Template:sw-noun

kitu class VII (plural vitu class VIII)

The following documentation is located at Template:sw-noun/documentation. ^[edit]

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This template creates headword lines for Swahili nouns; it should be functional for every type of noun in Swahili. Use it directly under the “Noun” header (e.g. for kitu (“thing”)):

==Swahili==

===Noun===
{{sw-noun|ki-vi}}

# [[thing]]

Syntax

In default use, the template takes two unnamed parameters, the first of which is required and the second of which is optional, as well as |head=. Additional parameters are |anim= (to specify animacy) and |coll= (to tell the template there is a second plural in ma-). There are several use cases.

The simplest case is when the plural is formed by replacing the noun prefix. In this case, the first unnamed parameter is the singular prefix and the plural prefix, connected by a hyphen (both lowercase). The template will figure out the rest:
On the page kitu,
{{sw-noun|ki-vi}} gives

kitu class VII (plural vitu class VIII)

On the page Mkenya,
{{sw-noun|m-wa}} gives

Mkenya class I (plural Wakenya class II)

On the page kituo cha basi,
{{sw-noun|ki-vi}} gives

kituo cha basi class VII (plural vituo vya basi class VIII)
If the word is in ji-ma class_(V/VI), is prefixless in singular, and has its plural with a simple ma- prefix; or if the word is in n class_(IX/X) and its plural is identical to its singular; then the first unnamed parameter can be set to |ma or |n respectively:
On the page kao,
{{sw-noun|ma}} gives

kao class V (plural makao class VI)

On the page pembe,
{{sw-noun|n}} gives

pembe class IX (plural pembe class X)
If the plural cannot be correctly generated this way, specify it explicitly with the second unnamed parameter. The first unnamed parameter must give the noun class, either specified as above or with a numeral (arabic or roman):
On the page mwanamke,
{{sw-noun|I|wanawake}} gives

mwanamke class I (plural wanawake class II)
If a word has no plural, put the second parameter to |-. If the word is only plural, put it to |plural:
On the page uke,
{{sw-noun|XI|-}} gives

uke class XI (no plural)

On the page nukta mbili,
{{sw-noun|X|plural}} gives

nukta mbili class X (plural only)
If there is a second plural in ma-, add the parameter |coll=y:
On the page hoteli,
{{sw-noun|n|coll=y}} gives

hoteli class IX (plural hoteli class X or mahoteli class VI)
To manually specify a second plural, use |pl2=:
On the page mwanamwali,
{{sw-noun|I|pl2=wanawali}} gives

mwanamwali class I (plural wanamwali class II or wanawali class II)
There are nouns that can be in ji-ma class_(V/VI) or n class_(IX/X), with no difference in meaning. For these, specify the class number as |59:
On the page bafu,
{{sw-noun|59}} gives

bafu class V or IX (plural mabafu class VI or bafu class X)
For animate nouns that do not look like they are in m-wa class_(I/II), proceed as above and add the parameter |anim=y:
On the page kipofu,
{{sw-noun|ki-vi|anim=y}} gives

kipofu class I (plural vipofu class II)

On the page rafiki,
{{sw-noun|n|anim=y|coll=y}} gives

rafiki class I/IX (plural rafiki class II/X or marafiki class II/X)

There are more ways to use the template that will work, for backward compatibility. For example, specifying only the singular or only the plural prefix may work as well.

If all this fails (for example if two classes are possible in singular), it is possible to give everything explicitly. Singular class(es) are given with |cl= and |cl2=, plural(s) with |pl= and |pl2=, and plural class(es) with |plcl= and |pl2cl=. (If both plural classes are identical, the second one can be left out.) Do not mix this approach with the automatised approach outlined above.

On the page mvinyo,

{{sw-noun|cl=III|cl2=IX|pl=mivinyo|pl2=mvinyo|plcl=IV|pl2cl=X}} gives

mvinyo class III or IX (plural mivinyo class IV or mvinyo class X)

This template contains the necessary meta-data to allow users who are using accelerated editing to create any grammatical forms semi-automatically.

Syntax

See also