Swahili
[edit]Alternative forms
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From -me- + -isha (“to finish”).
Pronunciation
[edit]Infix
[edit]-mesha-
- counterexpectative perfect aspect marker, indicates that an action has taken place even though one might have expected otherwise
- Near-synonym: -me-
- Wameshakisoma hicho kitabu. ― They have actually read this book.
Conjugation
[edit]| singular | plural | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st person | nimesha- | tumesha- | |
| 2nd person | umesha- | mmesha- | |
| 3rd person |
m-wa(I/II) | amesha- | wamesha- |
| m-mi(III/IV) | umesha- | imesha- | |
| ji-ma(V/VI) | limesha- | yamesha- | |
| ki-vi(VII/VIII) | kimesha- | vimesha- | |
| n(IX/X) | imesha- | zimesha- | |
| u(XI) | umesha- | see n(X) or ma(VI) | |
| ku(XV/XVII) | kumesha- | ||
| pa(XVI) | pamesha- | ||
| mu(XVIII) | mmesha- | ||
For more information, see Appendix:Swahili verbs.
See also
[edit]Swahili TAM markers
- Initial
- Final
- Infix position positive subject concord
- Positive past: -li-
- Positive present: -na-
- Positive future: -ta-
- Negative subjunctive: -si-1
- Positive present conditional: -nge-
- Negative present conditional: -singe-
- Positive past conditional: -ngali-
- Negative past conditional: -singali-
- Gnomic: -a-1
- Perfect: -me-
- "Already" past: -lisha-
- "Already" present: -mesha-/-sha-
- "If/When": -ki-1
- "If not": -sipo-
- Consecutive: -ka-1
- Infix position negative subject concord
- Relative
1 Can take stress and therefore does not require -ku-/-kw- in monosyllabic verbs.