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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
This is not a very common noun class, but there are a few important and common nouns that belong to it. The nouns in this class do not change from singular to plural, and they usually start with ma-.
- maji (water)
- mafuta (oil)
- marashi (perfume)
- magonjwa (diseases)
- maziwa (milk)
- mate (saliva)
Summary of Agreement
| adjective | possessive | subject | object | demonstratives | relatives |
| ma-/ma- | y-/y- | ya-/ya- | ya-/ya- | haya hayo yale | yo-/yo- |
Adjectives
The adjective agreement prefix for the Ya-Ya class is ma– in both the singular and plural.
- maziwa mabaya (bad milk)
- manukato matamu (sweet fragrance)
- mate machungu (bitter saliva)
Possessives
The possessive prefix for the Ya-Ya class is y- in both the singular and plural.
- mate yangu, (my saliva)
- marashi yetu (our perfume)
- maziwa yako (your milk)
Verbal Agreement
The verbal subject agreement prefix for the Ya-Ya class is the same as its name, ya- in both the singular and plural.
- Marashi yananukia.
The perfume smells nice. - Maziwa yamechemka.
The milk has boiled. - Mate yana madini.
Saliva has minerals.
Locatives
The prefixes ya- is used on the locatives –ko, –po, and –mo.
- Maziwa yako wapi? Maziwa yako jikoni.
Where is the milk? The milk is in the kitchen. - Manukato yako wapi? Manukato yako jijini.
Where is the perfume? The perfume is in the city .
Object Infixes
The object infix for the Ya-Ya class is ya-.
- Marashi? Ninayaona.
The perfume? I see it. - Mate? Ninayaona.
The saliva? I see it. - Unayaona.
You see it. - Tunayaona.
We see it.
Demonstratives
The demonstratives for the Ya-Ya class are haya (this/these), hayo (that/those), and yale (that/those over there).
- mapishi haya (this cooking)
- manukato yale (that perfume)
- maziwa hayo (that milk)
Relatives
The relative agreement infixes for the Ya-Ya noun class are yo– in the singular and in the plural. They can appear as infixes in the verb of the relative clause or as suffixes on amba.
- maziwa yaliyotumika…/ maziwa ambayo yalitumika… (the milk that was used…)
- magonjwa yaliyomwua…/ magonjwa ambayo yalimwua… (the diseases that killed him.)
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