 | Chapter 16 - The KI-/VI- Gender |
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The KI-/VI- gender (Classes 7 / 8) is a gender of things, just like the M-/WA- gender is a gender of people. However, it is not as exclusive, for beside manufactured objects, it also includes nouns of people, parts of the human body, natural products, nouns of places that are built or not, abstract or concrete concepts, etc...
It is in class 7 (in the singular only) that the names of languages are to be found, and the prefix KI- is also used as a diminutive.
| Cl 7 (Singular) : | prefix KI- | KITU | = a thing, the thing |
| Cl 8 (Plural) : | prefix VI- | VITU | = things, the things |
| In front of a vowel, | the singular prefix KI- becomes CH- : | CHAKULA | = a / the food |
| the plural prefix VI- becomes VY- : | VYAKULA | = foods / the foods |
There are however some exceptions to his rule : Kiatu (= shoe), Kioo (= mirror), etc..
1. NOUNS GROUPED BY TOPICS :
1. MANUFACTURED OBJECTS :
| SINGULAR | PLURAL | TRANSLATION |
|---|---|---|
| Chombo | vyombo | a container, a utensil, containers |
| Chuma | vyuma | iron, irons |
| Kiatu | viatu | a shoe, shoes |
| Kiberiti | viberiti | a match, matches |
| Kidonge | vidonge | a pill, pills |
| Kijiko | vijiko | a spoon, spoons |
| Kikapu | vikapu | a basket, baskets |
| Kiko | viko | a pipe, pipes |
| Kikombe | vikombe | a cup, cups |
| Kioo | vioo | a mirror, mirrors |
| Kipande | vipande | a piece, pieces |
| Kisu | visu | a knife, knives |
| Kitabu | vitabu | a book, books |
| Kitambaa | vitambaa | a piece of cloth, fabrics |
| Kitanda | vitanda | a bed, beds |
| Kiti | viti | a chair, chairs |
| Kitu | vitu | a thing, things |
2. NATURAL PRODUCTS, FOOD :
| SINGULAR | PLURAL | TRANSLATION |
|---|---|---|
| Chakula | vyakula | food, foods |
| Kiazi | viazi | a potato, potatoes |
| Kitunguu | vitunguu | an onion, onions |
3. NATURAL OR BUILT PLACES :
| SINGULAR | PLURAL | TRANSLATION |
|---|---|---|
| Choo | vyoo | a toilet, toilets |
| Chumba | vyumba | a room, rooms |
| Chuo | vyuo | a school, a college |
| Kibanda | vibanda | a hut, huts |
| Kijiji | vijiji | a village, villages |
| Kilima | vilima | a hill, hills |
| Kisima | visima | a well, wells |
| Kisiwa | visiwa | an island, islands |
| Kiwanja | viwanja | a piece of land, lands |
4. NOUNS OF PEOPLE :
| SINGULAR | PLURAL | TRANSLATION |
|---|---|---|
| Kibarua | vibarua | a day laborer, day laborers |
| Kijana | vijana | a youth, youths |
| Kipofu | vipofu | a blind man, blind men |
| Kiwete | viwete | a handicapped person |
| Kiziwi | viziwi | a deaf person, deaf persons |
5. NOUNS OF ANIMALS :
| SINGULAR | PLURAL | TRANSLATION |
|---|---|---|
| Kiboko | viboko | an hippopotamus, hippos |
| Kifaru | vifaru | a rhinoceros, rhinoceroses |
| Kipepeo | vipepeo | a butterfly, butterflies |
6. PARTS OF THE HUMAN BODY :
| SINGULAR | PLURAL | TRANSLATION |
|---|---|---|
| Kichwa | vichwa | a head, heads |
| Kidole | vidole | a finger, fingers |
| Kidonda | vidonda | an ulceration, ulcerations |
| Kifua | vifua | the chest, chests |
7. ABSTRACT OR CONCRETE CONCEPTS :
| SINGULAR | PLURAL | TRANSLATION |
|---|---|---|
| Cheo | vyeo | a rank, a row, ranks |
| Cheti | vyeti | a certificate, certificates |
| Chama | vyama | a party, an association, parties |
8. NAMES OF LANGUAGES (Class 7 only) :
| SINGULAR | TRANSLATION |
|---|---|
| Kiarabu | Arabic |
| Kifaransa | French |
| Kihindi | Indian, Hindi |
| Kiingereza | English |
| Kiswahili | Swahili |
2. THE DIMINUTIVE PREFIX KI- :
The prefix KI- can have a diminutive value. To that effect the ordinary class prefix of the noun is replaced by the prefix KI-. In the plural, we simply replace KI- by VI-.
| ORIGINE | SINGULAR | PLURAL | TRANSLATION | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mtoto | (child) | Kitoto | vitoto | a little child, little children |
| Sahani | (plate) | Kisahani | visahani | a saucer, saucers |
3. CLASS AGREEMENTS :
Adjective : The adjective takes prefixes of class agreement that are identical to those of the noun : (See : Chapter 11.)
Class 7 : Kitu kikubwa / kidogo / kizuri / kibaya / chema / ... a big / small / beautiful / bad / nice / ... thing Class 8 : Vitu vikubwa / vidogo / vizuri / vibaya / vyema / ... big / small / beautiful / bad / nice / ... things
Possessive adjectives :
Class 7 : Kitu changu / chako / chake / chetu / chenu / chao = my / your / his - her / our / your / their thing Class 8 : Vitu vyangu / vyako / vyake / vyetu / vyenu / vyao = my / your / his - her / our / your / their things
| NOTE : | The adjective that qualifies a class 7 / 8 noun of person, must take class 1 / 2 agreements. | |
| Kijana mzuri (instead of kijana kizuri) | A nice young man | |
| Vijana wazuri (instead of vijana vizuri) | Nice young men | |
| Yule kibarua mvivu | That lazy day laborer | |
| Wale vibarua wavivu | Those lazy day laborers | |
EXERCISES
EXERCISE 1 : Translate into Swahili :
A spoon, a cup, a saucer, a knife, a village, a well, a hut, an hippopotamus, a rhinoceros, a head, a certificate, French, Swahili, English, Arabic, a basket, a pill, a pipe, a hill, food.
Onions, matches, shoes, fabrics, containers, books, things, young people, day laborers, handicapped people, butterflies, potatoes, rooms, beds, baskets, mirrors, islands, huts, deaf persons, fingers.
This ustensil, these spoons, this chair, this mirror, these beautiful things, this large book, this sharp knife, this beautiful cup, these many hyppopotamuses, this new pipe, this good food, these big potatoes, these intelligent young people, those lazy day laborers, this wild rhinoceros.
EXERCISE 2 : Translate into English and give the plural, whenever possible :
Kijiko, kikombe, kiswahili, kiboko, kikapu, kiatu, kiarabu, kioo, choo, cheti, chuma, kifarantsa, kipande, kitabu, kitanda, kifua, kiingereza, kisiwa, kisima, cheo.
EXERCISE 3 : Translate into English :
- Watoto hawa wanakula chakula kizuri hiki.
- Soma kitabu kile kizuri !
- Kiswahili chako ni kizuri sana.
- Mama amenunua kikapu kipya sokoni.
- Usitupe viazi vidogo vile !
- Kisu hiki ni kikali sana.
- Usikate kidole chako na kisu hiki !
- Tunapenda hicho kijiji chetu.
- Angalia kifaru yule mkubwa !
- Kitoto hajala chakula chake bado.
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