Learn Hardcore Hausa: Budurwa ta nuna soyayya ga ƙanwarta, ba ta nuna kishi ba. - The young woman showed love to her younger sister; she did not show jealousy.

It is not the general word for “child” or “girl” (that would usually be yarinya). So here it specifically suggests a young woman, not just any female child.

2. What does ta mean in Budurwa ta nuna soyayya … and why is it ta, not something else?

Ta here is the 3rd person singular feminine subject pronoun: she.

Budurwa = young woman (a feminine noun)
ta = she
nuna = show

So Budurwa ta nuna… literally: The young woman, she showed…

Hausa verbs typically need an explicit subject pronoun, even when there is already a noun subject. The pronoun agrees with the gender and number of the subject:

yaro ya nuna = the boy, he showed
budurwa ta nuna = the young woman, she showed

3. What tense or aspect is expressed by ta nuna in this sentence?

Ta nuna is the perfective aspect, usually translated as a simple past in English:

ta nuna ≈ she showed / she has shown

It describes a completed action. So the sentence means she actually did show love on that occasion (or in that specific situation).

If you wanted an ongoing or habitual meaning, you would use a different form, like:

Budurwa tana nuna soyayya… = The young woman is showing / usually shows love…

4. What does soyayya mean here, and is it different from ƙauna?

Soyayya means love, affection, often with a sense of emotional warmth or romantic love, depending on context.

Common nuances:

soyayya
- love between people
- can be romantic, but also deep affection (for family, friends)
ƙauna
- love, kindness, deep affection
- sometimes a bit more general or abstract, or “goodwill / fondness”

In this sentence, soyayya toward her younger sister is affectionate, caring love, not romantic.

5. What is the function of ga in soyayya ga ƙanwarta? Could I leave it out?

Ga here is a preposition meaning roughly to / towards / for.

nuna soyayya ga ƙanwarta
≈ to show love to her younger sister

Without ga, it would be unclear who is receiving the love. Ga introduces the indirect object / recipient of the action.

You normally cannot just drop ga here; ƙanwarta needs that preposition to show that she is the person the love is being directed to.

6. How is ƙanwarta formed, and what does each part mean?

ƙanwarta breaks down like this:

ƙanwa = younger sibling (usually younger sister of someone)
-r- = linker (a consonant used when adding a possessive suffix to some nouns)
-ta = her (3rd person singular feminine possessive suffix)

So:

ƙanwarta = her younger sister / her younger sibling

Other examples:

ƙanwarsa = his younger sister
ƙanwarka = your (m.sg.) younger sister
ƙanwarku = your (pl.) younger sister(s)

7. Why is the negation written as ba ta nuna kishi ba with ba at both the beginning and the end?

Hausa standard negation in this kind of clause usually uses a double marker: ba … ba.

Pattern with a 3rd person feminine subject:

ba ta [verb] … ba = she did not [verb]

So:

ba ta nuna kishi ba
= she did not show jealousy

Structure:

ba – first negative particle
ta – subject pronoun (she)
nuna – verb (show)
kishi – object (jealousy)
ba – closing negative particle

This bracketing ba … ba is the normal way to negate a completed action in many contexts.

8. Why is ta repeated in the second clause (ba ta nuna kishi ba) instead of saying something like ba a nuna kishi ba?

The ta in ba ta nuna kishi ba is still referring to the same young woman from the first clause.

First clause: Budurwa ta nuna soyayya… = The young woman, she showed love…
Second clause: ba ta nuna kishi ba = (she) did not show jealousy.

Even when the full noun Budurwa is not repeated, Hausa still needs the subject pronoun inside the verb phrase.

Ba a nuna kishi ba would mean no one showed jealousy or jealousy was not shown (an impersonal / passive-like sense), which is different from specifically saying she did not show jealousy.

9. Could I move ba somewhere else, like Ta ba ta nuna kishi?

No. That would change the structure and meaning completely.

ba … ba is a fixed negative frame and must surround the clause in the usual order:
- ba ta nuna kishi ba = she did not show jealousy.

If you say:

Ta ba ta nuna kishi…

this reads as:

ta ba ta… = she gave her… (because ba can also be the verb ba = to give)
So it would sound like: She gave her… showed jealousy, which is ungrammatical and confusing.

To keep the intended negation, you need:

ba ta nuna kishi ba (or, with the noun repeated: Budurwa ba ta nuna kishi ba).

10. How would the sentence change if I wanted to say she usually shows love, not just on one occasion?

To express a habitual / ongoing action, you would typically use the progressive / habitual marker na/na- (together with the subject pronoun):

Budurwa tana nuna soyayya ga ƙanwarta, ba ta nuna kishi ba.

Here:

tana nuna ≈ she is (always) showing / she usually shows

The second part ba ta nuna kishi ba can stay the same, because you can understand it as “she doesn’t (generally) show jealousy.”
If you want to match aspect strictly, some speakers might say:

Budurwa tana nuna soyayya ga ƙanwarta, ba ta cika nuna kishi ba.
= The young woman usually shows love to her younger sister; she does not tend to show jealousy.
(ba ta cika … ba = she does not usually / not often …)

11. Is kishi exactly the same as English jealousy, or is there a nuance I should know?

Kishi most commonly means jealousy, especially in the sense of:

jealousy between co-wives in a polygamous marriage
jealousy between siblings or rivals
possessive, protective jealousy in relationships

It is closer to jealousy (fear of losing what you have) than to envy (wanting what someone else has).

In this sentence, ba ta nuna kishi ba emphasizes that she did not react with possessive or resentful feelings toward her younger sister; instead, she showed positive affection (soyayya).

12. How would the sentence change if the subject were a boy instead of a young woman?

You would need to change:

The noun (subject) to a masculine one.
The subject pronoun from ta (she) to ya (he).
The possessive on ƙanwarta if you want to keep “his younger sister”.

Example:

Saurayi ya nuna soyayya ga ƙanwarsa, ba ya nuna kishi ba.

Breakdown:

Saurayi = young man / bachelor
ya nuna = he showed
soyayya = love
ga ƙanwarsa = to his younger sister
ba ya nuna kishi ba = he did not show jealousy.

So the masculine version keeps the same structure, but with ya and -sa instead of ta and -ta.