ma-

See also: Appendix:Variations of "ma"

Basque

Etymology

Probably related to m-.

Prefix

ma-

1. Non-productive prefix without a specific meaning.

Usage notes

In words where this prefix can be found, it takes the place of the first syllable of the original word, usually with no change in meaning (compare udare and madari, both meaning "pear"). It is likely that originally this was an expressive prefix, and that many Basque words starting with ma- contain this prefix, with the original word having been lost.

References

• “ma-” in Etymological Dictionary of Basque by R. L. Trask, sussex.ac.uk

Bikol Central

Prefix

ma-

1. Used to form adjectives indicating a quality

   ‎ma- + ‎linig (“to clean”) → ‎malinig (“clean”)

2. Object IV trigger infinitive verb prefix

   ‎ma- + ‎dumog (“wet”) → ‎madumog (“to become wet”)

3. Object trigger to have done something; to be able to do something

   ‎ma- + ‎tapos (“finish”) → ‎matapos (“to be able to finish something”)

   Natapos kong basahon an libro kasubanggi. ― I was able to finish reading the book last night.

4. Object trigger to perform the action of the verb unintentionally

   ‎ma- + ‎pasa (“broken, break”) → ‎mapasa (“to break something unintentionally”)

   Napasa ko an salming. ― I unintentionally broke the mirror. Compare it when used with the suffix -on:

   pasa (“broken, break”) + -on → pasaon (“to break something on purpose”)

   Pinasa ko an salming. ― I broke the mirror on purpose.

5. to form the future tense of the verb.

Cebuano

Prefix

ma-

1. Used to form adjectives indicating a quality
2. Used to form the future tense of a verb

Hausa

Etymology

Cognate to the set of prefixes found in Arabic: مُ (mu) for agentive participles, مَ (ma) for locatives, and مِ (mi) for instrumentals.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /má-/
  • (Standard Kano Hausa) IPA^(key): [mə́-]

Prefix

ma-

1. Used to form agentive nouns.
2. Used to form nouns of place (locative nouns).
3. Used to form instrumental nouns.

Usage notes

Each prefix forms a different template to which the noun must conform:

• Agentive nouns end in -ī in the masculine singular, -ìyā in the feminine singular, and -ā in the plural, and the root has low tone in the masculine and plural, but high tone in the feminine.
• Locative nouns end in -ā and are feminine, or uncommonly in -ī and are masculine, with all high tone in either case. There is rarely a plural form.
• Instrumental nouns end in -ī and are masculine, with plurals in -ai. The tones of the singular form are all high, and in the plural the tones are all low except for the plural morpheme.

Derived terms

Hausa terms prefixed with ma- (agentive)

Hausa terms prefixed with ma- (locative)

Hausa terms prefixed with ma- (instrumental)

Japanese

Romanization

ma-

1. Rōmaji transcription of ま

Kambera

Pronoun

ma-

1. first person plural exclusive nominative proclitic

See also

Kambera pronominal clitics

	Nominative	Genitive	Accusative	Dative
1sg	ku-	-nggu	-ka	-ngga
2sg	mu- (u-)	-mu	-kau	-nggau
3sg	na-	-na	-ya	-nya
1pl.incl	ta-	-nda	-ta	-nda
1pl.excl	ma-	-ma	-kama	-nggama
2pl	mi- (i-)	-mi	-kami (-kai)	-nggami (-nggai)
3pl	da-	-da	-ha	-nja

Kongo

Prefix

ma-

1. class 6 prefix

Maori

Prefix

ma-

1. Adjective prefix

Northern Sotho

Etymology

From Proto-Bantu *mà-.

Prefix

ma-

1. Class 6 noun prefix.

Old Javanese

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Prefix

ma-

1. active verb

Synonyms

• a-
• (m)aN-
• -um-

Derived terms

Old Javanese terms prefixed with ma-

Pitjantjatjara

Prefix

ma-

1. away (prefixed to verbs)

Usage notes

• The hyphen is normally kept, for example, ma-pitjanyi.
• Although ma- is spelt with a short a, the vowel is actually long (maa-). The misleading spelling exists for historical reasons.

Shona

Etymology

From Proto-Bantu *mà-.

