"Juma is the name of the Tanzanian"

Translation: Juma ni jina la Mtanzania

[Liebert_]

Why the letter ''m'' is attached before the name of countries?

[oldjen]

In this noun class, the 'm' prefix is used for singular nouns and 'wa' is used for plurals. So 'Tanzanian' is 'mtanzania' and 'Tanzanians' is 'watanzania'.

[Qadology]

Singular Mkenya is Kenyan and Wakenya is Kenyans

[Simi995069]

Its just a way to signify that it is a country. Its similar to saying "Kiswahili," you add a "ki" in front of a language to signify its a language

[ElMeuNom]

Actually, it signifies a person, not a country. So "mkenya" is literally a "Kenya person". It is always for people.

[zymte]

What's the difference between 'za', 'ya', and 'la'? This is the first time I've even seen 'la' in the course :/

[oldjen]

They are all variations of the Swahili word '-a', which means 'of'. Depending on the noun class, the -a will take on different forms. We'll learn more about them later. For now, you just have to remember that, for this sentence, the 'la' form is the correct one

[cosmo-pedant]

Do not forget "cha" and "wa"! Is "la" just used with the "m-word" class or such?

[ZeeHeloise]

why isn't 'ya' after the word ni? Anyone help??

[StefanoSolgreno]

Because "ya" is another version of the word "-a" meaning "of". "La" is used for the m/w-noun class

[Gemmade]

It would be good if in the review part of lesson that new grammar things were explained e.g. that 'l' -refers to m/w noun class

[Lani_Mo]

I think there should be a word to indicate that we are talking about "the" Tanzanian not just any Tanzanian. There needs a "kiashiria" like "yule" so that the sentence would read.. Juma ni jina la yule Mtanzania

[EveAeternam]

Juma is a confusing name when "Jina" is in the sentence