Musa ya kira ni jiya ya ce akwai saƙo.

Musa called me yesterday and said there is a message.

Breakdown of Musa ya kira ni jiya ya ce akwai saƙo.

• Musa: Musa
• jiya: yesterday
• ni: me
• akwai: there is
• kira: to call
• ce: to say
• saƙo: the message

Questions & Answers about Musa ya kira ni jiya ya ce akwai saƙo.

Why do we need ya when we already have the subject Musa?

In Hausa, finite verbs normally take a subject pronoun that carries person, gender, and aspect information.

• Musa = the noun subject (a name)
• ya = 3rd person singular masculine perfective marker

You can’t say *Musa kira ni; it’s ungrammatical.
You need Musa ya kira ni = Musa he-called me → “Musa called me.”

So Musa tells you who; ya tells you who + completed action on the verb.

Why is ya repeated before ce in ...jiya ya ce akwai saƙo?

Each finite verb in Hausa normally needs its own subject pronoun, even if the subject is the same person.

• Musa ya kira ni jiya = Musa called me yesterday
• ya ce akwai saƙo = he said there is a message

Putting them together:
Musa ya kira ni jiya, ya ce akwai saƙo.

You don’t repeat Musa (because it’s clear who “he” is), but you must repeat ya before ce to mark the subject and aspect of the second verb.

Is there a missing and between the two actions “called me” and “said there is a message”?

Hausa often links actions simply by putting the clauses one after another, without an explicit and:

• Musa ya kira ni jiya, ya ce akwai saƙo.
  Literally: Musa he-called me yesterday, he-said there-is message.

This corresponds to English:
“Musa called me yesterday and said there is a message.”

You can add a conjunction for nuance:

• Musa ya kira ni jiya, sai ya ce akwai saƙo.
• Musa ya kira ni jiya, ya kuma ce akwai saƙo.

but the simple juxtaposition is already a natural way of saying “and then he said…”

What tense/aspect is ya kira and ya ce? Is it just “past tense”?

ya here is the 3rd person singular masculine perfective marker. The perfective in Hausa is used for completed events, and in many contexts it corresponds to English simple past:

• ya kira = he called
• ya ce = he said

It can also sometimes map to English present perfect (“he has called”), but in a narrative like this it is understood as plain past: “He called me yesterday and said…”

What’s the difference between ya kira ni and ya kirani?

ni is the 1st person singular object pronoun “me.” In Hausa it can appear:

1. As a separate word: ya kira ni
2. Cliticized/attached to the verb: ya kirani

Both are grammatically correct and common. Differences:

• Writing: some styles prefer separating, some attach; dictionaries often write them separately for clarity.
• Pronunciation: in normal fast speech the object often sounds attached: ya-kí-ra-ni in one flow.
• Emphasis: when ni is stressed or contrasted, speakers are more likely to keep it clearly separate and accented:
  Ba su kira ka ba, ni suka kira. – “They didn’t call you, they called me.”

Can jiya (yesterday) go in another position in the sentence?

Yes, jiya is fairly flexible in position. All of these are natural with essentially the same meaning:

• Jiya Musa ya kira ni, ya ce akwai saƙo.
• Musa ya kira ni jiya, ya ce akwai saƙo.
• Musa jiya ya kira ni, ya ce akwai saƙo. (a bit less common but possible)

The most neutral everyday orders are:

• Jiya Musa ya kira ni...
• Musa ya kira ni jiya...

So jiya does not have to be at the very end; it can come first or after the subject+verb chunk as long as it’s clearly modifying the calling event.

What exactly does akwai mean in akwai saƙo?

akwai is an existential verb that usually means “there is / there are.”

• akwai saƙo = “there is a message”
• akwai mutane = “there are people”

It doesn’t literally mean “to have”, but it can be used in constructions that are close in meaning. For possession, Hausa also uses:

• Ina da saƙo. – “I have a message.”
• Akwai saƙo a gare ka. – “There is a message for you.”

In your sentence, ya ce akwai saƙo is best understood as “he said there is a message (for you/us/for someone, depending on context).”

Why isn’t there a word like that before akwai saƙo? Can we say ya ce cewa akwai saƙo?

Hausa doesn’t require a word like English “that” to introduce reported speech. You can simply say:

• ya ce akwai saƙo – “he said (that) there is a message”

There is a complementizer cewa that often corresponds to “that”:

• ya ce cewa akwai saƙo – literally “he said that there is a message”

This is grammatically correct, but in everyday speech it often sounds heavier or more formal. In casual conversation, people usually prefer the simpler ya ce akwai saƙo unless they need extra clarity or emphasis.

Does saƙo only mean “message”? Could it mean something else?

saƙo primarily means “message” or “errand / assignment / mission.”

Examples:

• Ina da saƙo gare ka. – “I have a message for you.”
• Ya tafi da saƙon mahaifinsa. – “He went on his father’s errand / mission.”

In a phone-call context like your sentence, saƙo will almost always be understood as “message.”
The plural is saƙonni (messages).

How do you pronounce ƙ in saƙo, and how is it different from k?

In Hausa, k and ƙ are distinct consonants:

• k is a plain [k] (like English k in kind).
• ƙ is a glottalized/ejective k (often written [kʼ]). You make a slight “pop” or glottal closure as you release the sound.

For many learners, both may sound similar at first, but they can distinguish words:

• karo – encounter, time
• ƙaro – add, increase

saƙo must be pronounced with ƙ, not simple k.

Does this sentence describe one single phone call, or could it mean two separate events (“He called me yesterday. He said there is a message”)?

By default, a chain of perfective verbs with the same subject like:

• Musa ya kira ni jiya, ya ce akwai saƙo

is understood as one connected event or a quick sequence within the same timeframe:

• “Musa called me yesterday and (in that call / at that time) he said there is a message.”

It could describe two past events if the wider context makes that clear, but without extra context, a listener will normally imagine a single call in which he tells you about the message.