# m-
## Translingual
### Prefix

m-
* (SI prefix) Abbreviation of milli-.
* (biology) murine; pertaining to mice

#### Coordinate terms

* h-

#### Derived terms
## English
### Prefix

m-
* (organic chemistry) meta-

### See also

* o-
* p-

## Albanian
### Prefix

m-
* Alternative form of n- before labials

## Basque
### Etymology

Compare the expressive prefix ma-.

### Prefix

m-
* Non-productive expressive prefix.

#### Usage notes

Usually, this prefix takes the form /ma/, /mi/, /mu/, followed by a velar or coronal plosive, followed by any vowel, followed by a liquid. For example: mozkor (“drunk”), mutur (“snout, end”), makur (“crooked”).

### References

* “m-” in Etymological Dictionary of Basque by R. L. Trask, sussex.ac.uk

## Egyptian
### Etymology

From Proto-Afroasiatic *m- (nominal prefix).

### Pronunciation

* (reconstructed) IPA: /ma-/, /mi-/, /mV-/
* (Old Egyptian, c. 2500 BCE) IPA: /ma-/, /mi-/, /mV-/
    where V represents an unknown short vowel.
* (modern Egyptological) IPA: /mɛ/
** Conventional anglicization: me-

### Prefix

* forms masculine abstract nouns from verbs, with the resulting root structure /ˈmiCCiC/
* forms agent nouns from verbs, with the resulting root structure /ˈmaCCaC/ or /mVCˈCiCVw/ if masculine and /maCˈCaːCit/ or /mVCˈCiCwVt/ if feminine
* forms instrumental nouns from verbs, with the resulting root structure /ˈmaCCaC/ or /mVCˈCiCVw/ if masculine and /maCˈCaːCit/ or /mVCˈCiCwVt/ if feminine
* forms passive nouns from verbs, with the resulting root structure /miˈCuːCiC/ if masculine and /miˈCuCCit/ if feminine
* forms nouns from other nouns with no apparent change in meaning, with the resulting root structure unchanged but for the addition of /ma-/ and the loss of final -w in masculine nouns
* forms nomina loci from verbs and nouns

#### Alternative forms

If followed by a labial consonant, this prefix dissimilated to n- in prehistoric times.

#### Derived terms
### References

* Gundacker, Roman (2011) “On the Etymology of the Egyptian Crown Name mrsw.t*: An “Irregular” Subgroup of m-Prefix Formations” in Lingua Aegyptia, volume 19, page 41–44
* ↑ Loprieno, Antonio (1995) Ancient Egyptian: A Linguistic Introduction, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 1

## Kamba
### Alternative forms

* mu-

### Prefix

m-
* you plural (used for conjugating verbs to the subjective or nominative case of the personal pronoun)

## Northern Ndebele
### Prefix

m-
* him, her, it; class 1 object concord; form of mu- used before stems of more than one syllable.

## Old Irish
### Prefix

m- (class A infixed pronoun, triggers lenition)
* me

#### See also

See Appendix:Old Irish affixed pronouns for details on how these forms are used. Note that the so-called “infixed” pronouns are technically prefixes, but they are never the first prefix in a verbal complex.

## Southern Ndebele
### Prefix

m-
* him, her, it; class 1 object concord; form of mu- used before stems of more than one syllable.

## Swahili
### Alternative forms

* (etymologies 1 to 4) mu-, mw-
* (etymology 5) n-, ny-

### Etymology 1

From Proto-Bantu *mʊ̀-.

#### Prefix

m- (plural wa-)
* m class$_{(I)}$ noun prefix and adjective agreement prefix, denoting mostly people
    mtoto mzuri ― a nice child
    mnyama mnono ― a fat animal
** Forms the name of somebody who does something, has a certain characteristic, or is from a certain place.
    ‎m- + ‎Kenya → ‎Mkenya (“person from Kenya”)
    ‎m- + ‎zee (“old”) → ‎mzee (“old person”)

### Etymology 2

From Proto-Bantu *mʊ̀-.

#### Prefix

m- (plural mi-)
* m class$_{(III)}$ noun prefix and adjective agreement prefix, denoting mostly plants and inanimate natural things
    mti mrefu ― a tall tree
    mfano mzuri ― a nice example
** Forms the name of a plant from its fruit.
    ‎m- + ‎chungwa (“orange”) → ‎mchungwa (“orange tree”)
* u class$_{(XI)}$ adjective agreement prefix
    ulimi mrefu ― a long tongue

#### See also

* Appendix:Swahili noun classes

### Etymology 3

From Proto-Bantu *mʊ̀-.

