-isha

Swahili

Alternative forms

• -lisha/-lesha

Etymology

Cognate with Nyole (Uganda) -isa, Chichewa -itsa, Tumbuka -iska, Yao -isya, Kongo -isa, Southern Ndebele -isa, Phuthi -isa, Xhosa -isa and Zulu -isa.

Suffix

-isha (mid vowel harmony variant -esha)

1. causative suffix
   1. (added to a verb) to cause to, to make

      Near-synonyms: -ya, -iza/-eza

      ‎-la (“to eat”) + ‎-isha → ‎-lisha (“to feed”)

      ‎-weza (“to be able”) + ‎-esha → ‎-wezesha (“to enable”)

   2. (added to an adjective) to cause to become, to make

      ‎imara (“strong”) + ‎-isha → ‎-imarisha (“to strengthen”)

   3. (added to a noun) to give a characteristic of, to turn into

      ‎sababu (“cause”) + ‎-isha → ‎-sababisha (“to cause”)

      ‎orodha (“list”) + ‎-esha → ‎-orodhesha (“to list”)

Derived terms

Swahili terms suffixed with -isha

adhimisha

aibisha

amrisha

asilisha

bahatisha

bidhaisha

boresha

dhalilisha

elimisha

endesha

fadhaisha

fupisha

habarisha

hafifisha

halalisha

hamasisha

harakisha

haramisha

hatarisha

huzunisha

injilisha

jumlisha

jumuisha

kamilisha

karibisha

korofisha

lainisha

lazimisha

maanisha

nadhifisha

nufaisha

orodhesha

rajamisha

rasimisha

refusha

sababisha

sampulisha

sawazisha

shajiisha

sherehesha

shughulisha

suluhisha

swahilisha

taabisha

taifisha

tamatisha

tayarisha

tofautisha

toharisha

wajibisha

wakilisha

zeesha

• Swahili causative verbs