Editing Swahili language (section)

===Agreement===
{{more citations needed section|date=January 2016}}
Swahili phrases agree with nouns in a system of [[Agreement (linguistics)|concord]] but, if the noun refers to a human, they accord with noun classes 1–2 regardless of their noun class. Verbs agree with the noun class of their subjects and objects; adjectives, prepositions and demonstratives agree with the noun class of their nouns. In Standard Swahili ''(Kiswahili sanifu)'', based on the dialect spoken in Zanzibar, the system is rather complex; however, it is drastically simplified in many local variants where Swahili is not a native language, such as in Nairobi. In non-native Swahili, concord reflects only animacy: human subjects and objects trigger ''a-, wa-'' and ''m-, wa-'' in verbal concord, while non-human subjects and objects of whatever class trigger ''i-, zi-''. Infinitives vary between standard ''ku-'' and reduced ''i-.''<ref>Kamil Ud Deen, 2005. ''The acquisition of Swahili''.</ref> ("Of" is animate ''wa'' and inanimate ''ya, za.'')

In Standard Swahili, human subjects and objects of whatever class trigger animacy concord in ''a-, wa-'' and ''m-, wa-,'' and non-human subjects and objects trigger a variety of gender-concord prefixes.

{| class=wikitable
|+Swahili noun-class concord
|-
!NC!!Semantic<br/>field!!Noun<br/>-C, -V!!Subj.!!Obj.!!''-a''!!Adjective<br/>-C, -i, -e<ref group="*">Most Swahili adjectives begin with either a consonant or the vowels ''i-'' or ''e-'', listed separately above. The few adjectives beginning with other vowels do not agree with all noun classes since some are restricted to humans. NC 1 ''m(w)-'' is ''mw-'' before ''a'' and ''o,'' and reduces to ''m-'' before ''u''; ''wa-'' does not change; and ''ki-, vi-, mi-'' become ''ch-, vy-, my-'' before ''o'' but not before ''u'': ''mwanana, waanana'' "gentle", ''mwororo, waororo, myororo, chororo, vyororo'' "mild, yielding", ''mume, waume, kiume, viume'' "male".</ref>
|-
! –
| ''I''
| (mimi) || colspan=2| ni- ||
|-
! –
| ''we''
| (sisi) || colspan=2| tu- ||
|-
! –
| ''thou''
| (wewe)
| u- || ku- ||
|-
! –
| ''you''
| (ninyi) || m- || wa- ||
|-
! 1
| ''person''
| m-, mw- || a- || m- || wa || m-, mwi-, mwe-
|-
! 2
| ''people''
| wa-, w- || colspan=2| wa- || wa || wa-, we-, we-
|-
! 3
| ''tree''
| m-, mw- || colspan=2| u- || wa || m-, mwi-, mwe-
|-
! 4
| ''trees''
| mi- || colspan=2| i- || ya || mi-, mi-, mye-
|-
! 5
| ''group,'' {{gcl|AUG|glossing=wikilink}}
| ji-/Ø, j- || colspan=2| li- || la || ji-/Ø, ji-, je-
|-
! 6
| ''groups,'' {{gcl|AUG}}
| ma- || colspan=2| ya- || ya || ma-, me-, me-
|-
! 7
| ''tool,'' {{gcl|DIM|glossing=wikilink}}
| ki-, ch- || colspan=2| ki- || cha || ki-, ki-, che-
|-
! 8
| ''tools,'' {{gcl|DIM}}
| vi-, vy- || colspan=2| vi- || vya || vi-, vi-, vye-
|-
! 9
| rowspan=2|''animals, 'other','' <br/>''loanwords''
| rowspan=2| N- || colspan=2| i- || ya || rowspan=2| N-, nyi-, nye-
|-
! 10
| colspan=2| zi- || za
|-
! 11
| '' 'extension' ''
| u-, w-/uw- || colspan=2| u- || wa || m-, mwi-, mwe-
|-
! 10
| (plural of 11)|| N- || colspan=2| zi- || za || N-, nyi-, nye-
|-
! 14
| ''abstraction''
| u-, w-/uw- || colspan=2| u- || wa || m-, mwi-, mwe-<br/> ''or'' u-, wi-, we-
|-
! 15
| ''infinitives''
| ku-, kw-<ref group="*">In a few verbs: ''kwenda, kwisha''</ref> || colspan=2| ku- || kwa- || ku-, kwi-, kwe-
|-
! 16
| ''precise position''
| -ni, ''mahali'' || colspan=2| pa- || pa || pa-, pe-, pe-
|-
! 17
| ''imprecise position''
| -ni || colspan=2| ku- || kwa || ku-, kwi-, kwe-
|-
! 18
| ''internal position''
| -ni || colspan=2| m(u)- || mwa || mu-, mwi-, mwe-
|}

<references group="*"/>