#### Prefix

m-
* you, 2nd person plural subject concord
    Antonym: ham-
* verb-initial form of -m- (“her, him; 3rd person singular (m class$_{(I)}$) object concord”)

##### See also

| Number | Person | Independent | Subject concord | Subject concord | Object concord | Combined forms | Combined forms | Combined forms | Possessive |
| Number | Person | Independent | affirmative | negative | Object concord | na | ndi- | si- | Possessive |
| Singular | First | mimi | ni- | si- | -ni- | nami, na mimi | ndimi, ndiye | simi, siye | -angu |
| Singular | Second | wewe | u- | hu- | -ku- | nawe, na wewe | ndiwe, ndiye | siwe, siye | -ako |
| Singular | Third | yeye | a-, yu- | ha-, hayu- | -m-, -mw-, -mu- | naye, na yeye | ndiye | siye | -ake |
| Plural | First | sisi | tu- | hatu- | -tu- | nasi, na sisi | ndisi, ndio | sio | -etu |
| Plural | Second | ninyi | m-, mw-, mu- | ham-, hamw-, hamu- | -wa- | nanyi, na ninyi | ndinyi, ndio | sinyi, sio | -enu |
| Plural | Third | wao | wa- | hawa- | -wa- | nao | ndio | sio | -ao |
| Reflexive | Reflexive | — | — | — | -ji- | — | — | — | — |
| For a full table including other classes, see Appendix:Swahili personal pronouns. ||||||||||

### Etymology 4

From Proto-Bantu *mʊ́-.

#### Prefix

m-
* therein, mu class$_{(XVIII)}$ subject concord
    Antonym: ham-

##### See also

| Class | Subject concord | Subject concord | Object concord | Relative |
| Class | affirmative | negative | Object concord | Relative |
| m$_{(I)}$ | a-, yu- | ha-, hayu- | -m-, -mw-, -mu- | -ye |
| wa$_{(II)}$ | wa- | hawa- | -wa- | -o |
| m$_{(III)}$ | u- | hau- | -u- | -o |
| mi$_{(IV)}$ | i- | hai- | -i- | -yo |
| ji$_{(V)}$ | li- | hali- | -li- | -lo |
| ma$_{(VI)}$ | ya- | haya- | -ya- | -yo |
| ki$_{(VII)}$ | ki- | haki- | -ki- | -cho |
| vi$_{(VIII)}$ | vi- | havi- | -vi- | -vyo |
| n$_{(IX)}$ | i- | hai- | -i- | -yo |
| n$_{(X)}$ | zi- | hazi- | -zi- | -zo |
| u$_{(XI)}$ | u- | hau- | -u- | -o |
| ku$_{(XV/XVII)}$ | ku- | haku- | -ku- | -ko |
| pa$_{(XVI)}$ | pa- | hapa- | -pa- | -po |
| mu$_{(XVIII)}$ | m-, mw-, mu- | ham-, hamw-, hamu- | -mu- | -mo |
| For a full table including first and second person, see Appendix:Swahili personal pronouns. |||||

### Etymology 5

From Proto-Bantu *ǹ-, labialized before labial consonants.

#### Prefix

m- (plural m-)
* n class$_{(IX/X)}$ noun prefix and adjective agreement prefix, including for plurals of some u class$_{(XI)}$ nouns, used before labial consonants
    mvua mbaya ― bad rain
    ‎ubavu (“rib, side”) → ‎mbavu (“ribs, sides”)

## Swazi
### Prefix

m-
* him, her, it; class 1 object concord; form of mu- used before stems of more than one syllable.

## Xhosa
### Etymology

From Proto-Bantu *mʊ̀-.

### Prefix

m-
* him, her, it; class 1 object concord.

## Ye'kwana
### Alternative forms

* mi- (allomorph before a consonant)

### Pronunciation

* IPA: [m-]

### Prefix

m-
* Marks a transitive verb as having a second-person agent/subject.
* Marks an intransitive verb with agent-like argument as having a second-person argument/subject.

#### Usage notes

The form m- is used with stems that start with a vowel; mi- is used with those that start with a consonant, in which case the initial consonant is also palatalized. In practice, since all intransitive verbs to which this prefix can attach start with a vowel, mi- only appears on certain transitive verbs.

