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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-Zi noun class includes nouns beginning with u– (or w-) in the singular, and ny-/nd-/nj-/ng-/mb– or ∅ in the plural. To form the plural of U-Zi nouns, the u– is dropped and replaced by a nasal (n– or m-) plus another consonant.

If the noun stem begins with a vowel, the plural begins in ny-.

• uso, nyuso (face, faces)
• uma, nyuma (fork, forks)
• uwanja, nyanja (field, fields)

If the noun stem begins with w-, the plural begins with nd-. Stems beginning with l- or r- will also change to nd–

• uwele, ndwele (illness, illnesses)
• ulimi, ndimi (tongue, tongues)

If the noun stem begins with d-, z-, j– or g-, the plural begins with nj-.

• ujiti, njiti (stick, sticks)
• ujukuti, njukuti (spoke, spokes)
• ugavu, ngavu (fish net, fish nets)
• ugoya, ngoya (feather, feathers)

If the noun stem begins with b-, the plural begins with mb-.

• ubao, mbao (wood/board, boards)
• ubeleko, mbeleko (baby carrier, baby carriers)
• ubawa, mbawa (wing, wings)

If the noun stem begins with a consonant other than b, d, z, j, or g, it has a zero ending in the plural.

• ukuta, kuta (wall, walls)
• ukurasa, kurasa (page, pages)
• ufunguo, funguo (key, keys)

Some nouns in this class begin with w– in the singular and ny– in the plural.

• waya, nyaya (wire,wires)
• wakaa, nyakaa (opportunity, opportunities)
• wimbo, nyimbo (song, songs)

Summary of Agreement Markers

Adjective Agreement

The adjective agreement prefixes for the U-Zi class are m– in the singular and n– in the plural.

• uwanja mzuri, nyanja nzuri (a good field, good fields)
• ulimi mrefu, ndimi ndefu (a long tongue, long tongues)
• ujiti mdogo, njiti ndogo (a small stick, small sticks)

Possessives

The possessive prefix for the U-Zi class is w-, in  the singular and z– plural.

• uwanja wangu, nyanja zangu (my field, our fields)
• uma wetu, nyuma zetu (our teacher, our teachers)
• uso wako, nyuso zako (your face, your faces)

Verbal Agreement

The verbal subject agreement prefixes for the U-Zi class are the same as its name, u- in the singular and zi– in the plural.

• Uzi umekatwa.
  The thread has been cut.
• Nyanja zimerembeshwa.
  The fields have been decorated.
• Ukurasa umefunguliwa.
  The page has been opened.
• Mbao zimevunjika.
  The boards are broken.

Locatives

The prefixes u-/zi– are used on the locatives –ko, –po, and –mo.

• Ubao uko wapi? Ubao uko darasani.
  Where is the piece of wood? The piece of wood is in the classroom.
• Mbao ziko wapi? Mbao ziko shuleni.
  Where are the pieces of wood? The pieces of wood are at school.

Object Infixes

The object infixes for the U-Zi class are u- in the singular, and zi– in the plural.

• Waya? Ninauona.
  Wire? I see it.
• Nyaya? Ninaziona.
  The wires? I see them.

Demonstratives

The demonstratives for the U-Zi class are huu (this), hizi (these), huo (that), hizo (those), ile (that over there), zile (those over there).

• ubawa huu(this feather)
• mbawa hizi (these feathers)
• ukuta huo (that wall)
• kuta zile (those walls)

Relatives

The relative agreement infixes for the U-Zi noun class are o– in the singular and zo- in the plural. They can appear as infixes in the verb of the clauses or as suffixes on amba (ambazo).

• uwanja uliotengenezwa…/ uwanja ambao ulitengenezwa… (the field that was repaired…)
• nyuzi zilizokatwa… / nyuzi ambazo zilikatwa… (the thread that got cut…)

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