M-Wa noun Class

Question 1

Which nouns are part of the M/Wa class

Answer 1

All living things (not trees/plants)

Question 2

What are the sub classes

Answer 2

1. The typical m/wa with either m or wa as the prefix. Such mwanaume, wanamke etc
2. Words which don’t start with M/wa, but denote living beings like samaki, paka, Simba etc. Singular and plural are the same in this sub class
3. Words which denote relatives such as mama, baba, kaka, dada etc. These don’t have plural prefixes either.
4. Words which start with Ki/vi,however, denote living things such as kijana, kifanu(rhino),kiziwi(deaf person) etc. Plurals are prefixed with Vi
5. Words such as rafiki and daktari which denote living things and have Ma as the prefix for plural.

Question 3

What are the subject prefixes for m/wa class

Answer 3

Positive Negative
singular - a Ha
Plural - wa Hawa

Question 4

What are the possessives for m/wa class

Answer 4

Wa

Wangu Wetu
Wako. Wenu
Wake Wao

Exception is for the Rafiki , daktari subclass where it’s ya for singular and za for plural in order to differentiate between singular and plural because the prefix doesn’t differentiate

Question 5

What are the adjective prefixes for m/wa noun class?

Answer 5

M singular and Wa plural