ma-

Kiswahili

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ma-

Where it comes from

Inherited from Proto-Sabaki *ma-, from Proto-Bantu *mà-.

In Sabaki, cognate with Ngazidja Comorian ma- and Giryama ma-. Other Bantu cognates include Rwanda-Rundi ma- and Zulu ma-.

prefix me-

morpheme [[Appendix:Swahili_noun_classes#Ji-ma class|ma class_((VI))]] noun prefix and adjective agreement prefix, denoting mass nouns and plurals of a variety of classes maji machafu
morpheme forms plurals of [[Appendix:Swahili_noun_classes#Ji-ma class|ji class_((V))]] nouns jicho (“eye”) → macho (“eyes”)
morpheme forms plurals of some [[Appendix:Swahili_noun_classes#U class|u class_((XI))]] nouns ugomvi (“quarrel”) → magomvi (“quarrels”)
morpheme forms collectives of [[Appendix:Swahili_noun_classes#N class|n class_((IX))]] nouns ma- + rafiki (“friend”) → marafiki (“group of friends”)

In English

-s regular plurals of nouns

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Cite this

MLA

"ma-." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/sw/ma-. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

ma-. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/sw/ma-

Chicago

"ma-." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/sw/ma-.

BibTeX

@misc{ma_2026,
  title = {ma-},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/sw/ma-},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}