Noun concord

Sukuma noun-class prefixes are augmented by pre-prefixes a-, ɪ-, ʊ-, which are dropped in certain constructions. The noun classes and the agreement that they trigger^[8] are as follows, ^[7] with attested forms in other dialects being added in parentheses:

(For compatibility, /j/ is transcribed ⟨y⟩.)

Many kin terms have a reduced form of the nominal prefixes, zero and βa-, called class 1a/2a, as in mààyʊ̂ 'mother', βàmààyʊ̂ 'mothers'. Concord is identical with other class-1/2 nouns.

Singular/plural pairs are 1/2, 5/6, 7/8, 9/10, and 12/13, and locative classes 16, 17, and 18 do not have plurals. Most others use class 6 for their plurals: 11/6, 14/6, 15/6, and also sometimes 7/6 and 12/6. There are also nouns that inflect as 11/4, 11/14, 14/10, and 15/8.

Verbal complex

Infinitive verbs have the form gʊ-object-ext-ROOT-ext-V-locative, where ext stands for any of various grammatical 'extensions', and -V is the final vowel. For example, with roots in bold and tone omitted,^[7]

gũ-n-tĩn-ĩl-a

'To cut for him/her'

gwĩ-tĩn-ĩl-a

'To cut for each other'

-ĩl is the applicative suffix, translated as 'for'. The reciprocal prefix ĩ has fused into the infinitive gũ.

gũ-fum-a-mo

'To get out there'

-mo is a locative 'inside', as in class 18 nominal concord.

Finite verbs have the form subject-TAM-ext-object-ROOT-ext-TAM-V. For example,

βa-lĩ-n-iiš-a

'They are feeding him/her'

The root iiš includes a fused causative suffix. Tense is marked by a prefix. The subject marker βa- shows that the subject is human plural, per the noun-concord table above.

o-dũ-saang-ile

'He found us'

Here tense is marked by a suffix.

βa-gĩ-gunaan-a

'They helped each other/themselves'

Here the prefix is fused tense and reciprocal ĩ.