and 2nd persons plural.
In the 3rd person singular (he / she / it) and the 3rd person plural (they), the choice of the subject prefix depends on the nominal class to which the corresponding subject noun belongs.
However, when the subject noun represents a person, whatever the class it belongs to, we will use a subject prefix of Class 1 in the singular and Class 2 in the plural, as for the nouns of the M-/WA- gender.
EXAMPLES :
Anafika He / she arrives (Class 1) Mama anafika Mom (she) arrives (Class 9 -> 1) Wamelala They sleep (Class 2) Watoto wamelala The children (they) sleep (Class 2) Amekufa He / she died (Class 1) Mgonjwa amekufa The patient (he) died (Class 1) Mbwa amekufa The dog (it) died (Class 9 -> 1) Inafaa It fits (Class 9) Nguo inafaa The cloth (it) fits (Class 9) Zinafaa They fit (Class 10) Nguo zinafaa The clothes fit (Class 10) Linakwenda It leaves (Class 5) Basi linakwenda The bus (it) leaves (Class 5)
2. NEGATIVE SUBJECT PREFIXES :
Those result from the combination of the negative pre-prefix HA- and the subject prefix, except in the 1st person singular (SI-) and the 2nd person singular (HU- instead of HAU-). Thus :
| GENDERS / Classes | SINGULAR | Equivalent | PLURAL | Equivalent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1° 2° M-/WA- Gender (Cl 1 /2 ) 3° |
SI- HU- HA- |
= I don't = you don't = he / she doesn't |
HATU- HAM- HAWA- |
= we don't = you don't = they don't |
| M-/MI- Gender (Cl 3 / 4) | HAU- | = it doesn't | HAI- | = they don't |
| JI-/MA- Gender (Cl 5 / 6) | HALI- | = he / she / it doesn't | HAYA- | = they don't |
| KI-/VI- Gender (Cl 7 / 8) | HAKI- | = he / she / it doesn't | HAVI- | = they don't |
| N- Gender (Cl 9 / 10) | HAI- | = he / she / it doesn't | HAZI- | = they don't |
| U- Gender (Cl 11 / 14) | HAU- | = it doesn't | ||
| KU- Gender (Cl 15) | HAKU- | = it doesn't | ||
| LOCATIVE CLASSES | HAPA-, HAKU- or HAM- |
= it doesn't | ||
EXAMPLES :
| Sijui | I don't know | (Class 1) |
| Hajui | He / she doesn't know | (Class 1) |
| Hamadi hajui | Hamadi (he) doesn't know | (Class 1) |
| Hawafanyi kazi | They don't work | (Class 2) |
| Vibarua hawafanyi kazi | The day laborers (they) don't work | (Class 8 -> 2) |
| Hawasomi | They don't study | (Class 2) |
| Wanafunzi hawasomi | The students (they) don't study | (Class 2) |
| Hakuna kazi | There is no work | (Locative Class) |
| Hamna shida | There is no problem | (Locative Class) |
3. THE AUTONOMOUS PERSONAL PRONOUNS :
| MIMI | = I, me |
| WEWE | = you |
| YEYE | = he, she, him, her |
| SISI | = we, us |
| NINYI | = you (Plur) |
| WAO | = they, them |
With ordinary verbs, the autonomous personal pronoun reinforces the suject prefix, without replacing it. Thus :
Yeye anakwenda Dodoma = Him, he goes to Dodoma Mimi sisemi kiswahili = Me, I don't speak Swahili
On the other hand, with the verb KUWA (= to be) in the present tense, the personal pronoun is essential to mark the person, since the verb is identical for all the persons :
Mimi ni mwalimu = I am a teacher Wewe ni mfarantsa = You are French Yeye ni mkenya = He is Kenyan Sisi ni wanafunzi = We are pupils Ninyi ni wageni = You are the guests Wao ni watanzania = They are Tanzanians
It will be the same in the negative form, by replacing NI with SI. For example :
Mimi si mjinga = I'm not an idiot Yeye si mkulima = He is not a farmer
4. A PARTICULAR PRONOUN : "-OTE" :
-OTE which means : "all" can be used as an independant pronoun, or accompany a noun. In all cases, it agrees in class with the name to which it refers. Because of its meaning, it is more frequently used in the plural than in the singular.
| GENDERS / Classes | SINGULAR | PLURAL |
|---|---|---|
| M-/WA- (Cl 1 - 2) | WOTE | |
| M-/MI- (Cl 3 - 4) | WOTE | YOTE |
| JI-/MA- (Cl 5 - 6) | LOTE | YOTE |
| KI-/VI- (Cl 7 - 8) | CHOTE | VYOTE |
| N- (Cl 9 - 10) | YOTE | ZOTE |
| U- (Cl 11, 14 - 10) | WOTE | ZOTE |
EXAMPLES :
Mwili wote waniuma All the body hurts me Lete visu vyote Bring all the knives Chakula chote kimeharibika All the food is damaged Watu wote wamefika Everybody has arrived
We can also associate -OTE with personal pronouns or with numbers. For example :
Sisi sote Us all / All of us Ninyi nyote You all / All of you Sote wawili Us two / Both of us Nyote wawili You two / Both of you (Vitabu) vyote viwili Both (books) (Miti) yote mitatu All three (trees)
VOCABULARY
| Mfanyakazi (wa-) | a worker, workers | Msafiri (wa-) | a traveller, travellers |
| Mgiriki (wa-) | a Greek, Greeks | Mtanzania (wa-) | a Tanzanian, Tanzanians |
| Mjinga (wa-) | an idiot, idiots | Mwashi (wa-) | a mason, masons |
| Mkenya (wa-) | a Kenyan, Kenyans | Mwongo (wa-) | a liar, liars |
| Mlevi (wa-) | a drunkard, drunkards | Mzanzibari (wa-) | a Zanzibarian, Zanzibarians |
| Mmasai (wa-) | a Masai, Masais | Mzazi (wa-) | a parent, parents |
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