Prefix

ma-

1. Class 6 noun prefix.

Sotho

Etymology

From Proto-Bantu *mà-.

Prefix

ma-

1. Class 6 noun prefix.

Swahili

Alternative forms

• me- (before i and e)

Etymology

From Proto-Bantu *mà-.

Pronunciation

• Audio (Kenya):

  (file)

Prefix

ma-

1. ma class_(VI) noun prefix and adjective agreement prefix, denoting mass nouns and plurals of a variety of classes

   maji machafu ― dirty water

   1. forms plurals of ji class_(V) nouns

      ‎jicho (“eye”) → ‎macho (“eyes”)

      ‎jambo (“thing”) → ‎mambo (“things”)

      ‎chungwa (“orange”) → ‎machungwa (“oranges”)

      ‎jitu (“giant”) → ‎majitu (“giants”)

   2. forms plurals of some u class_(XI) nouns

      ‎ugomvi (“quarrel”) → ‎magomvi (“quarrels”)

   3. forms collectives of n class_(IX) nouns

      ‎ma- + ‎rafiki (“friend”) → ‎marafiki (“group of friends”)

See also

• Appendix:Swahili noun classes

Tagalog

Etymology 1

From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *ma-, from Proto-Austronesian *ma- (stative prefix). Compare may (existential marker).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ma/ [mɐ]
• Syllabification: ma-

Prefix

ma- (Baybayin spelling ᜋ)

1. used to form adjectives indicating a quality

   ‎ma- + ‎linis (“cleanliness”) → ‎malinis (“clean”)

2. actor III trigger infinitive verb prefix

   ‎ma- + ‎ligo (“bath”) → ‎maligo (“to take a bath; to bathe”)

3. object IV trigger infinitive verb prefix

   ‎ma- + ‎basa (“wet”) → ‎mabasa (“to become wet”)

4. object trigger to have done something; to be able to do something

   ‎ma- + ‎tapos (“finish”) → ‎matapos (“to be able to finish something”)

   Natapos kong basahin ang libro kagabi. ― I was able to finish reading the book last night.

5. object trigger to perform the action of the verb unintentionally

   ‎ma- + ‎basag (“break, crack”) → ‎mabasag (“to break something unintentionally”)

   Nabasag ko ang salamin. ― I unintentionally broke the mirror. Compare it when used with the suffix -in:

   basag (“break, crack”) + -in → basagin (“to break something on purpose”)

   Binasag ko ang salamin. ― I broke the mirror on purpose.

Derived terms

Tagalog terms prefixed with ma-

Etymology 2

From Proto-Austronesian *ma- (future prefix).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈma/ [ˈmaː]
• Syllabification: ma-

Prefix

má- (Baybayin spelling ᜋ) (dialectal)

1. used to form contemplative aspects of verbs prefixed with um- or infixed with -um-

See also

• na-

 

Further reading

• Blust, Robert; Trussel, Stephen; et al. (2023) “*ma-”, in the CLDF dataset from The Austronesian Comparative Dictionary (2010–), →DOI

Anagrams

• am

Tausug

Prefix

ma-

1. Used to form adjectives and adverbs; characterized by; abundant in

Derived terms

Tausug terms prefixed with ma-

Ternate

Etymology 1

Pronoun

ma- (Jawi م-)

1. (non-human) third-person singular and plural possessive prefix, its, their
2. indicates definiteness

   haka ngori maobo ― give me the bone (literally, “give me its bone”)

   mangofa hotu ― the child sleeps (literally, “its child sleeps”)

See also

Ternate personal pronouns

	independent			subject proclitic		possessive
	Informal	Formal
1st person singular	ngori	fangarem, fajaruf		to		ri
2nd person singular	ngana	ngoni, jou ngoni		no		ni
3rd person singular	unam, minaf			om, mof, inh		im, mif, manh
1st person plural inclusive	ngone			fo		na, nga
1st person plural exclusive	ngomi	fangare ngomim, fajaru ngomif, fara ngomi1		mi		mi, mia
2nd person plural	ngoni			ni		na, nia
3rd person plural	anah, enanh			ih, nh, yoh, †, yanh, †		nah, ngah, manh

