Saying 'of' with -a

01

The Forms

• class 1, 2, 3, 11 wa
• class 4, 6, 9 ya
• class 5 la
• class 7 cha
• class 8 vya
• class 10 za

• Tunakula chakula cha mchana.

  We are eating lunch.

• Nilienda kwenye jengo la ununuzi.

  I went to a shopping centre.

• Habari za asubuhi Anna.

  Good morning, Anna.

Three sentences, three different linking words, because chakula, jengo and habari belong to three different classes.

02

The First Noun Decides

This is the point that trips up English speakers, because English hangs its apostrophe on the owner instead.

• Nina swali kuhusu mtihani wa kesho.

  I have a question about tomorrow's exam.

The exam is class 3, so the word is wa. Tomorrow has no say in it.

• Unataka viatu vya rangi gani?

  What colour shoes do you want?

The shoes are class 8, so vya; the colour plays no part in choosing it.

03

Not Only Possession

The same construction builds descriptions where English would use an adjective, or simply stack two nouns together.

• Nina mzio wa vyakula vya baharini.

  I am allergic to seafood.

• Nina tiketi za tamasha mwezi Septemba.

  I have tickets for a concert in September.

04

It Joins to a Verb Too

Followed by an infinitive, the linking word gives what a thing is for.

• Mahali pazuri pa kukaa ni chini ya mti.

  A good place to sit is under the tree.

• Nina pesa za kutosha kununua gari.

  I have enough money to buy a car.

Literally the second reads money of sufficing, and that is how Swahili builds a great many everyday phrases.

05

The Place Forms

The place classes have their own shapes, and one of them, kwa, has become the general-purpose preposition of the language.

• class 15, 17 kwa
• class 16 pa
• class 18 mwa

• Kuna kituo cha mafuta mwishoni mwa barabara.

  There is a petrol station at the end of the road.

06

It Hides Inside the Possessives

The possessive words are this same stem with a possessive ending welded on. wangu is wa plus -angu; changu is cha plus -angu. Once you see that, the whole possessive system falls out of a rule you already know.

• Kiti changu cha zamani cha ofisi kimevunjika.

  My old office chair has broken.

Both changu and cha there are the class 7 form; the first carries an ending, the second a noun.

07

Chains of Them

Nothing stops a sentence linking three or four nouns in a row, each with its own agreeing word.

• Nitafanya kazi yangu ya ziada ya shuleni baadaye.

  I will do my extra schoolwork later.

• Nitakupa aspirini kwa ajili ya maumivu ya kichwa.

  I will give you aspirin for a headache.

Each linking word looks leftwards to the noun it belongs to, never rightwards.