ma-

See also: Appendix:Variations of "ma"

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-

  1. Used to form agentive nouns.
  2. Used to form nouns of place (locative nouns).
  3. 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

► <a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs14 CategoryTreeLabelCategory' href='/wiki/Category:Hausa_words_prefixed_with_ma-_(agentive)'>Hausa words prefixed with ma- (agentive)</a>
► <a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs14 CategoryTreeLabelCategory' href='/wiki/Category:Hausa_words_prefixed_with_ma-_(locative)'>Hausa words prefixed with ma- (locative)</a>
► <a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs14 CategoryTreeLabelCategory' href='/wiki/Category:Hausa_words_prefixed_with_ma-_(instrumental)'>Hausa words prefixed with ma- (instrumental)</a>

Maori

Prefix

ma-

  1. Adjective prefix

Pitjantjatjara

Prefix

ma-

  1. 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.

Swahili

Etymology

From Proto-Bantu *mà-.

Prefix

ma-

  1. The prefix for noun class 6 denoting liquids.
    1. Regularly forms the plurals of noun class 5.
    2. Irregularly forms the plurals of other classes, including select vocabulary in noun class 9 and noun class 14.

See also

  • Appendix:Swahili noun classes

Tagalog

Prefix

ma-

  1. Prefix to form adjectives from a root word
    1. ma-+linis (“to clean”)=malinis (“clean”)
  2. Actor III trigger infinitive verb prefix
    1. ma-+ligo (“bath”)=maligo (“to take a bath; to bathe”)
  3. Object IV trigger infinitive verb prefix
    1. ma-+basa (“wet”)=mabasa (“to become wet”)

Zulu

Etymology 1

From Proto-Bantu *mà-.

Prefix

ma-

  1. Class 6 simple noun prefix.

Etymology 2

Prefix

ma-

  1. let, may; gives a verb a hortative force.
    Masihambe!
    Let's go!
Usage notes

The prefix is attached to the subjunctive form of the verb, before the subject concord.

Alternative forms

References

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