wa-

See also:Appendix:Variations of "wa"

Chuukese

Prefix

wa-

1. toput
2. toplace

Curripaco

Prefix

wa-

1. first person plural agent marker

References

• Swintha Danielsen, Tania Granadillo,Agreement in two Arawak languages,inThe 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 withocontract the prefixwa-intowó-.

Northern Ndebele

Etymology 1

FromProto-Bantu*jʊ̀á-.

Prefix

wa-

1. of;class 1 possessive concord.

Etymology 2

FromProto-Bantu*gʊ́á-.

Prefix

wa-

1. of;class 3 possessive concord.

Etymology 3

FromProto-Bantu*gá-.

Prefix

wa-

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

Phuthi

Etymology

FromProto-Bantu*gá-.

Prefix

wa-

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

Southern Ndebele

Etymology 1

FromProto-Bantu*jʊ̀á-.

Prefix

wa-

1. of;class 1 possessive concord.

Etymology 2

FromProto-Bantu*gʊ́á-.

Prefix

wa-

1. of;class 3 possessive concord.

Etymology 3

FromProto-Bantu*gá-.

Prefix

wa-

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

Swahili

Pronunciation

• Audio(Kenya):

  (file)

Etymology 1

FromProto-Bantu*bà-.

Prefix

wa-(singularm-)

1. wa class_(II)noun prefix and adjective agreement prefix, denoting plurals ofm class_(I)

   watotowazuri―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

• Appendix:Swahili noun classes

Etymology 2

FromProto-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,namimi	ndimi,ndiye	simi,siye	-angu
	Second	wewe	u-	hu-	-ku-	nawe,nawewe	ndiwe,ndiye	siwe,siye	-ako
	Third	yeye	a-,yu-	ha-,hayu-	-m-,-mw-,-mu-	naye,nayeye	ndiye	siye	-ake
Plural	First	sisi	tu-	hatu-	-tu-	nasi,nasisi	ndisi,ndio	sio	-etu
	Second	ninyi	m-,mw-,mu-	ham-,hamw-,hamu-	-wa-	nanyi,naninyi	ndinyi,ndio	sinyi,sio	-enu
	Third	wao	wa-	hawa-	-wa-	nao	ndio	sio	-ao
Reflexive		—	—		-ji-	—			—
For a full table including other classes, seeAppendix:Swahili personal pronouns.

Etymology 3

Prefix

wa-

1. Contraction ofu-+-a-(“2nd person singular,m class_(III),andu class_(XI)gnomic”).
2. Contraction ofwa-+-a-(“3rd person plural (wa class_(II)) gnomic”).

Swazi

Etymology 1

FromProto-Bantu*gá-.

Prefix

wa-

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

Etymology 2

FromProto-Bantu*jʊ̀á-.

Prefix

wa-

1. of;class 1 possessive concord.

Etymology 3

FromProto-Bantu*gʊ́á-.

Prefix

wa-

1. of;class 3 possessive concord.

Xhosa

Etymology 1

FromProto-Bantu*jʊ̀á-.

Prefix

wa-

1. of;class 1 possessive concord.

Etymology 2

FromProto-Bantu*gʊ́á-.

Prefix

wa-

1. of;class 3 possessive concord.

Etymology 3

FromProto-Bantu*gá-.

Prefix

wa-

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

Zulu

Etymology 1

FromProto-Bantu*jʊ̀á-.

Prefix

wa-

1. of;class 1 possessive concord.

Etymology 2

FromProto-Bantu*gʊ́á-.

Prefix

wa-

1. of;class 3 possessive concord.

Etymology 3

FromProto-Bantu*gá-.

Prefix

wá-

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

References

• C. M. Doke,B. W. Vilakazi(1972) “wa-”, inZulu-English Dictionary,→ISBN:“wa-”