Nouns: Class 1 and 2

We've introduced the concept of noun classes in a previous post. In this post, we will work through examples from classes 1 and 2.

Class 1 nouns

Here are some words from Class 1. Read them aloud:

muzhazi	parent
musichana	girl
muvuhi	fisherman
musena	friend

Have you worked out what the unifying concept of Class 1 nouns is? The key concept is mut'u, meaning person. Class 1 is the person class.

Class 1 nouns with vowels

When there's a vowel at the start of the noun, the class 1 prefix mu- becomes mw-. Read the following examples out loud:

mwalimu	teacher
mwana	child

If you try saying mu-alimu or mu-ana very quickly, you will see where this came from!

Some example sentences

Now let's use our new nouns to make sentences! Read out the following examples:

Musichana anashoma    The girl is reading
Muzhazi anenda            The parent is going
Musena anarya              The friend is eating

Try translating the following sentences from English into Giriama:

The person is coming
The girl is leaving
The teacher is going

Class 2 nouns

And here are some words from Class 2:

atʼu	people
avuhi	fishermen
asichana	girls
azhazi	parents
asena	friends
alimu	teachers

Class 2 is the people class. To make any Class 1 noun plural, just change the mu- into an a-

Now, give the singular form of the following words:

azungu	white people
azuzu	fools
avulana	boys

Move them from Class 2 to Class 1: change the a- into a mu-.

Using a dictionary

When you look up a noun in the dictionary, you will see either the whole plural form, or just the plural prefix, given in brackets afterwards:

musichana (a-)
muana (a-)

For words like muzhazi, it's pretty obvious which noun class they are in, but it is not always so easy. Having the plural form as well helps you work it out.