wa-

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See also: Appendix:Variations of "wa"

Chuukese

Prefix

wa-

  1. to put
  2. to place

Curripaco

Prefix

wa-

  1. first person plural agent marker

References

  • Swintha Danielsen, Tania Granadillo, Agreement in two Arawak languages, in The Typology of Semantic Alignment (edited by Mark Donohue, Søren Wichmann) (2008, →ISBN, page 398

Lakota

Prefix

wa-

  1. creates nouns from some verbs.
    ‎wa- + ‎pȟóštaŋ (“to put something on one's head”) → ‎wapȟóštaŋ (“hat”)
  2. creates agent nouns
    ‎wa- + ‎oyúspa (“to seize, grab, hold on to, arrest”) → ‎wawóyuspa (“policeman”)

Usage notes

  • Most verbs that start with o contract the prefix wa- into wó-.

Northern Ndebele

Etymology 1

From Proto-Bantu *jʊ̀á-.

Prefix

wa-

  1. of; class 1 possessive concord.

Etymology 2

From Proto-Bantu *gʊ́á-.

Prefix

wa-

  1. of; class 3 possessive concord.

Etymology 3

From Proto-Bantu *gá-.

Prefix

wa-

  1. they; class 6 subject concord; form of a- used when another prefix precedes.
  2. them; class 6 object concord.

Phuthi

Etymology

From Proto-Bantu *gá-.

Prefix

wa-

  1. they; class 6 subject concord; form of a- used when another prefix precedes.
  2. them; class 6 object concord.

Southern Ndebele

Etymology 1

From Proto-Bantu *jʊ̀á-.

Prefix

wa-

  1. of; class 1 possessive concord.

Etymology 2

From Proto-Bantu *gʊ́á-.

Prefix

wa-

  1. of; class 3 possessive concord.

Etymology 3

From Proto-Bantu *gá-.

Prefix

wa-

  1. they; class 6 subject concord; form of a- used when another prefix precedes.
  2. them; class 6 object concord.

Swahili

Pronunciation

  • Audio (Kenya)(file)

Etymology 1

From Proto-Bantu *bà-.

Prefix

wa- (singular m-)

  1. wa class(II) noun prefix and adjective agreement prefix, denoting plurals of m class(I)
    watoto wazuri ― nice children
    ‎mtu (“person”) → ‎watu (“people”)
    ‎Mwingereza (“English person”) → ‎Waingereza (“English people”)
Usage notes

Some words are irregular:

‎mwizi (“thief”) → ‎wezi (“thieves”)
‎mwanamke (“woman”) → ‎wanawake (“women”)
‎-ingine (“other”) → ‎wengine
See also

Etymology 2

From Proto-Bantu *bá-.

Prefix

wa-

  1. they, 3rd person plural (wa class(II)) subject concord
    Antonym: hawa-
  2. verb-initial form of -wa- (“them (3rd person plural (wa class(II)) object concord) or you (2nd person plural object concord)”)
See also
Swahili personal pronouns (m-wa class(I/II))
Number Person Independent Subject concord Object concord Combined forms Possessive
affirmative negative na ndi- si-
Singular First mimi ni- si- -ni- nami, na mimi ndimi, ndiye simi, siye -angu
Second wewe u- hu- -ku- nawe, na wewe ndiwe, ndiye siwe, siye -ako
Third yeye a-, yu- ha-, hayu- -m-, -mw-, -mu- naye, na yeye ndiye siye -ake
Plural First sisi tu- hatu- -tu- nasi, na sisi ndisi, ndio sio -etu
Second ninyi m-, mw-, mu- ham-, hamw-, hamu- -wa- nanyi, na ninyi ndinyi, ndio sinyi, sio -enu
Third wao wa- hawa- -wa- nao ndio sio -ao
Reflexive — — -ji- — —
For a full table including other classes, see Appendix:Swahili personal pronouns.

Etymology 3

Prefix

wa-

  1. Contraction of u- + -a- (“2nd person singular, m class(III), and u class(XI) gnomic”).
  2. Contraction of wa- + -a- (“3rd person plural (wa class(II)) gnomic”).

Swazi

Etymology 1

From Proto-Bantu *gá-.

Prefix

wa-

  1. they; class 6 subject concord; form of a- used when another prefix precedes.
  2. them; class 6 object concord.

Etymology 2

From Proto-Bantu *jʊ̀á-.

Prefix

wa-

  1. of; class 1 possessive concord.

Etymology 3

From Proto-Bantu *gʊ́á-.

Prefix

wa-

  1. of; class 3 possessive concord.

Xhosa

Etymology 1

From Proto-Bantu *jʊ̀á-.

Prefix

wa-

  1. of; class 1 possessive concord.

Etymology 2

From Proto-Bantu *gʊ́á-.

Prefix

wa-

  1. of; class 3 possessive concord.

Etymology 3

From Proto-Bantu *gá-.

Prefix

wa-

  1. they; class 6 subject concord; form of a- used when another prefix precedes.
  2. them; class 6 object concord.

Zulu

Etymology 1

From Proto-Bantu *jʊ̀á-.

Prefix

wa-

  1. of; class 1 possessive concord.

Etymology 2

From Proto-Bantu *gʊ́á-.

Prefix

wa-

  1. of; class 3 possessive concord.

Etymology 3

From Proto-Bantu *gá-.

Prefix

wá-

  1. they; class 6 subject concord; form of a- used when another prefix precedes.
  2. them; class 6 object concord.

References

Wikious
Boobota
Sagapedia