Learn Hardcore Hausa: Ki yi magana da murya ƙasa saboda yara suna barci. - Speak in a low voice because the children are sleeping.

Ke is a subject pronoun used in equational or descriptive sentences (e.g. Ke ce likita – “You (fem.) are the doctor”), not the form used before verbs in this kind of command/subjunctive structure, so it would be wrong here.

Why do we say “yi magana” instead of just a single verb meaning “speak”?

Hausa often uses a light verb + noun combination where English has a single verb.
Yi means “do/make,” and magana means “speech, talk, words.”

So yi magana literally = “do speech,” i.e. “to speak / to talk.”

Other similar patterns:

yi barci – “to sleep” (literally “do sleep”)
yi tafiya – “to travel / go” (literally “do journey”)
yi ƙoƙari – “to try / make an effort”

In this sentence, yi magana is the normal, natural way to say “speak” or “talk” in Hausa.

What is the role of “da” in “da murya ƙasa”?

Here da functions roughly like “with / using / in” in English.

magana da murya ƙasa ≈ “speech with a low voice” → “speaking in a low voice”

In different contexts, da can mean:

with: Ina zuwa da abokina – “I am coming with my friend.”
and: Ya zo da mahaifiyarsa – “He came with / and his mother.”
having: Mota ce da launi ja – “It’s a car with red color.”

In this particular phrase, you can think of da as “with” → “speak with a low voice.”

Does “murya ƙasa” literally mean “low voice”? Is it an idiom for “quietly”?

Yes, it’s both somewhat literal and idiomatic.

murya = “voice”
ƙasa = “down, low, ground, earth”

So murya ƙasa literally suggests “voice [towards] the ground / low voice.”
In usage, it means “a low voice / a quiet voice,” and the whole phrase yi magana da murya ƙasa means “speak quietly / speak in a low voice.”

Other ways to tell someone to be quiet or softer:

Yi magana a hankali. – “Speak gently/slowly/softly.”
Rage murya. – “Lower your voice.”
Kar ki yi hayaniya. – “Don’t make noise.”

Can I drop “da” and just say “Ki yi magana murya ƙasa”?

No, that would be ungrammatical or at least very unnatural.

In this expression, da is needed to link magana (“speech”) with murya ƙasa (“low voice”):

✅ Ki yi magana da murya ƙasa. – correct, standard
❌ Ki yi magana murya ƙasa. – sounds wrong to native speakers

Think of da as the glue meaning “with” here: “speak with a low voice.”

What does “saboda” do in this sentence? Can I put it at the beginning?

Saboda means “because / due to / because of.”
It introduces the reason for the command:

Ki yi magana da murya ƙasa – “Speak in a low voice”
saboda yara suna barci. – “because the children are sleeping.”

You can move the reason clause to the front in everyday speech:

Saboda yara suna barci, ki yi magana da murya ƙasa.
- “Because the children are sleeping, speak in a low voice.”

Both orders are natural in Hausa:

Command + saboda + reason
Saboda + reason + command

What exactly does “yara suna barci” mean in terms of tense/aspect? Is it “are sleeping” or “sleep”?

Yara suna barci corresponds to “the children are sleeping” (progressive/ongoing).

Breakdown:

yara – children
su- – they (subject prefix)
-na – progressive/continuous marker
barci – sleep (noun)

So suna barci = “they are (in the state of) sleeping.”

Rough aspect differences:

Yara suna barci. – The children are sleeping (right now).
Yara suna yin barci kullum da misalin goma. – The children sleep (habitually) around 10 (using suna
- verbal noun for habits).
Yara sun yi barci. – The children have slept / slept (already) (perfect/completed).

In your sentence, it’s clearly present ongoing: “are sleeping (now).”

Why is it “suna barci” and not just “su barci”?

Because Hausa typically needs an aspect marker between the subject prefix and the main verb/noun for normal finite clauses.

Pattern:

Subject prefix + aspect marker + verb/noun

For present continuous:

su + na + barci → suna barci – “they are sleeping”
ya + na + barci → yana barci – “he is sleeping”
ta + na + barci → tana barci – “she is sleeping”

If you say “su barci” on its own, it sounds incomplete or like a fragment (only used in some special constructions, not as a normal standalone sentence for “they sleep/are sleeping”).

Is “barci” a verb or a noun? And how does it work with “suna”?

Barci is primarily a noun, meaning “sleep” (the state or act of sleeping).

Hausa treats some activities with a noun instead of a simple verb, and uses:

either yi + noun: yi barci – “to sleep” (do sleep)
or subject prefix + aspect + noun: suna barci – “they are in (the state of) sleep”

So:

Na yi barci. – I slept / I have slept.
Ina barci. – I am sleeping. (literally “I am in sleep,” with ina = 1sg progressive)
Suna barci. – They are sleeping.

Many speakers also spell/pronounce it bacci; barci and bacci are just variant spellings of the same word.

Is “Ki yi magana da murya ƙasa” polite, or is it a strong command? How could I make it softer?

Ki yi magana da murya ƙasa is a direct instruction, but the presence of ki (instead of a bare imperative Yi magana…) already makes it less blunt and more like “(please) speak in a low voice.”

Rough scale:

Yi magana da murya ƙasa. – Bare command; can sound quite direct.
Ki yi magana da murya ƙasa. – Normal, fairly polite request to a female.
Add softeners:
- Don Allah, ki yi magana da murya ƙasa. – “Please, speak in a low voice.”
- Za ki iya yin magana da murya ƙasa? – “Could you speak in a low voice?”
- Da fatan za ki yi magana da murya ƙasa. – “I’d hope you’d speak in a low voice.” (very polite/formal)

So the sentence as given is polite but direct, especially appropriate with someone you’re close to or have authority over (e.g. your sister, daughter, friend).