zi-

See also: Appendix:Variations of "zi"

Northern Ndebele

Etymology

From Proto-Bantu *jí-. Originally the prefix of class 10, it replaced the class 8 prefix as well.

Prefix

zi-

1. they; class 8 subject concord.
2. them; class 8 object concord.
3. they; class 10 subject concord.
4. them; class 10 object concord.

Southern Ndebele

Etymology

From Proto-Bantu *jí-. Originally the prefix of class 10, it replaced the class 8 prefix as well.

Prefix

zi-

1. they; class 8 subject concord.
2. them; class 8 object concord.
3. they; class 10 subject concord.
4. them; class 10 object concord.

Swahili

Etymology

From Proto-Bantu *jí-.

Prefix

zi-

1. they; n class_(X) subject concord

See also

Swahili verbal concords (third person)

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.

Xhosa

Etymology

From Proto-Bantu *jí-. Originally the prefix of class 10, it replaced the class 8 prefix as well.

Prefix

zi-

1. they; class 8 subject concord.
2. them; class 8 object concord.
3. they; class 10 subject concord.
4. them; class 10 object concord.

Zulu

Etymology 1

From Proto-Bantu *jí-. Originally the pronominal and verbal concord, it displaced the older Bantu noun prefix *bì-. The tone was lowered by analogy with other noun prefixes.

Prefix

zi-

1. Class 8 simple noun prefix.
2. Class 10 simple noun prefix, used when preceding a consonant n, m, or l.

Etymology 2

From Proto-Bantu *jí-. Originally the prefix of class 10, it replaced the class 8 prefix as well.

Prefix

zí-

1. they; class 8 subject concord.
2. them; class 8 object concord.
3. they; class 10 subject concord.
4. them; class 10 object concord.

References

• C. M. Doke; B. W. Vilakazi (1972), “zi-”, in Zulu-English Dictionary, →ISBN: “zi-”