A represents generally the broad sound of a in * father. It also in- cludes (chiefly in non-accented sylla- bles) the lighter sound of a in *man. And there is a modification of it which is noted under certain words of Arabic origin, being heard and written sometimes as e. See Elfu, Hewa. A is far the commonest vowel sound in Swahili, and with the consonants k and m gives a distinct phonetic colour to the spoken language as a whole. Though comparatively rare as an initial sound of Bantu roots, it is the regular terminal sound of most Swahili verb-forms, appears in many of the formative prefixes of the verb, in the plural prefixes of two declen- sions, and in most of the common conjunctions and prepositions. Aa is used to represent a long a sound, which usually indicates (i) in the case of Bantu words, a really double syllable with an / or r sound slurred or elided between the as ; (2) in the case of Arabic words, the Bantu effort to express the sounds of Alif, Ain, or combinations of them. A as a simple uncombined sound is used : (1) As an interjection, whose meaning depends on the mode of utterance and intonation. Thus : (a) A! or Ah! or Ahh! expresses simply wonder, pleasure, pain, grief, &c. (b) A-aa or A-haa (also A-hee and E'hee) — the sounds distinct, with rising intonation, and stress on the last, yes, just so, exactly, I under- stand, i. e. assent, affirmation. (c) Aa-a or A-a-a — the sounds dis- tinct, with falling intonation, and stress on the first, *no, oh no, not so, *by no means, i.e. dissent and negation. (2) As a preposition, but only oc casionally as a slurred or shortened form of the full prepositional wa yay &c., after a vowel preceding. (See below.) (3) Not (like the other personal prefixes, ni, w, tu, as a verb form * (he, she) is its place being taken sometimes hy yu, otherwise by the general verb-form nt, e.g. mfalme yu (or ni) mwema, the king is good. A in verb-formation is : (i) The Pers. Pfx. of 3 Sing, in all Tenses, agreeing with D i (S), e. g. a- tapenda^ he will love. (2) The Tense Prefix of Present Indefinite, e.g. wapenda (un-a-penda), -you love, and (coalescing or dispensing with the Personal Prefix. wholly or in part napenda (nina-a-penda), I love, apenda (a-a- penda) he loves. (3) Part of one form of the Past Tense Pfx. alt (otherwise li only), e.g. nalipenda (n-ali-penda other wise ni-lipenda), I loved. N. A in Prefixes, (i) when followed by e, disappears regularly in ka, ma, wa, pa, sometimes in a, na, ta, never in the Negative Pfx. ka, e. g. akenda (a- ka-enda), and he went, peupe (pa-upe), a white place; (2) when followed by /, coalesces with it to form e, e.g. aketa (a-ka-ita), and he called, wezi (wa-izi), thieves, wengi (wa-ingi), many.

B represents the same sound as in English. B in some words is not distin- guished from p in common talk, e.g. bofu and pofu, babua and papua, bogoa and pogoa, boromoka and poro- moka. Words not found under B may therefore be looked for under P, and vice versa. B in some words appears as v in kindred words (cf. interchange of p and /), e.g. gomba and ugomvi, iba and uivi, omba and maovtvi or maombi, jambia zndjamvia, kumbi and kumvi, B as initial sound of a root, when preceded by an n prefix, causes a euphonic change of n into m, e. g. ubavu, plur. mbavu for nbavu, and mbele for nbeh from ubele. Also when an n prefix precedes initial w of a root, mb takes the place of nw, e. g. uwingu, plur. mbingu for nwingu, {n^ b and w appear to be alternative sounds in some words. Cf. Mwinda and ubi7tda^