Learn Hardcore Hausa: Yau Musa yana cikin bakin ciki sosai.

Yau – today
Musa – the name Musa
yana – he is / is (doing/being) (3rd person masculine, continuous/progressive aspect)
cikin – in / inside
bakin ciki – literally something like “inner blackness”, idiomatically sadness / grief
sosai – very / a lot / greatly

So a very literal version would be: “Today Musa is in (a state of) deep sadness very much.”
Natural English: “Today Musa is very sad.”

What exactly is yana doing in this sentence? Is it just “is”?

Yana is the 3rd person singular masculine continuous/progressive marker, roughly “he is (doing/being)”.

In this sentence:

Musa is the subject.
yana marks present, ongoing state.
The “thing he is in” is cikin bakin ciki (“in sadness”).

So Musa yana cikin bakin ciki is like saying “Musa is (currently) in sadness”, i.e. “Musa is sad (now)”. It’s more than a simple copula “is”; it carries aspect (ongoing state).

Why is cikin used? Why not just Musa yana bakin ciki sosai?

You can say:

Musa yana bakin ciki sosai.

This is also correct and common, and means essentially the same thing: “Musa is very sad.”

Using cikin before a noun of emotion or situation is a frequent Hausa pattern:

yana cikin farin ciki – he is in happiness
yana cikin damuwa – he is in worry
yana cikin tashin hankali – he is in distress / panic

So:

Musa yana bakin ciki = Musa is sad.
Musa yana cikin bakin ciki = Musa is in a state of sadness.

The version with cikin can feel a bit more like “in the midst of / surrounded by” that feeling, but in everyday speech both are very close in meaning.

What does bakin ciki literally mean, and is it an idiom?

Yes, bakin ciki is a kind of idiomatic expression for sadness, grief, bitterness, deep disappointment.

Literally:

baki can mean black (or mouth, depending on context).
-n is a linker (genitive).
ciki means inside.

So bakin ciki is often explained as “inner blackness / inner darkness”.
Idiomatic meaning: sadness, grief, heartache, bitterness inside.

In practice, you just learn bakin ciki as the usual phrase for sadness/deep hurt:

Ina cikin bakin ciki. – I am in sadness / I am very sad.
Ya yi bakin ciki sosai. – He was very hurt/sad.

Is bakin here related to “mouth” (baki) or to “black” (baki)?

In this fixed expression bakin ciki, it is historically connected to baki = black, not “mouth”.

So:

baki (adj.) – black
→ bakin – “black-of …” (linking form)
ciki – inside

→ bakin ciki ≈ “blackness of the inside” → inner darkness, i.e. sadness/grief.

You will also see:

bakin rai – bitterness / resentment (literally “blackness of the soul/life”)

So for emotional idioms like bakin ciki, think “blackness”, not “mouth”.

Why is yau at the beginning? Could it come later in the sentence?

Time expressions often come first in Hausa, so Yau at the beginning is very natural:

Yau Musa yana cikin bakin ciki sosai.

You can also move yau:

Musa yau yana cikin bakin ciki sosai.
Musa yana cikin bakin ciki sosai yau.

All are understandable. The most typical, neutral order is:

Yau Musa yana cikin bakin ciki sosai.

Putting yau first emphasizes “as for today” a bit more.

What does sosai mean, and can it go in other positions?

Sosai is an intensifier: “very, a lot, greatly, deeply.”

In this sentence:

Yau Musa yana cikin bakin ciki sosai.
→ “Today Musa is very sad / deeply sad.”

Typical positions:

After the phrase it modifies (very common):
- yana cikin bakin ciki sosai
Sometimes you will hear it earlier, but the end position is the most natural in sentences like this.

Synonyms you might hear instead of sosai include:

ƙwarai – very, truly
matuƙa – extremely
ƙwarai da gaske – very much indeed

How would the sentence change with a different subject, for example “They are very sad today”?

The verb form yana changes with person and number. For they, you use suna.

Yau Musa yana cikin bakin ciki sosai.
→ Today Musa (he) is very sad.
Yau suna cikin bakin ciki sosai.
→ Today they are very sad.

More examples for practice:

Yau ni ina cikin bakin ciki sosai. – Today I am very sad.
Yau ke kina cikin bakin ciki sosai. – Today you (f. sg.) are very sad.
Yau ku kuna cikin bakin ciki sosai. – Today you (pl.) are very sad.

Can I drop Musa and just say Yau yana cikin bakin ciki sosai?

Yes, if the context already makes it clear who you are talking about, you can drop Musa and say:

Yau yana cikin bakin ciki sosai. – Today he is very sad.

In Hausa:

The verb form (yana) already contains the subject information (“he”).
A full noun like Musa is only needed when you want to specify who, or when it’s not obvious from context.

So:

With clear context: Yau yana cikin bakin ciki sosai.
When introducing him or being explicit: Yau Musa yana cikin bakin ciki sosai.

What is the difference between yana cikin bakin ciki and ya yi bakin ciki?

Both talk about sadness, but aspect and nuance differ:

yana cikin bakin ciki
- Uses yana (continuous aspect).
- Focuses on a current, ongoing state.
- “He is in sadness; he is (right now) sad / grieving.”
ya yi bakin ciki
- ya yi = “he did / he was (in that state)” – perfective aspect.
- Often used for a completed event or reaction: “he became sad / he was sad (about something).”
- E.g. Ya yi bakin ciki sosai lokacin da ya ji labarin. – He was very saddened when he heard the news.

So in your sentence:

yana cikin bakin ciki sosai → “is (currently) very sad.”
ya yi bakin ciki sosai → “was/has been very sad (about something).”

How would you say “Musa was very sad yesterday” using this pattern?

A natural way is to keep the yana cikin pattern and use the time word jiya (yesterday), which gives a past-time frame:

Jiya Musa yana cikin bakin ciki sosai.
→ “Yesterday Musa was very sad.”

Even though yana is a continuous form, Hausa often uses it with a past time adverb (jiya, a shekaran da ya gabata, etc.) to express an ongoing state in the past.

You could also say, with a more “event-like” feel:

Jiya Musa ya yi bakin ciki sosai. – Musa was very sad / deeply hurt yesterday.

How do you make the sentence negative, e.g. “Musa is not very sad today”?

To negate this kind of yana… sentence, you use ba … ba and change yana to ba ya.

Affirmative:
Yau Musa yana cikin bakin ciki sosai.
→ Today Musa is very sad.
Negative:
Yau Musa ba ya cikin bakin ciki sosai.
→ Today Musa is not very sad.

Structure:

ba
- subject (Musa) + ya (negated form of yana) + rest of the predicate + ba (often optional at the end in speech).

A fully “textbook” version with both ba’s:

Yau ba Musa ba ya cikin bakin ciki sosai ba.
In everyday speech, people usually say simply:
Yau Musa ba ya cikin bakin ciki sosai.

Could I say Yau Musa yana bakin ciki sosai instead, without cikin?

Yes, that is fully correct:

Yau Musa yana bakin ciki sosai.

Both:

Yau Musa yana cikin bakin ciki sosai.
Yau Musa yana bakin ciki sosai.

mean “Today Musa is very sad.”

The version with cikin sounds a bit more like “in a state of sadness”, but in normal conversation, there is no big difference in meaning. You will hear both forms in real speech.