Image by Antony Trivet from Pixabay
This post is part of a series on Swahili noun classes. For an overview, see this post. To learn about each noun class in depth, check out these posts: The A-Wa Class, the Ki-Vi Class, the Li-Ya Class, the U-I Class, the I-I Class, the U-Zi Class, the I-Zi Class, the Ya-Ya Class, the Ku-Ku Class, the PaKuMu-PoKoMo Class.
Overview
The U-I noun class includes names of objects/things with a few different singular/plural prefix pairs: m-/mw-/mu-/mo- in the singular, and mi- in the plural. This class includes the names of many plants and trees.
- mkoba, mikoba (bag, bags)
- mti, miti (tree, trees)
- mto, mito (river, rivers)
- mwiba, miiba (thorn,thorns)
- mwaka, miaka (year, years)
- mwezi, miezi (month, months)/(moon/moons)
- muwa, miwa (sugarcane)
- muundo, miundo (design,designs)
- moshi, mioshi (smoke)
- moto, mioto (fire, fires)
Summary of Agreement
| adjective | possessive | subject | object | demonstratives | relatives |
| m-/mi- | w-/y- | u-/i- | u-/i- | huu, hii huo, hiyo ule, ile | o-/yo- |
Adjective Agreement
The adjective agreement prefixes for the U-I class are m– in the singular and mi– in the plural.
- mti mdogo, miti midogo (a small tree, small trees)
- moto mkubwa, mioto mikubwa (a big fire, big fires)
- muwa mrefu, miwa mirefu (a long sugarcane, long sugarcanes)
Possessives
The possessive prefix for the U-I class is w– in singular and y- plural.
- mto wangu, miito yangu (my friend, my friends)
- mti wetu, miti yetu (our tree, our trees)
- mwaka wako, miaka yako (your year, your years)
Verbal Agreement
The verbal subject agreement prefixes for the U-I class are the same as its name, u- in the singular and i– in the plural.
- Mti umevunjika.
The tree is broken. - Mito imefurika.
The rivers have flooded. - Mwezi unang’aa.
The moon is bright. - Miiba imevunjika.
The thorns are broken.
If the subject is a pronoun referring to a U-I noun, the verb will take u– and i– respectively, even when the noun isn’t mentioned.
- Umevunjika.
It is broken. - Umepotea.
It is lost. - Imeharibika.
They are spoiled. - Inapendeza.
They are nice.
Locatives
The prefixes u-/i– are used on the locatives –ko, –po, and –mo.
- Mto uko wapi? Mto uko shambani.
Where is the river? The river is in the garden. - Miundo iko wapi? Miundo iko shuleni.
Where are the designs? The designs are at school.
Object Infixes
The object infixes for the U-I class are also u- in the singular, and i– in the plural.
- Mkoba? Ninauona.
The bag? I see it. - Mistari? Ninaiona.
The lines? I see them.
Demonstratives
The demonstratives for the U-I class are huu (this), hii (these), huo (that), hiyo (those), ule (that over there), ile (those over there).
- mto huu (this river)
- mifereji hii (these taps)
- mwandiko ule (that handwriting)
- mikoba ile (those bags over there)
- mti huo (that tree)
- miti hiyo (those trees)
Relatives
The relative agreement infixes for the U-I noun class are o– in the singular and yo- in the plural. They can appear as infixes in the verb of the clause (ulioraruka) or as suffixes on amba (ambao).
- mkoba ulioraruka…/ mkoba ambao umeraruka… (the bag that is torn…)
- mitihani iliyomshinda…/ mitihani ambayo ilimshinda … (the exams that were difficult for him/her…)
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