m-
Translingual
Derived terms
Albanian
Basque
Etymology
Compare the expressive prefix ma-.
Prefix
m-
- Non-productive expressive prefix.
Usage notes
Usually, this prefix takes the form /ma/, /mi/, /mu/, followed by a velar or coronal plosive, followed by any vowel, followed by a liquid. For example: mozkor (“drunk”), mutur (“snout, end”), makur (“crooked”).
References
- “m-” in Etymological Dictionary of Basque by R. L. Trask, sussex.ac.uk
Egyptian
Etymology
From Proto-Afroasiatic *m- (nominal prefix).[1]
Pronunciation
- (reconstructed) IPA(key): /ma-/, /mi-/, /mV-/
- (modern Egyptological) IPA(key): /mɛ/
- Conventional anglicization: me-
Prefix
- forms masculine abstract nouns from verbs, with the resulting root structure /ˈmiCCiC/
- forms agent nouns from verbs, with the resulting root structure /ˈmaCCaC/ or /mVCˈCiCVw/ if masculine and /maCˈCaːCit/ or /mVCˈCiCwVt/ if feminine
- forms instrumental nouns from verbs, with the resulting root structure /ˈmaCCaC/ or /mVCˈCiCVw/ if masculine and /maCˈCaːCit/ or /mVCˈCiCwVt/ if feminine
- forms passive nouns from verbs, with the resulting root structure /miˈCuːCiC/ if masculine and /miˈCuCCit/ if feminine
- forms nouns from other nouns with no apparent change in meaning, with the resulting root structure unchanged but for the addition of /ma-/ and the loss of final -w in masculine nouns
- forms nomina loci from verbs and nouns
Alternative forms
If followed by a labial consonant, this prefix dissimilated to n- in prehistoric times.
Derived terms
References
- Gundacker, Roman (2011) “On the Etymology of the Egyptian Crown Name mrsw.t*: An “Irregular” Subgroup of m-Prefix Formations” in Lingua Aegyptia, volume 19, page 41–44
- Loprieno, Antonio (1995) Ancient Egyptian: A Linguistic Introduction, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 1
Kamba
Alternative forms
Prefix
m-
- you plural (used for conjugating verbs to the subjective or nominative case of the personal pronoun)
Northern Ndebele
Old Irish
Derived terms
See also
See Appendix:Old Irish affixed pronouns for details on how these forms are used.
Note that the so-called “infixed” pronouns are technically prefixes, but they are never the first prefix in a verbal complex.
| Person | Infixed | Suffixed | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Class A | Class B | Class C | ||
| 1 sing. | m-L | dom-L, dam-L | -um | |
| 2 sing. | t-L | dot-L, dat-L, dut-L, dit-L | -ut | |
| 3 sing. m. | a-N, e-N | d-N | id-N, did-N, d-N | -i, -it |
| 3 sing. f. | s-(N) | da- | -us | |
| 3 sing. n. | a-L, e-L | d-L | id-L, did-L, d-L | -i, -it |
| 1 pl. | n- | don-, dun-, dan- | -unn | |
| 2 pl. | b- | dob-, dub-, dab- | -uib | |
| 3 pl. | s-(N) | da- | -us | |
| L means this form triggers lenition. N means this form triggers nasalization (eclipsis) (N) means this form triggers nasalization in some texts but not in others. | ||||
Southern Ndebele
Swahili
Etymology 1
From Proto-Bantu *mʊ̀-.
Prefix
m- (plural wa-)
- m class(I) noun prefix and adjective agreement prefix, denoting mostly people
- mtoto mzuri ― a nice child
- mnyama mnono ― a fat animal
Etymology 2
From Proto-Bantu *mʊ̀-.
Prefix
m- (plural mi-)
See also
- Appendix:Swahili noun classes
Etymology 3
From Proto-Bantu *mʊ̀-.
