-za

See also: Appendix:Variations of "za"

Japanese

Romanization

-za

1. Rōmaji transcription of ざ

Swahili

Alternative forms

• (after a consonant) -ya

Etymology

What are now vowel-final verb stems originally had an -l-, which resurfaces whenever a suffix is added. After addition of the suffix -ya, this -l- was then spirantized to -z-.

Suffix

-za

1. alternative form of -ya used after a vowel

   ‎-kimbia (“to run”) + ‎-za → ‎-kimbiza (“to chase”)

   ‎-pungua (“to decrease”) + ‎-za → ‎-punguza (“to reduce”)

Derived terms

• Swahili causative verbs