"Mafundi wazuri"

Translation: Good artisans

[finndj]

If it is plural, shouldn't it be wafundi wazuri?

[DiegoJaviUnlam]

Mafundi is the plural form of "fundi".

Noun

mafundi

1) plural of fundi

Noun

fundi (ma class, plural mafundi)

craftsman; artisan

From Wikipedia:

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/mafundi

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/fundi

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Swahili_noun_classes#Ma_class

[VincentOostelbos]

What confuses me, however, is that -zuri still gets the wa- prefix. Shouldn't it also get the ma- prefix to agree with the class of the noun it modifies? I.e., *Mafundi wazuri?

[tsuj1g1r1]

Animate nouns (principally those referring to people) take the concords of the M-wa class, even if they belong to another class.

[VincentOostelbos]

Oh, that's good to know. Thank you!

[Andrea299093]

Could fundi also be technician?

[FrancescaP349937]

When do you use ma- and when do you use wa- ?

[tsuj1g1r1]

M(w)-/wa- nouns are a different class than "fundi", which is a ji-/ma- word, so "ma" indicates the plural in this case, not the singular as "m" would in a pair like "mwalimu/walimu" (teacher/teachers).

[Marisja7]

You have to learn which word belongs to which class. Just like you have to learn in french which words are feminin and which are masculin. Most words for people are m/wa-class. But not all, like fundi (-:

[SilasWolfe]

'fundi' = 'expert', too right?

[Mel533776]

In (South African) English or Afrikaans, yes, according to Wiktionary. But in Swahili, fundi , mafundi = "craftsman, artisan," just like in the hint.

[LouiseDuplain]

should be Wamafundi waziri or Mafundi mzuri

[AndraNoelle]

If fundi were in the m-/wa- class of nouns, that would be true... but fundi is in the ji-/ma- class of nouns so its plural form is mafundi.

[Ernst557459]

And what's more: If it were m-/wa- class the singular would be mwafundi just like mwalimu/walimu, mwanafunzi/wanafunzi, etc.

Beginners: please ignore this remark since it is utter nonsense...