Prefix
m-
See also
| Number | Person | Independent | Subject concord | Object concord | Combined forms | Possessive | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| affirmative | negative | na | ndi- | si- | |||||
| Singular | First | mimi | ni- | si- | -ni- | nami, na mimi | ndimi, ndiye | simi, siye | -angu |
| Second | wewe | u- | hu- | -ku- | nawe, na wewe | ndiwe, ndiye | siwe, siye | -ako | |
| Third | yeye | a-, yu- | ha-, hayu- | -m-, -mw-, -mu- | naye, na yeye | ndiye | siye | -ake | |
| Plural | First | sisi | tu- | hatu- | -tu- | nasi, na sisi | ndisi, ndio | sio | -etu |
| Second | ninyi | m-, mw-, mu- | ham-, hamw-, hamu- | -wa- | nanyi, na ninyi | ndinyi, ndio | sinyi, sio | -enu | |
| Third | wao | wa- | hawa- | -wa- | nao | ndio | sio | -ao | |
| Reflexive | — | — | -ji- | — | — | ||||
| For a full table including other classes, see Appendix:Swahili personal pronouns. | |||||||||
Etymology 4
From Proto-Bantu *mʊ́-.
See also
| Class | Subject concord | Object concord | Relative | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| affirmative | negative | |||
| m(I) | a-, yu- | ha-, hayu- | -m-, -mw-, -mu- | -ye |
| wa(II) | wa- | hawa- | -wa- | -o |
| m(III) | u- | hau- | -u- | -o |
| mi(IV) | i- | hai- | -i- | -yo |
| ji(V) | li- | hali- | -li- | -lo |
| ma(VI) | ya- | haya- | -ya- | -yo |
| ki(VII) | ki- | haki- | -ki- | -cho |
| vi(VIII) | vi- | havi- | -vi- | -vyo |
| n(IX) | i- | hai- | -i- | -yo |
| n(X) | zi- | hazi- | -zi- | -zo |
| u(XI) | u- | hau- | -u- | -o |
| ku(XV/XVII) | ku- | haku- | -ku- | -ko |
| pa(XVI) | pa- | hapa- | -pa- | -po |
| mu(XVIII) | m-, mw-, mu- | ham-, hamw-, hamu- | -mu- | -mo |
| For a full table including first and second person, see Appendix:Swahili personal pronouns. | ||||
Etymology 5
From Proto-Bantu *n-, labialized before labial consonants.
Swazi
Ye'kwana
Alternative forms
- mi- (allomorph before a consonant)
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [m-]
Prefix
m-
- Marks a transitive verb as having a second-person agent/subject.
- Marks an intransitive verb with agent-like argument as having a second-person argument/subject.
Usage notes
The form m- is used with stems that start with a vowel; mi- is used with those that start with a consonant, in which case the initial consonant is also palatalized. In practice, since all intransitive verbs to which this prefix can attach start with a vowel, mi- only appears on certain transitive verbs.
Inflection
| pronoun | noun possessor/ series II verb argument |
postposition object | series I verb argument | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| transitive patient | intransitive patient-like | intransitive agent-like | transitive agent | |||||||
| first person | ewü | y-, ∅-, ü-, u-1 | w-, wi- | |||||||
| first person dual inclusive | küwü | k-, kü-, ku-, ki- | k-, kii-, ki-1 | |||||||
| second person | amödö | ö-, öy-/öd-, o-, oy-/od-, a-, ay-/ad- | m-, mi- | |||||||
| first person dual exclusive | nña | y-/d-, ch-, ∅-, i-1 | chö- | ∅- | n-, ni- | |||||
| third person | tüwü | n-, ni- | ||||||||
| distant past third person | — | kün-, kun-, kin-, ken-, küm-, kum-, kim-, kini- | ||||||||
| coreferential/reflexive | — | t-, tü-, tu-, ti-, te- | — | |||||||
| reciprocal | — | — | öö- | |||||||
| ||||||||||
| series I verb argument: transitive agent and transitive patient | |
|---|---|
| first person > second person | mön-, man-, mon-, möm-, möni- |
| first person dual exclusive > second person | |
| second person > first person | k-, kü-, ku-, ki- |
| second person > first person dual exclusive | |
| third person > any person X …or… any person X > third person | see person X in the chart above |
Zulu
Prefix
ḿ-
Prefix
m-
- Class 9 simple noun prefix; form of n- used before stems beginning with a labial consonant.
References
- C. M. Doke, B. W. Vilakazi (1972) “m-”, in Zulu-English Dictionary, →ISBN: “m-”