To
recognize and distinguish which words are indigenous (Bantu), and which are
foreign-derived, we have to familiarize with sounds in vowel and consonant
combinations. Indigenous (Bantu) words form the core of many words and are
therefore well defined, and from which, thousands of words are generated. Foreign-derived
words have varied, dispersed sound patterns, due to the varied languages they
come from and are few and in-between here and there. Most of these words
have to be “Bantuized” to be adopted into Kiswahili. This is mostly done by the
addition of a sound “m" at the beginning, and addition of a vowel sound at the end of the word.
The
list for foreign sounds may look long but that is only a result of variety of
foreign language sources, yet each sound can only produce very few words from
itself.
The
sounds will be divided into vowel sounds and consonant sounds.
Indigenous
(Bantu) Sounds:
Vowels
– Two vowel syllables cannot follow each other. Vowels must be accompanied by a
consonant sound to complete a syllable of more than one letter. The examples in
the consonants’ lists will reveal this.
Consonants
– The consonant combinations forming syllables in indigenous words include:
MB
– Amba, Ambia, Imba, Umba,
Omba, Ombea, Imbia, Mbona, Mbuga, Mbari, Mbali, Wimbi
MP
– Mpaka, Mpito, Mpira
MT
– Mti, Mtama, Mtima,
Mtoto
MW
– Mwanya, Mwana, Mwito,
Mwema, Mwezi
ND
– Ndoo, Ndia, Muundo, Winda,
Windo, Unda, Enda
NG
– Gonga, Ganga, Anga,
Unga, Ringa, Tingatinga, Tunga, Ngisi, Ngiri, Ngeli
NG’
– Ng’ata, Ng’oa, Ng’ombe,
Ng’wenya, Ng’onda
NJ
– Uwanja, Njia, Njaa, Onja,
Njugu, Njiti
NY
– Menya, Nyanya, Ku-nywa,
Ku-nya, Nyota, Kunyata, Nyimbo
NT
– Nta, Nti
BW
– Bwana, Mbwa, Bwaga,
Bwakia, Bwanyenye, Bwata, Bwawa
MG
– Mgomba, Mguu, Mgongo,
Mgao,
CH
– Chumba, Cheo, Cheti, Chimba,
Mchicha, Mchuzi
NGW
– Ngwena, Ngwamba, Ngwa,
Ngwe, Ngwenje
PW
– Pwani, Mpwa, Pweke,
Pwaa, Pwaga, Pwaju, Pwaya
TW
– Twaa, Twanga, Tweza,
Tweka, Twika, Twiga
VY
– Vyeti, Ovyo, Avya,
Vyombo, Vyumba
Foreign-derived
words:
Vowels – For foreign-derived
words, two vowels follow each other forming distinct syllables. For example:
EI – Bei,
AI – Rai, Rais, Aidha, Chai
AU – Auladi, Dau
Consonants- The
consonants are varied and often not related to each other. They come from
various languages like English, Arabic, Portuguese, Hindi, Persian, German, Latin
and so forth. For example:
BL – Kabla, Blanketi
BR – Bratha, Breki, Brokoli, Bromidi
DH – Dhumna, Dhuria, Dhahabu
FR – Kafra,
FS - Nafsi
FT – Kafta, Mufti
GL – Glukosi, Glasi
GH – Ghorofa, Ghuba
KR – Takriban
KS – Faksi, Soksi
KSH - Bakshishi
KT – Nukta, Daktari
LF – Alfu, Elfu
LK - Hulka
LT - Bolti
MD – Mdalasini, Mdarabi
MH – Mhadhara, Mhalifu, Mhuni
MR - Amri
MST – Mstari, Mstafeli, Mstaarabu
NS - Insi
NSH - Insha
PR - Programu
RDH - Ardhi
RT - Sharti
SHT – Shtaki
SK – Skuli, Askofu
SHW - Shwari
SKR - Skrubu
SP - Spana
SR – Kasri, Misri
ST – Pasta, Istiari
By recognizing the standard morphology of indigenous words, it becomes easier to filter the foreign-derived words
Reference:
Mbunda F.
L., (1976). Mwalimu wa lugha, Kiswahili.
TUKI
(2001), Kamusi Ya Kiswahili-Kiingereza; Swahili-English Dictionary. Published
by Taasisi ya Uchunguzi wa Kiswahili (TUKI), Chuo Kikuu cha Dar es Salaam,
Tanzania.
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