Probably related to m-.
ma-
- Non-productive prefix without a specific meaning.
In words where this prefix can be found, it takes the place of the first syllable of the original word, usually with no change in meaning (compare udare and madari, both meaning "pear"). It is likely that originally this was an expressive prefix, and that many Basque words starting with ma- contain this prefix, with the original word having been lost.
- “ma-” in Etymological Dictionary of Basque by R. L. Trask, sussex.ac.uk
ma-
- Used to form adjectives indicating a quality
- ma- + linig (“to clean”) → malinig (“clean”)
- Object IV trigger infinitive verb prefix
- ma- + dumog (“wet”) → madumog (“to become wet”)
- Object trigger to have done something; to be able to do something
- ma- + tapos (“finish”) → matapos (“to be able to finish something”)
- Natapos kong basahon an libro kasubanggi. ― I was able to finish reading the book last night.
- Object trigger to perform the action of the verb unintentionally
- ma- + pasa (“broken, break”) → mapasa (“to break something unintentionally”)
- Napasa ko an salming. ― I unintentionally broke the mirror. Compare it when used with the suffix -on:
- pasa (“broken, break”) + -on → pasaon (“to break something on purpose”)
- Pinasa ko an salming. ― I broke the mirror on purpose.
- to form the future tense of the verb.
ma-
- Used to form adjectives indicating a quality
- Used to form the future tense of a verb
Cognate to the set of prefixes found in Arabic: مُ (mu) for agentive participles, مَ (ma) for locatives, and مِ (mi) for instrumentals.
ma-
- Used to form agentive nouns.
- Used to form nouns of place (locative nouns).
- Used to form instrumental nouns.
Each prefix forms a different template to which the noun must conform:
- Agentive nouns end in -ī in the masculine singular, -ìyā in the feminine singular, and -ā in the plural, and the root has low tone in the masculine and plural, but high tone in the feminine.
- Locative nouns end in -ā and are feminine, or uncommonly in -ī and are masculine, with all high tone in either case. There is rarely a plural form.
- Instrumental nouns end in -ī and are masculine, with plurals in -ai. The tones of the singular form are all high, and in the plural the tones are all low except for the plural morpheme.
ma-
- Rōmaji transcription of ま
ma-
- first person plural exclusive nominative proclitic
Kambera pronominal clitics
ma-
- class 6 prefix
ma-
- Adjective prefix
From Proto-Bantu *mà-.
ma-
- Class 6 noun prefix.
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
ma-
- active verb
ma-
- away (prefixed to verbs)
- The hyphen is normally kept, for example, ma-pitjanyi.
- Although ma- is spelt with a short a, the vowel is actually long (maa-). The misleading spelling exists for historical reasons.
From Proto-Bantu *mà-.
ma-
- Class 6 noun prefix.
From Proto-Bantu *mà-.
ma-
- Class 6 noun prefix.
From Proto-Bantu *mà-.
ma-
- ma class(VI) noun prefix and adjective agreement prefix, denoting mass nouns and plurals of a variety of classes
- maji machafu ― dirty water
- forms plurals of ji class(V) nouns
- jicho (“eye”) → macho (“eyes”)
- jambo (“thing”) → mambo (“things”)
- chungwa (“orange”) → machungwa (“oranges”)
- jitu (“giant”) → majitu (“giants”)
- forms plurals of some u class(XI) nouns
- ugomvi (“quarrel”) → magomvi (“quarrels”)
- forms collectives of n class(IX) nouns
- ma- + rafiki (“friend”) → marafiki (“group of friends”)
From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *ma-, from Proto-Austronesian *ma- (stative prefix). Compare may (existential marker).
ma- (Baybayin spelling ᜋ)
- used to form adjectives indicating a quality
- ma- + linis (“cleanliness”) → malinis (“clean”)
- actor III trigger infinitive verb prefix
- ma- + ligo (“bath”) → maligo (“to take a bath; to bathe”)
- object IV trigger infinitive verb prefix
- ma- + basa (“wet”) → mabasa (“to become wet”)
- object trigger to have done something; to be able to do something
- ma- + tapos (“finish”) → matapos (“to be able to finish something”)
- Natapos kong basahin ang libro kagabi. ― I was able to finish reading the book last night.
- object trigger to perform the action of the verb unintentionally
- ma- + basag (“break, crack”) → mabasag (“to break something unintentionally”)
- Nabasag ko ang salamin. ― I unintentionally broke the mirror. Compare it when used with the suffix -in:
- basag (“break, crack”) + -in → basagin (“to break something on purpose”)
- Binasag ko ang salamin. ― I broke the mirror on purpose.
