Animals also belong to the M/Wa Class
No, that's wrong... they don't, they just pretend to :)There is a weird class, the N/N class(9/10). All words that don't find a spot go there, especially the words of foreign origin.
The N/N class doesn't have a plural form; the singular form stands for both singular and plural.
Most animals belong to that class, yet since they are living beings, they behave as Class 1/2 nouns.
e.g. mbwa - dog(s)
The adjective form for the word small in the N/N class would be
ndogo (sg) / ndogo (pl)
However dogs behave differently. They take mdogo / wadogo (from the M/Wa Class), though their noun is N/N class (no plural form).
| Right (M/Wa class sg) | Right (M/Wa class pl) | WRONG (N/N class sg=pl) |
|---|---|---|
| mbwa mdogo a small dog | mbwa wadogo small dogs | 'mbwa ndogo' :-( |
Let's have some more animals and if ever you are a fan of Lion King, you won't be disappointed here :D
| mbwa | dog(s) |
| paka | cat(s) |
| panya | mouse / mice |
| twiga | giraffe(s) |
| tembo | elephant(s) |
| simba | lion(s) |
| mamba | crocodile(s) |
| ndege | bird(s) |
| samaki | fish(es) |
| mende | cockroach(es) |
| buibui | spider(s) |