ma-
Cebuano
Prefix
ma-
- added to verbs and adjectives to form adjectives meaning “able to be done; fit to be done”
Hausa
Etymology
Cognate to the set of prefixes found in Arabic: مُ (mu) for agentive participles, مَ (ma) for locatives, and مِ (mi) for instrumentals.
Prefix
ma-
- Used to form agentive nouns.
- Used to form nouns of place (locative nouns).
- Used to form instrumental nouns.
Usage notes
Each prefix forms a different template to which the noun must conform:
- Agentive nouns end in -ī in the masculine singular, -ìyā in the feminine singular, and -ā in the plural, and the root has low tone in the masculine and plural, but high tone in the feminine.
- Locative nouns end in -ā and are feminine, or uncommonly in -ī and are masculine, with all high tone in either case. There is rarely a plural form.
- Instrumental nouns end in -ī and are masculine, with plurals in -ai. The tones of the singular form are all high, and in the plural the tones are all low except for the plural morpheme.
Derived terms
Kambera
Pronoun
ma-
- first person plural exclusive nominative proclitic
See also
Maori
Prefix
ma-
- Adjective prefix
Northern Sotho
Etymology
From Proto-Bantu *gá-mà-.
Prefix
ma-
- Class 6 noun prefix.
Pitjantjatjara
Prefix
ma-
- away (prefixed to verbs)
Usage notes
- The hyphen is normally kept, for example, ma-pitjanyi.
- Although ma- is spelt with a short a, the vowel is actually long (maa-). The misleading spelling exists for historical reasons.
Sotho
Etymology
From Proto-Bantu *gá-mà-.
Prefix
ma-
- Class 6 noun prefix.
Swahili
Etymology
From Proto-Bantu *mà-.
Prefix
ma-
- The prefix for noun class 6 denoting liquids.
- Regularly forms the plurals of noun class 5.
- Irregularly forms the plurals of other classes, including select vocabulary in noun class 9 and noun class 14.
See also
Tagalog
Etymology
From Proto-Austronesian *ma-.
Prefix
ma-
- Used to form adjectives indicating a quality
- Actor III trigger infinitive verb prefix
- Object IV trigger infinitive verb prefix
- Object trigger to have done something; to be able to do something
- Natapos kong basahin ang libro kagabi.
- I was able to finish reading the book last night.
- Object trigger to perform the action of the verb unintentionally
- Nabasag ko ang salamin.compare it when used with the suffix -in
- I unintentionally broke the mirror.
- Binasag ko ang salamin.
- I broke the mirror on purpose.
Derived terms
Tsonga
Etymology
From Proto-Bantu *gá-mà-.
Prefix
ma-
- Class 6 noun prefix.
Tswana
Etymology
From Proto-Bantu *gá-mà-.
Prefix
ma-
- Class 6 noun prefix.
Venda
Etymology
From Proto-Bantu *gá-mà-.
Prefix
ma-
- Class 6 noun prefix.
Xhosa
Etymology
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Prefix
ma-
Zulu
Etymology 1
From Proto-Bantu *mà-.
Prefix
ma-
- Class 6 simple noun prefix.
Etymology 2
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Prefix
ma-
Usage notes
The prefix is attached to the subjunctive form of the verb, before the subject concord.
Alternative forms
References
- C. M. Doke, B. W. Vilakazi (1972) “ma-”, in Zulu-English Dictionary, →ISBN: “ma-”
- Cebuano lemmas
- Cebuano prefixes
- Hausa lemmas
- Hausa prefixes
- Kambera lemmas
- Kambera pronouns
- Kambera pronominal clitics
- Maori lemmas
- Maori prefixes
- Northern Sotho terms inherited from Proto-Bantu
- Northern Sotho terms derived from Proto-Bantu
- Northern Sotho lemmas
- Northern Sotho prefixes
- Northern Sotho noun prefixes
- Pitjantjatjara lemmas
- Pitjantjatjara prefixes
- Sotho terms inherited from Proto-Bantu
- Sotho terms derived from Proto-Bantu
- Sotho lemmas
- Sotho prefixes
- Sotho noun prefixes
- Swahili terms inherited from Proto-Bantu
- Swahili terms derived from Proto-Bantu
- Swahili lemmas
- Swahili prefixes
- Tagalog terms inherited from Proto-Austronesian
- Tagalog terms derived from Proto-Austronesian
- Tagalog lemmas
- Tagalog prefixes
- Tagalog terms with usage examples
- Tsonga terms inherited from Proto-Bantu
- Tsonga terms derived from Proto-Bantu
- Tsonga lemmas
- Tsonga prefixes
- Tsonga noun prefixes
- Tswana terms inherited from Proto-Bantu
- Tswana terms derived from Proto-Bantu
- Tswana lemmas
- Tswana prefixes
- Tswana noun prefixes
- Venda terms inherited from Proto-Bantu
- Venda terms derived from Proto-Bantu
- Venda lemmas
- Venda prefixes
- Venda noun prefixes
- Xhosa lemmas
- Xhosa prefixes
- Zulu terms with usage examples
- Zulu terms inherited from Proto-Bantu
- Zulu terms derived from Proto-Bantu
- Zulu lemmas
- Zulu prefixes
- Zulu simple noun prefixes