kaa

verb

to sit; to stay.

Context tells you whether someone is sitting or staying: kaa chini, sit down; nitakaa hapa, I’ll stay here.

Origins

Kaa is inherited Bantu vocabulary. It traces to Proto-Sabaki -įkala, from Proto-Bantu -jìkada (“to go down” plus an extension), with cognates including Giryama -kala and Zulu -hlala.

Sources4

Charles Sacleux, Grammaire des dialectes Swahilis (Paris: Procure des PP. du Saint-Esprit, 1909), PDF page 159.
Illustrates kaa huko uliko while explaining demonstratives. Historical evidence; not a survey of current Kenyan speech.
Edward Steere, A Handbook of the Swahili Language as Spoken at Zanzibar (London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1884), PDF page 326.
Lists sitting, staying and dwelling uses of kaa. Historical Zanzibar evidence.
University of Kansas Open Language Resource Center, University of Kansas Kiswahili Glossary (University of Kansas Open Language Resource Center), kaa glossary rows.
Gives staying and residing as meanings of -kaa.
kaa (Wiktionary)
Traces kaa (sit/stay/live sense) to Proto-Bantu *-jìkada via Proto-Sabaki *-įkala, with Bantu cognates.

Examples

Kaa hapa.
Stay here.
Anakaa Dar es Salaam.
He stays in Dar es Salaam.
Walikaa kimya.
They remained silent.
Tafadhali kaa chini.
Please sit down.
Nitakaa nawe.
I will stay with you.
Mnakaa wapi?
Where are you all staying?
Kaa vizuri.
Sit properly.
Alikaa miaka mingi huko.
He stayed there for many years.
Nitakaa hapa siku tano.
I’ll stay here for five days.

Examples

Think in Swahili