aba-, prefix
/aba/
An isiXhosa and isiZulu plural noun prefix found in some words originating in these languages, sometimes shortened to ba-.
- Note:
- For examples, see abakwetha, abalumbi, mlungu. In Xhosa and Zulu, the singular of words beginning aba- is formed by replacing this prefix with um- or umu-; in South African English. this pattern is not always observed, and words in the plural form are sometimes treated as singular nouns, an -s being added to form the English plural. See also um-.
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