mtu
noun
person.
Use watu for more than one person; a number follows the noun.
Forms
- watu
- class 2 plural · people.
Origins
Mtu belongs to Swahili’s inherited Bantu vocabulary.
Sources3
Thilo Schadeberg; edited by Martin Haspelmath and Uri Tadmor, Swahili vocabulary, in World Loanword Database (2009), Swahili record Swahili-2-1-1.
Classifies mtu as earlier Bantu vocabulary. Identifies noun classes 1/2.
Edward Steere, A Handbook of the Swahili Language as Spoken at Zanzibar (London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1884), PDF page 122.
Illustrates a numeral following the noun.
African Studies Institute, University of Georgia, KIKO: Kiswahili kwa kompyuta (University of Georgia), Unit 3 glossary, watu.
Documents the person sense. Records watu as the plural.
Examples
Mtu mmoja anasubiri nje.
One person is waiting outside.
Kuna watu wengi sokoni.
There are many people at the market.
Namjua mtu huyo.
I know that person.
Kila mtu ana tiketi.
Everyone has a ticket.
Watu wawili wamefika.
Two people have arrived.
Msaidie mtu huyu.
Help this person.
Watu wanatembea polepole.
People are walking slowly.
Hakuna mtu nyumbani.
There is nobody at home.
Mtu gani amekupigia simu?
Which person called you?