#### Inflection

| | pronoun | noun possessor/ series II verb argument | noun possessor/ series II verb argument | postposition object | postposition object | series I verb argument | series I verb argument | series I verb argument | series I verb argument | series I verb argument |
| | pronoun | noun possessor/ series II verb argument | noun possessor/ series II verb argument | postposition object | postposition object | transitive patient | intransitive patient-like | intransitive patient-like | intransitive agent-like | transitive agent |
| first person | ewü | y-, ∅-, ü-, u-$^1$ | y-, ∅-, ü-, u-$^1$ | y-, ∅-, ü-, u-$^1$ | y-, ∅-, ü-, u-$^1$ | y-, ∅-, ü-, u-$^1$ | y-, ∅-, ü-, u-$^1$ | w-, wi- | w-, wi- | w-, wi- |
| first person dual inclusive | küwü | k-, kü-, ku-, ki- | k-, kü-, ku-, ki- | k-, kü-, ku-, ki- | k-, kü-, ku-, ki- | k-, kü-, ku-, ki- | k-, kü-, ku-, ki- | k-, kü-, ku-, ki- | k-, kü-, ku-, ki- | k-, kii-, ki-$^1$ |
| second person | amödö | ö-, öy-/ödh-, o-, oy-/odh-, a-, ay-/adh- | ö-, öy-/ödh-, o-, oy-/odh-, a-, ay-/adh- | ö-, öy-/ödh-, o-, oy-/odh-, a-, ay-/adh- | ö-, öy-/ödh-, o-, oy-/odh-, a-, ay-/adh- | ö-, öy-/ödh-, o-, oy-/odh-, a-, ay-/adh- | ö-, öy-/ödh-, o-, oy-/odh-, a-, ay-/adh- | ö-, öy-/ödh-, o-, oy-/odh-, a-, ay-/adh- | m-, mi- | m-, mi- |
| first person dual exclusive | nña | y-/dh-, ch-, ∅-, i-$^1$ | y-/dh-, ch-, ∅-, i-$^1$ | y-/dh-, ch-, ∅-, i-$^1$ | chö- | ∅- | n-, ni- | n-, ni- | n-, ni- | n-, ni- |
| third person | tüwü | y-/dh-, ch-, ∅-, i-$^1$ | y-/dh-, ch-, ∅-, i-$^1$ | y-/dh-, ch-, ∅-, i-$^1$ | chö- | n-, ni- | n-, ni- | n-, ni- | n-, ni- | n-, ni- |
| distant past third person | tüwü | — | — | — | — | kün-, kun-, kin-, ken-, küm-, kum-, kim-, kini- | kün-, kun-, kin-, ken-, küm-, kum-, kim-, kini- | kün-, kun-, kin-, ken-, küm-, kum-, kim-, kini- | kün-, kun-, kin-, ken-, küm-, kum-, kim-, kini- | kün-, kun-, kin-, ken-, küm-, kum-, kim-, kini- |
| coreferential/reflexive | — | t-, tü-, tu-, ti-, te- | t-, tü-, tu-, ti-, te- | t-, tü-, tu-, ti-, te- | t-, tü-, tu-, ti-, te- | — | — | — | — | — |
| reciprocal | — | — | öö- | öö- | öö- | öö- | öö- | öö- | öö- | öö- |
| With following vowel lengthened if in an unreduced open syllable. |||||||||||
| | series I verb argument: transitive agent and transitive patient |
| first person > second person | mön-, man-, mon-, möm-, möni- |
| first person dual exclusive > second person | mön-, man-, mon-, möm-, möni- |
| second person > first person | k-, kü-, ku-, ki- |
| second person > first person dual exclusive | k-, kü-, ku-, ki- |
| third person > any person X …or… any person X > third person | see person X in the chart above |

### References

* Cáceres, Natalia (2011) Grammaire Fonctionnelle-Typologique du Ye’kwana‎, Lyon, pages 180–181

## Zulu
### Etymology 1
#### Prefix

m-
* Class 1 simple noun prefix; form of mu- used before stems of more than one syllable.

### Etymology 2
#### Prefix

ḿ-
* him, her, it; class 1 object concord; form of mu- used before stems of more than one syllable.

### Etymology 3
#### Prefix

m-
* Class 3 simple noun prefix; form of mu- used before stems of more than one syllable.

### Etymology 4
#### Prefix

m-
* Class 9 simple noun prefix; form of n- used before stems beginning with a labial consonant.

### References

* C. M. Doke, B. W. Vilakazi (1972) “m-”, in Zulu-English Dictionary, →ISBN: “m-”