Zipu ya koti lake imeharibika, na kola ya blauzi yake imekunjika.

It describes koti.

So the structure is:

• zipu = zipper
• ya = of
• koti lake = his/her coat

So zipu ya koti lake means the zipper of his/her coat.

If you wanted his/her zipper, you would say zipu yake instead.

The same pattern appears in kola ya blauzi yake:

• kola = collar
• ya blauzi yake = of his/her blouse

So yake goes with blauzi, not with kola.

Ya is the connector meaning of in this kind of noun phrase.

So:

• zipu ya koti = zipper of a coat
• kola ya blauzi = collar of a blouse

This is a very common Swahili pattern:

• kitabu cha mwanafunzi = the student’s book / book of the student
• mlango wa nyumba = door of the house
• jina la mtoto = name of the child

The connector changes form depending on the noun class of the first noun.

Because the connector agrees with the first noun, not the second one.

In zipu ya koti:

• the head noun is zipu
• zipu is in noun class 9
• class 9 uses the connector ya

So it must be zipu ya koti.

Likewise:

• kola ya blauzi → kola is also class 9, so ya
• if the first noun were koti, then you would use la, because koti is class 5

For example:

• rangi ya koti = color of the coat (rangi is class 9)
• jina la koti = name of the coat (jina is class 5)

So the connector is controlled by the noun being possessed, not by the possessor.

Because possessives in Swahili agree with the noun they follow.

• koti is class 5 singular, so his/her becomes lake
• blauzi is class 9, so his/her becomes yake

That means:

• koti lake = his/her coat
• blauzi yake = his/her blouse

This is not a difference in meaning. Both lake and yake can mean his or her. The change is grammatical, not semantic.

They can be broken down like this:

• i- = subject marker for a class 9 singular noun
• -me- = perfect aspect, often has / has become
• verb stem

So:

• i-me-haribika = it has become damaged / it is damaged
• i-me-kunjika = it has become folded/creased / it is creased

The i- is there because the subjects are:

• zipu → class 9 singular
• kola → class 9 singular

So both verbs use the same subject marker.

-me- usually marks the perfect in Swahili.

It often has the idea of:

• has ...
• has become ...
• a present result of a completed change

So:

• imeharibika = it has become damaged / it is now damaged
• imekunjika = it has become creased / it is now creased

In natural English, this is often translated simply as a present state, like is broken or is wrinkled, even though Swahili is using the perfect form.

Because -ika often makes the verb intransitive or change-of-state.

Compare:

• kuharibu = to damage something
• kuharibika = to become damaged / be damaged

and

• kunja = to fold or crease something
• kunjika = to become folded/creased

So in this sentence, the zipper and the collar are not actively doing something to another object. They are in a changed state themselves:

• the zipper has become damaged
• the collar has become creased

That is why haribika and kunjika are the right forms.

They can mean either his or her.

Swahili does not normally distinguish masculine and feminine in third-person singular possessives.

So:

• koti lake = his coat / her coat
• blauzi yake = his blouse / her blouse

Context tells you which is meant.

Depending on context, these forms can also sometimes mean its.

Because Swahili does not have articles like English the and a/an.

So a noun like zipu can mean:

• a zipper
• the zipper

The context tells you which one is intended.

That is very normal in Swahili. You do not usually add a separate word for definiteness the way English does.

There is no separate word for is here because the verbs already carry the meaning of the clause.

• imeharibika is a complete verb: it has become damaged / it is damaged
• imekunjika is also a complete verb: it has become creased / it is creased

So Swahili does not need an extra verb like English is in this sentence.

Here na means and.

It joins the two clauses:

• Zipu ya koti lake imeharibika
• na kola ya blauzi yake imekunjika

So the whole sentence links two related facts together.

In other contexts, na can also mean with, but here it is simply the conjunction and.

Yes, they are loanwords or loanword-like forms that entered Swahili from European languages.

For a learner, the important point is that Swahili treats them like normal nouns and fits them into noun classes:

• zipu → class 9
• kola → class 9
• blauzi → class 9

That is why they take class 9 agreement, such as:

• ya
• yake
• i- in the verb

Loanwords are very common in Swahili, especially for clothing, technology, and modern objects.