often reinterpreted, or reanalysed, as if they already contain a Swahili class prefix. In such cases the interpreted prefix is changed with the usual rules. Consider the following loanwords from Arabic: The Swahili word for "book", kitabu, is borrowed from Arabic kitāb(un) "book" (plural kutub; from the Arabic root k.t.b. "write"). However, the Swahili plural form of this word ("books") is vitabu, following Bantu grammar in which the ki- of kitabu is reanalysed (reinterpreted) as a nominal class prefix whose plural is vi- (class 7/8). Arabic muʿallim(un) ("teacher", plural muʿallimīna) was interpreted as having the mw- prefix of class 1, and so became mwalimu, plural walimu. Arabic madrasa school, even though it is singular in Arabic (with plural madāris), was reinterpreted as a class 6 plural madarasa, receiving the singular form darasa. Similarly, English wire and Arabic waqt ("time") were interpreted as having the class 11 prevocalic prefix w-, and became waya and wakati with plural nyaya and nyakati respectively. Agreement Swahili phrases agree with nouns in a system of concord but, if the noun refers to a human, they accord with noun classes 1–2 regardless of their noun class. Verbs agree with the noun class of their subjects and objects; adjectives, prepositions and demonstratives agree with the noun class of their nouns. In Standard Swahili (Kiswahili sanifu), based on the dialect spoken in Zanzibar, the system is rather complex; however, it is drastically simplified in many local variants where Swahili is not a native language, such as in Nairobi. In non-native Swahili, concord reflects only animacy: human subjects and objects trigger a-, wa- and m-, wa- in verbal concord, while non-human subjects and objects of whatever class trigger i-, zi-. Infinitives vary between standard ku- and reduced i-. ("Of" is animate wa and inanimate ya, za.) In Standard Swahili, human subjects and objects of whatever class trigger animacy concord in a-, wa- and m-, wa-, and non-human subjects and objects trigger a variety of gender-concord prefixes. Dialects and closely related languages This list is based on Swahili and Sabaki: a linguistic history. Dialects Modern standard Swahili is based on Kiunguja, the dialect spoken in Zanzibar City, but there are numerous dialects of Swahili, some of which are mutually unintelligible, such as the following: Old dialects Maho (2009) considers these to be distinct languages: Kimwani is spoken in the Kerimba Islands and northern coastal Mozambique. Chimwiini is spoken by the