From Proto-Austronesian *ma- (future prefix).
má- (Baybayin spelling ᜋ) (dialectal)
- used to form contemplative aspects of verbs prefixed with um- or infixed with -um-
- Blust, Robert; Trussel, Stephen; et al. (2023) “*ma-”, in the CLDF dataset from The Austronesian Comparative Dictionary (2010–), →DOI
ma-
- Used to form adjectives and adverbs; characterized by; abundant in
ma- (Jawi م-)
- (non-human) third-person singular and plural possessive prefix, its, their
- indicates definiteness
- haka ngori maobo ― give me the bone (literally, “give me its bone”)
- mangofa hotu ― the child sleeps (literally, “its child sleeps”)
Ternate personal pronouns
|
independent
|
|
subject proclitic
|
|
possessive
|
Informal
|
Formal
|
|
|
1st person singular
|
ngori
|
fangarem, fajaruf
|
to
|
ri
|
2nd person singular
|
ngana
|
ngoni, jou ngoni
|
no
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ni
|
3rd person singular
|
unam, minaf
|
|
om, mof, inh
|
im, mif, manh
|
1st person plural inclusive
|
ngone
|
|
fo
|
na, nga
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1st person plural exclusive
|
ngomi
|
fangare ngomim, fajaru ngomif, fara ngomi1
|
mi
|
mi, mia
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2nd person plural
|
ngoni
|
|
ni
|
na, nia
|
3rd person plural
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anah, enanh
|
|
ih, nh, yoh, †, yanh, †
|
nah, ngah, manh
|
- unmarked pronouns are gender non-specific
- m - masculine, f - feminine, h - human, nh - non-human
- 1 - for mixed-gender groups
- † - archaic
ma- (Jawi م-)
- marks certain verbal aspects
- indicates prolonged duration
- indicates repeated action
- ma- + kokehe (“to cough”) → makokehe (“to cough repeatedly”)
- indicates habitual action
- indicates an action undertaken by multiple subjects
ma- (Jawi م-)
- reflexive
- ma- + doto (“to teach”) → madoto (“to learn”)
- ma- + hodo (“to pour”) → mahodo (“to bathe”)
- ma- + ngadi (“to clothe (another)”) → mangadi (“to put on clothes, to don”)
- Frederik Sigismund Alexander de Clercq (1890) Bijdragen tot de kennis der Residentie Ternate, E.J. Brill
- Rika Hayami-Allen (2001) A descriptive study of the language of Ternate, the northern Moluccas, Indonesia, University of Pittsburgh
From Proto-Bantu *mà-.
ma-
- Class 6 noun prefix.
From Proto-Bantu *mà-.
ma-
- Class 6 noun prefix.
From Proto-Bantu *mà-.
ma-
- Class 6 noun prefix.
ma-
- a prefix of unclear meaning
- ma- + gei (“to be dead”) → magei (“to die”)
- ma- + dadi (“to become”) → madadi (“to be, exist”)
The prefix ma- is subject to West Makian vowel harmony, and as such may surface as me-, mi-, or mo-.
ma-
- first-person plural inclusive clitic, we
- moco ― we see
The prefix ma- follows West Makian vowel harmony, and as such may surface as me-, mi-, or mo-.
ma-
- (animate) third-person singular clitic for stative verbs, it
- madadi sangaji ― he became a chief
- di oma ma makaku i ― their child is still small
This clitic is only for stative verbs and does not undergo vowel harmony.
ma-
- (animate) third-person singular possessive prefix, his, hers, that person's, that being's
The possessive prefix ma- is subject to West Makian vowel harmony, and as such may surface as me-, mi-, or mo-.
West Makian personal pronouns
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independent
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possessive prefix
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1st person singular
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de
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ti
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2nd person singular
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ni
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ni
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3rd person singular
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me
|
mVan., dVinan.
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1st person plural inclusive
|
ene
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nV
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1st person plural exclusive
|
imi
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mi
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2nd person plural
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ini
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fi
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3rd person plural
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eme
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di
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ma-
- forms adverbial numerals
- ma- + minye (“one”) → maminye (“once”)
- ma- + unge (“three”) → maunge (“thrice”)
- Clemens Voorhoeve (1982) The Makian languages and their neighbours[1], Pacific linguistics
From a clipping of makhe (“hortative marker”).
ma-
- let, may; gives a verb a hortative force.
The prefix is attached to the subjunctive form of the verb, before the subject concord.
From Proto-Bantu *mà-.
ma-
- Class 6 simple noun prefix.
From a clipping of make (“hortative marker”).
ma-
- let, may; gives a verb a hortative force.
The prefix is attached to the subjunctive form of the verb, before the subject concord.