Word structure: prefix + root

You may have noticed that shikomori is full of look-alike words: mwana / wana / mlozi / walozi / muhono / mihono. No coincidence.

Every shikomori noun is built from two bricks:

• A root carrying the concept (the idea of child, fisher, hand, etc.)
• A prefix telling which class and number it belongs to

Once you see the two bricks, you read the language like English.

All shikomori nouns follow this general scheme:

`(PRE-PREFIX) + CLASS PREFIX + ROOT`

The pre-prefix is optional (it marks definiteness — like English « the »). You'll see it in lesson 3.3.

For now, just remember: prefix + root.

1. No space, no hyphen. Prefix and root are written glued. We write mlozi, never m lozi nor m-lozi. The hyphens in this lesson are purely pedagogical.

2. The root stays put. Whatever changes between singular and plural, definite and indefinite, is the prefix. The root -lozi stays -lozi across mlozi, walozi, umlozi, uwalozi.

3. The prefix can contract. Before a vowel, m- may become mw- (mwana, not mana), wa- may become w- (wana, not waana). Just oral fluidity frozen in writing.

Look at these 4 words and try to guess where the prefix cuts:

• mlozi → m- + -lozi (fisher)
• mwidzi → mw- + -idzi (thief)
• muhono → mu- + -hono (hand)
• mtsanga → m- + -tsanga (sand)

When the prefix ends in a vowel and the root starts with a vowel, you often get a fusion or a semi-vowel (-w-, -y-). Regular, but takes a bit of ear training.

Lesson 3.2 gives you the map: shikomori's 16 noun classes, grouped into 7 Bantu « genders ». The blueprint you'll need for the rest of the module.