kubwa
adjective
Big or large; with people, older or senior.
The adjective stem is -kubwa. Its form depends on the noun it describes. Kubwa appears with nouns such as sahani; mkubwa can describe an older sibling.
Also older; senior, as in mkubwa.
The adjective stem is -kubwa. Its form depends on the noun it describes. Kubwa appears with nouns such as sahani; mkubwa can describe an older sibling.
Forms
- -kubwa
- adjective stem
- mkubwa
- agreement form; also older or senior
- makubwa
- plural agreement form
Origins
Kubwa may have developed from Swahili -kuu together with an expressive element, -bwa. In this proposed history, -kuu goes back to the reconstructed Proto-Bantu form *-kʊlʊ HH. Makonde -kulungwa, “big”, offers a comparison, but the exact derivation of kubwa remains uncertain.
Sources4
Haspelmath and Tadmor / Lexibank, World Loanword Database CLDF (2009), wold-master/cldf/forms.csv row 4364.
Big or large; with people, older or senior. The adjective stem is -kubwa. Its form depends on the noun it describes. Kubwa appears with nouns such as sahani; mkubwa can describe an older sibling. Forms supported by the packet include the stem -kubwa, mkubwa for a person or elder sibling, and makubwa.
Charles Sacleux, Grammaire des dialectes Swahilis (1909), 358.
The adjective stem is -kubwa. Its form depends on the noun it describes. Kubwa appears with nouns such as sahani; mkubwa can describe an older sibling.
Edward Steere, A Handbook of the Swahili Language as Spoken at Zanzibar (1884), 360.
Forms supported by the packet include the stem -kubwa, mkubwa for a person or elder sibling, and makubwa.
Open Language Resource Center, University of Kansas, Kiswahili Glossary, Glossary: kubwa.
Big or large; with people, older or senior. Forms supported by the packet include the stem -kubwa, mkubwa for a person or elder sibling, and makubwa.
Examples
Ninahitaji sahani kubwa.
I need a large plate.
Hii ni nyumba kubwa.
This is a large house.
Tuna meza kubwa.
We have a large table.
Hoteli hiyo ni kubwa.
That hotel is big.
Soko hili ni kubwa.
This market is large.
Niletee kikombe kikubwa.
Bring me a large cup.
Vyumba hivi ni vikubwa.
These rooms are large.
Dada yangu mkubwa yuko hapa.
My older sister is here.
Tuliona miti mikubwa.
We saw large trees.