• unmarked pronouns are gender non-specific
• m - masculine, f - feminine, h - human, nh - non-human
• 1 - for mixed-gender groups
• † - archaic

Etymology 2

Prefix

ma- (Jawi م-)

1. marks certain verbal aspects
   1. indicates prolonged duration
   2. indicates repeated action

      ‎ma- + ‎kokehe (“to cough”) → ‎makokehe (“to cough repeatedly”)

   3. indicates habitual action
   4. indicates an action undertaken by multiple subjects

Etymology 3

Prefix

ma- (Jawi م-)

1. reflexive

   ‎ma- + ‎doto (“to teach”) → ‎madoto (“to learn”)

   ‎ma- + ‎hodo (“to pour”) → ‎mahodo (“to bathe”)

   ‎ma- + ‎ngadi (“to clothe (another)”) → ‎mangadi (“to put on clothes, to don”)

References

• Frederik Sigismund Alexander de Clercq (1890) Bijdragen tot de kennis der Residentie Ternate, E.J. Brill
• Rika Hayami-Allen (2001) A descriptive study of the language of Ternate, the northern Moluccas, Indonesia, University of Pittsburgh

Tsonga

Etymology

From Proto-Bantu *mà-.

Prefix

ma-

1. Class 6 noun prefix.

Tswana

Etymology

From Proto-Bantu *mà-.

Prefix

ma-

1. Class 6 noun prefix.

Venda

Etymology

From Proto-Bantu *mà-.

Prefix

ma-

1. Class 6 noun prefix.

West Makian

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ma/

Prefix

ma-

1. a prefix of unclear meaning

   ‎ma- + ‎gei (“to be dead”) → ‎magei (“to die”)

   ‎ma- + ‎dadi (“to become”) → ‎madadi (“to be, exist”)

Usage notes

The prefix ma- is subject to West Makian vowel harmony, and as such may surface as me-, mi-, or mo-.

Alternative forms

• me-, mi-, mo-

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ma/

Pronoun

ma-

1. first-person plural inclusive clitic, we

   moco ― we see

Usage notes

The prefix ma- follows West Makian vowel harmony, and as such may surface as me-, mi-, or mo-.

Alternative forms

• me-, mi-, mo-

Etymology 3

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ma/

Pronoun

ma-

1. (animate) third-person singular clitic for stative verbs, it

   madadi sangaji ― he became a chief

   di oma ma makaku i ― their child is still small

Usage notes

This clitic is only for stative verbs and does not undergo vowel harmony.

Etymology 4

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ma/

Pronoun

ma-

1. (animate) third-person singular possessive prefix, his, hers, that person's, that being's

Usage notes

The possessive prefix ma- is subject to West Makian vowel harmony, and as such may surface as me-, mi-, or mo-.

Alternative forms

• me-, mi-, mo-

See also

West Makian personal pronouns

	independent	possessive prefix
1st person singular	de	ti
2nd person singular	ni	ni
3rd person singular	me	mVan., dVinan.
1st person plural inclusive	ene	nV
1st person plural exclusive	imi	mi
2nd person plural	ini	fi
3rd person plural	eme	di

• V indicates the expected assimilated vowel of the following noun, following standard West Makian vowel harmony.

Etymology 5

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ma/

Prefix

ma-

1. forms adverbial numerals

   ‎ma- + ‎minye (“one”) → ‎maminye (“once”)

   ‎ma- + ‎unge (“three”) → ‎maunge (“thrice”)

References

• Clemens Voorhoeve (1982) The Makian languages and their neighbours‎^[1], Pacific linguistics

Xhosa

Etymology

From a clipping of makhe (“hortative marker”).

Prefix

ma-

1. let, may; gives a verb a hortative force.

   Masihambe!

   Let's go!

Usage notes

The prefix is attached to the subjunctive form of the verb, before the subject concord.

Zulu

Etymology 1

From Proto-Bantu *mà-.

Prefix

ma-

1. Class 6 simple noun prefix.

Etymology 2

From a clipping of make (“hortative marker”).

Prefix

ma-

1. let, may; gives a verb a hortative force.

   Masihambe!

   Let's go!

Usage notes

The prefix is attached to the subjunctive form of the verb, before the subject concord.

Alternative forms

• a-

References

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