“My dad”, “your friend”: Short form possessives for relatives and friends
You can abbreviate the above possessives for relatives and friends (words like rafiki, baba, mama, dada, kaka etc.).
- Put a suffix (see table below) to indicate ownership. Eliminate duplicate vowels.
- Usually, these are just done in “my”, “your” and “his/her’.
| Possession | Noun & class |
|---|---|
| “my” | -angu |
| “your” | -ako |
| “his/her” | -ake |
This just happens for a fixed group of nouns. Here they are. I’ve put emphasis on the ones that are irregular.
| Noun | my | your | his/her |
|---|---|---|---|
| mama (mother) | mamangu | mamako | mamake |
| baba (dad) | babangu | babako | babake |
| dada (sister) | dadangu | dadako | dadake |
| kaka ( brother) | kakangu | kakako | kakake |
| mke (wife) | mke wangu | mkeo | mkewe |
| mume (husband) | mume wangu | mumeo | mumewe |
| rafiki (friend) | rafiki wangu | rafikiyo | rafikiye |
| ndugu (sibling) | ndugu wangu | nduguyo | nduguye |
| mwana (son) | mwanangu | mwanako | mwanake |
| mwenzi (companion) | mwenzangu | mwenzako | mwenzake |