Chapter 44 - Compound Adjectives

Genuine adjectives are quite few in Swahili. However there are various means of creating new adjectives from nouns, verbs or other words.

 1. NOUNS OR VERBS PRECEDED BY THE CONNECTIVE "-A" : 

One of the most common ways of creating an adjective is to have the connective -A precede a noun, which confers to that one an adjectival value. The connective -A must agree in class with the noun to which it agrees. Thus :

Maji ya moto	= hot water.	(= water of hot)
Maji ya baridi	= cold water.	(= water of cold)
Fedha ya kutosha	= enough money.	(= money of to be enough)
Mahali pa utulivu	= a quiet place.	(= place of calm)

The noun or the word placed after the connective -A can take the prefix of manner KI-. Thus :

Chakula cha kizungu	= European cooking.	(= food of white)
Nyumba ya kisasa	= a modern house.	(= house of now)

 2. COMMON ADJECTIVAL WORDS : 

1. Adjectives formed with a noun :

   -a baridi	cold
   -a bure	free
   -a haki	right
   -a hatari	dangerous
   -a kawaida	natural, régular
   -a kushoto	(on the) left
   -a kweli	true
   -a lazima	necessary
   -a moto	hot
   -a mwisho	last
   -a porini	wild
   -a siri	secret
   -a taifa	national
   -a zamani	old, ancient

   
   

2. Adjectives formed with a verb in the infinitive :

   -a kufaa	convenient
   -a kupendeza	pleasant, nice
   -a kulia	(on the) right
   -a kutosha	enough, sufficient

   
   

3. Prepositional verbs can also be used to express the finality of something :

   -a kukatia	for cutting
   -a kulimia	for cultivating
   -a kupimia	for measuring
   -a kusafishia	for cleaning
   -a kutilia	for putting

   
   

4. Adjectives formed with a word prefixed with KI- :

   -a kienyeji	native, local
   -a kihindi	Indian
   -a kike	female, feminine
   -a kimataifa	international
   -a kisasa	modern
   -a kitoto	childish
   -a kiume	male, masculine
   -a kizungu	European

   
   

5. Adjectives formed with an adverb :

   Chakula cha jana	yesterday's food
   Desturi za kale	old habits / customs
   Desturi za kwetu	local habits / customs
   Mashamba ya mbali	remote plantations
   Watu wa hapa	local people

   
   

6. The ordinal numbers are formed on this model (see : Chapter 22) :

   -a kwanza	first
   -a pili	second
   -a tatu	third
   -a nne	fourth

   
   

7. In common noun associations, the particule -A has all but disappeared :

   Askari koti	a police officer in uniform
   Askari kanzu	a plain clothes policeman
   Bata maji	a water fowl
   Kijana mwanamke	a young girl
   Mbwa mwitu	a wolf
   Mtu tajiri	a rich person
   Mwaka jana	last year
   Mwana kondoo	a lamb
   Viazi ulaya	potatoes

 3. ADJECTIVAL NOUNS AFTER THE PARTICLE "-ENYE" : 

The possessive particle -ENYE (= "who / which / that  has", "having") placed in front of a noun confers to that one an adjectival value. That particle agrees with the possessor by taking a particular prefix of agreement that is quite similar to the object infix of the corresponding class. Thus :

Mtu mwenye afya	a man in good health
Watu wenye mali	rich people
Mti wenye miiba	a thorny tree
Miti yenye nguvu	vigorous trees
Chumba chenye giza	a dark room.
Samaki mwenye mafuta	a fat fish

 4. THE RELATIVE USED AS AN ADJECTIVE : 

We can also, like what is done in English with a past participle, use a verb in a relative construction or a general relative. (See : Chapter 52 and Chapter 53.)

EXAMPLES :

Meza iliyovunjika	a broken table
Mwaka uliopita	last year
Mwezi ujao	next month
Nchi isiyo na maji	an arid country
Samaki asiye na mafuta	a lean fish   (which has no fat)

PROVERB :

VOCABULARY

EXERCISES

EXERCISE 1 : Translate into Swahili :

Hot water, an old house, the last day, a usual work, the first time, European food, English money, the left arm, the righ foot, a broken table, a dark room, a rich person, a man in good health, lean meat, old habits, a modern car, a dangerous game, a secret love, a right person, a pleasant work, a male child, the second child, a water fowl, potatoes, a lamb.

EXERCISE 2 : Translate into English :

1. Mwanangu hapati chakula cha kutosha.
2. Napenda kula chakula cha kienyeji.
3. Lazima wakulima wafuate kilimo cha kisasa.
4. Mtoto amevunja mkono wake wa kulia.
5. Nadhani leo itakuwa siku ya mwisho ya Ramadhani.
6. Tunataka kupiga picha za wanyama wa porini.
7. Ninapenda viazi ulaya kuliko viazi vitamu.
8. Mbwa mwitu amekula mwana mbuzi mmoja.
9. Mke wake amemzalia mtoto wa kike.
10. Ninahitaji karatasi ya kuandikia barua.
11. Nipe chai yenye sukari.
12. Samaki mwenye mafuta si mzuri kwa afya yako.
13. Mwaka uliopita tulipita nchi isiyo na maji.
14. Wanyama wapenda kulala katika mahali pa giza.
15. Mwite mtu mwenye kofia, nataka kuzungumza naye.