Learn some common noun suffixes in Swahili
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Intro |
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| Antoni: What are some noun suffixes in Swahili? |
| Gertrude Kariuki: And why are they useful to know? |
| Antoni: At SwahiliPod101.com, we hear these questions often. In the following scenario, Ben Lee hears a new word that sounds familiar, but he isn't sure about the meaning. He asks his friend, Grace Njenga, "What does "nyumbani" mean?" |
| Ben Lee: Nyumbani inamaanisha nini? |
| Dialogue |
| Ben Lee: Nyumbani inamaanisha nini? |
| Grace Njenga: Nyumbani inamaanisha makao ya mtu. |
| Antoni: Once more with the English translation. |
| Ben Lee: Nyumbani inamaanisha nini? |
| Antoni: "What does "nyumbani" mean?" |
| Grace Njenga: Nyumbani inamaanisha makao ya mtu. |
| Antoni: "It means "a place where one lives; one's home."" |
Lesson focus |
| Antoni: In this lesson, we will be looking at noun suffixes in Swahili and why they are useful to know. As you may already know, nouns in Swahili are categorized into seven cases and one can tell which case a noun is in by the prefix attached to the root noun. |
| A prefix is, of course, a small unit of language that is attached to a root word in order to modify the root. When studying Swahili, noun case is one of the most useful aspects of the language to focus on. What is often not mentioned is that there are certain suffixes which can also be attached to nouns in order to modify their meaning. Suffixes, as I am sure you know, are small units of language which are attached to the end of the root word in order to modify that word. You will be pleased to hear that, unlike noun prefixes, there is really only one important noun suffix that you need to be aware of. It sounds like this: |
| Gertrude Kariuki: ni |
| Antoni: This suffix is attached to a noun in order to turn that noun into a location. In other words, the suffix acts as a preposition. It can carry the same meaning as the English words, "in," "inside," "at," "to," and "on." An example will help to show how this works. If you listened to the dialogue for today’s lesson, you will have heard the speakers mention the word: |
| Gertrude Kariuki: nyumbani |
| Antoni: This word consists of the root noun: |
| Gertrude Kariuki: nyumba |
| Antoni: which means "house," and the suffix: |
| Gertrude Kariuki: ni |
| Antoni: Let’s look at how this functions in a sentence meaning "I am at home:" |
| Gertrude Kariuki: Niko nyumbani. |
| Antoni: In this sentence, the suffix acts as the preposition "at." That said, this sentence could also be taken to mean "I am in the house." That’s because this particular suffix is rather versatile. As I mentioned, it can stand in for at least five English prepositions. Sometimes, there is not any room for alternative meanings, as in the sentence: |
| Gertrude Kariuki: Kitabu kiko mezani. |
| Antoni: This means: "The book is on the table." The word for "table" in Swahili is: |
| Gertrude Kariuki: meza |
| Antoni: With the suffix, it becomes: |
| Gertrude Kariuki: mezani |
| Antoni: which means "on the table." One couldn’t very well interpret it to mean, "The book is in the table, for instance, because that would make no sense—nor could we mistakenly assume it to mean "under" because this is never one of the prepositions it represents. From this, it should be clear that the particular prepositional meaning of the suffix must be deduced from the context. Let’s look at another example where this suffix represents a different preposition. |
| Gertrude Kariuki: Nipo sokoni. |
| Antoni: This sentence means, "I am at the market." The word: |
| Gertrude Kariuki: soko |
| Antoni: means "market." So, in this instance, the suffix serves the same function as the English word "at." Sticking with the word for "market," let’s change the context: |
| Gertrude Kariuki: Ninaenda sokoni. |
| Antoni: This sentence means "I am going to the market." It should be clear that, in this case, it has served the function of the English preposition "to." |
| As you can see from all the different contexts in which it can be used, this is a very versatile suffix. |
| [Recall 1] |
| Antoni: Let’s take a closer look at the dialogue. |
| Do you remember how Ben Lee says "What does "nyumbani" mean?" |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Gertrude Kariuki as Ben Lee: Nyumbani inamaanisha nini? |
| [Recall 2] |
| Antoni: Now, let’s take a look at our second sentence. Do you remember how Ben’s friend says "It means "a place where one lives; one's home."?" |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Gertrude Kariuki as Grace Njenga: Nyumbani inamaanisha makao ya mtu. |
| Expansion/Contrast (Optional) |
| Antoni: We have discussed the suffix: |
| Gertrude Kariuki: ni |
| Antoni: and mentioned how versatile it is, but I must point out that it is also limited. It cannot be used in every context with every noun that could possibly be converted into a location. Unfortunately, there is no fixed rule that you can follow to know which nouns it can be used with. This knowledge will have to come with practice and study. So, what do Swahili speakers do when using nouns that don’t take this suffix? The answer is that they use the modifier: |
| Gertrude Kariuki: kwenye |
| Antoni: This modifier also turns nouns into locations by acting as a preposition. It literally means "the place having," and it is one of the forms of the modifier: |
| Gertrude Kariuki: enye |
| Antoni: which means "having." Listen to this Swahili sentence meaning, "We are in the car:" |
| Gertrude Kariuki: Tupo kwenye gari. |
| Antoni: The word for "car" in Swahili is: |
| Gertrude Kariuki: gari |
| Antoni: This sentence literally translates to: "We are in the place having a car." Let’s look at one more example using this modifier. The Swahili word for meeting is: |
| Gertrude Kariuki: kikao |
| Antoni: and the sentence: |
| Gertrude Kariuki: Tupo kwenye kikao. |
| Antoni: means "We are in the meeting." |
| I am sure you can see how to use it now. As I mentioned before, it is important to learn when to use the suffix: |
| Gertrude Kariuki: ni |
| Antoni: and when to use this modifier instead. |
| Practice Section |
| Antoni: Let's review. Respond to the prompts by speaking aloud. Then, repeat after Gertrude Kariuki focusing on pronunciation. Do you remember how Ben Lee says "What does "nyumbani" mean?" |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Gertrude Kariuki as @hero-son: Nyumbani inamaanisha nini? |
| Antoni: Listen again and repeat. |
| Gertrude Kariuki as @hero-son: Nyumbani inamaanisha nini? |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Gertrude Kariuki as @hero-son: Nyumbani inamaanisha nini? |
| Antoni: And do you remember how Grace Njenga says, "It means "a place where one lives; one's home"?" |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Gertrude Kariuki as @college-friend: Nyumbani inamaanisha makao ya mtu. |
| Antoni: Listen again and repeat. |
| Gertrude Kariuki as Grace Njenga: Nyumbani inamaanisha makao ya mtu. |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Gertrude Kariuki as Grace Njenga: Nyumbani inamaanisha makao ya mtu. |
Outro |
| Antoni: Do you have any more questions? We’re here to answer them! |
| Gertrude Kariuki: Kwaheri kwa sasa! |
| Antoni: See you soon! |
| Credits: Gertrude (Swahili, Kenya), Antoni (English, synthetic voice) |
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