 | Chapter 25 - The U- Gender |
|---|
The U- gender is actually composed of 2 distinct classes of nouns, that jointly share the nominal prefix U- in the singular. This gender has no specific plural.
These 2 classes are :
- Class 11, that contains nouns of concrete objects that make their plural in class 10, and more rarely in class 6.
- Classe 14, that countains abstract singular nouns.
1. NOUNS IN CLASS 11 :
a) Concrete nouns with various plurals :
SINGULIER PLURIEL Classe Traduction Ua nyua Cl 10 a courtyard, courtyards Ubao bao Cl 10 a board, boards Udevu ndevu Cl 10 a hair of beard, a beard Ufa nyufa Cl 10 a crack, cracks Ufunguo funguo Cl 10 a key, keys Ugomvi magomvi Cl 6 a quarrel, quarrels Ugonjwa magonjwa Cl 6 a disease, diseases Ukoo koo Cl 10 a clan, clans Ukuta kuta Cl 10 a wall, walls Ulimi ndimi Cl 10 the tongue, tongues Uma nyuma Cl 10 a fork, forks Unywele nywele Cl 10 a hair, the hair Upande pande Cl 10 a side, sides Upanga panga Cl 10 a machete, machetes Upepo pepo Cl 10 wind, bad spirits Usiku siku Cl 10 the night, the day Uso nyuso Cl 10 a face, faces Utambi tambi Cl 10 a wick, wicks Uvumbi vumbi Cl 10 a grain of dust, dust Uzi nyuzi Cl 10 a thread, threads Wakati nyakati Cl 10 time, times Wembe nyembe Cl 10 a razor blade, razor blades Wimbo nyimbo Cl 10 a song, songs
b) uncountable nouns, without plural :
NOUN Translation Udongo the soil, the ground Ugali maize paste Uji porridge Ulimwengu the world Umeme electricity Umri age Unga flour Usingizi sleep Uwongo a lie Wino ink
2. NOUNS IN CLASS 14 :
Most of them are formed from an adjectival, nominal or verbal root.
a) Adjectival root :
ADJECTIVE Translation NOUN Translation -baya bad Ubaya maliciousness -chafu dirty Uchafu dirtiness huru free Uhuru freedom -jinga stupid Ujinga stupidity -moja one Umoja unity -refu long Urefu length safi clean Usafi cleanliness -sawa equal Usawa equality -tajiri rich, wealthy Utajiri wealth -vivu lazy Uvivu laziness -zuri beautiful Uzuri beauty
b) Nominal root :
NOUN Translation NOUN Translation Jamaa a group of people Ujamaa a community Kijana a young person Ujana youth Maskini a poor Umaskini poverty Mchawi a witch Uchawi witchcraft Mfalme a king Ufalme a kingdom Mtoto a child Utoto childhood Mzee an old man Uzee old age
c) Verbal root :
VERB Translation NOUN Translation Kuiba to steal Uwizi theft Kukosa to miss Ukosefu lack Kula to eat Wali cooked rice Kupenda to love, to like Upendo love Kuweza to be able Uwezo capacity Kusahau to forget Usahaulifu forgetfulness
d) Names of countries :
NAME OF COUNTRY Translation Ufaransa France Uganda Uganda Uhabeshi Ethiopia Uhindi India Uingereza England Ujerumani Germany Ulaya Europe Unguja Isle of Zanzibar Ureno Portugal Urusi Russia Usukuma Sukumaland
3. CLASS AGREEMENTS OF THE ADJECTIVE :
In the singular, the adjective agrees with the noun by taking the class 3 singular prefix M-.
In the plural, the adjective usually agrees with the noun by taking the class 10 prefix N- or Ø-, or more rarely the class 6 prefix MA-.
| Singular | Plural | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Ukuta mrefu | a high wall | Kuta ndefu | high walls |
| Uzi mweupe | a white thread | Nyuzi mweupe | white threads |
| Upande mmoja | one side | Pande mbili | two sides |
| Ufunguo mwingine | another key | Funguo nyingine | other keys |
| Ugomvi mkali | a severe quarrel | Magomvi makali | severe quarrels |
| NOTE : | The names of countries that start with the prefix U- behave like the names of countries of the N- gender : Tanzania, Kenya, Misri (= Egypt), etc. and take class 9 agreements with the verbs, adjectives, possessives and demonstratives. |
TANZANIAN SLOGAN :
Uhuru ni Kazi
MOTTO OF TANZANIA :
 | UHURU NA UMOJA |
VOCABULARY
| Ubishi | a quarrel | Upana | width |
| Uchache | scarcity | Ushi, nyushi | an eyebrow |
| Ufagio, fagio | a broom, a brush | Ushirika | a cooperative |
| Ukuni, kuni | firewood | Uta, nyuta | an arc |
| Ukurasa, kurasa | a page | Wema | kindness |
| Unono | wellbeing, comfort | Wivu | jealousy |
EXERCISES
EXERCISE 1 : Translate into Swahili :
A key, a board, a side, a tongue, the face, dust, a song, porridge, time, a beard, the hair, firewood, machetes, dust, wicks, diseases, sleep, ink, electricity, the ground.
Freedom, beauty, unity, cleanliness, dirtiness, childhood, old age, lack, love, capacity, forgetfulness, poverty, wealth, the length, stupidity, France, England, Germany, the Isle of Zanzibar, Portugal.
EXERCISE 2 : Translate into English :
Ufagio mdogo, ukuta mrefu, uso mzuri, kuni nyingi, uzi mweusi, pande mbili, ufunguo mpya, magonjwa makubwa, ulimi mchafu, nyuma safi, wimbo mzuri, nywele nyeusi, udongo mzuri, wino mwekundu, unga mzuri, upendo mkubwa, nyembe kali, mbao nzito, ndevu ndefu, usiku mweusi.
EXERCISE 3 : Translate into English :
- Taa hizi mbili zataka tambi mpya.
- Mbao hizi ndefu mno.
- Vibarua wanahitaji panga tatu na fagio nne.
- Nipike nini leo : Wali au ugali ?
- Uji huu mzuri sana.
- Msichana huyu ana nywele ndefu nyeusi.
- Nimepotea funguo zangu : siwezi kufungua mlango !
- Wakati huu kuna upepo mkali kabisa.
- Mzee yule amelala usingizi uani.
- Kuni zote zimekwisha. Lete nyingine !
- Mwalimu anatumia ubao mweusi shuleni.
- Lete nyuma, visu na vijiko mezani.
- Ana ugomvi mkali na jamaa zake.
- Duka la ushirika linauza unga wa ngano.
- Tanganyika imepata uhuru wake mwaka wa elfu moja mia tisa sitini na moja.
| Previous Chapter | Next Chapter | Table of Contents |
|---|