Man, Woman, Child: nwoke, nwanyị, nwa

Man, Woman, Child

Level 1

Nwoke: man. Nwanyị: woman. Nwa: child. Nwa nwanyị: girl. Nwa nwoke: boy.

How It Works

These are three of the first nouns you meet.

WordMeaning
nwokeman
nwanyịwoman
nwachild
nwa nwanyịgirl
nwa nwokeboy

Nwoke and nwanyị are nouns. They are not a gender on the pronoun. The plural of nwa in the sense “children” is ụmụ. Pointing words follow: nwoke a “this man”, nwanyị ahụ “that woman”.

The same two words are used in family terms such as nwanne nwoke “brother”.

Examples (4)

  1. nwoke

    man

    An adult male.

  2. nwanyị

    woman

    An adult female.

  3. nwa nwanyị

    girl

    Nwa plus nwanyị.

  4. nwa nwoke

    boy

    Nwa plus nwoke.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

Man, Woman, Child: nwoke, nwanyị, nwaLevel 1Man, Woman, Child

Learn This First

These three nouns join into new nouns, so noun plus noun comes first.

Words in This Pattern

nwokenwanyịnwa