Learn Hardcore Hausa: A lokacin layya, kawu yana sayen dabba ya kawo wa iyali a ƙauye. - At the time of the sacrificial feast, my uncle buys an animal and brings it to the family in the village.

a = at / in / on (here: at/during)
lokacin = the time (from lokaci, time)
layya = the Muslim festival of sacrifice (Eid al‑Adha), also called babbar Sallah (the big Eid).

So the phrase is a time expression: “At the time of Eid al‑Adha / during the sacrifice festival …”

How does the preposition a work here? Is it always “at”?

In this sentence, a is a general preposition that can mean at, in, on, during, depending on context.

With lokaci / lokacin, it often means “at (the time of)” or “during”:
- a lokacin sanyi – during cold season / in the cold season
With places, it is usually “in / at”:
- a gida – at home
- a ƙauye – in a village

So A lokacin layya is “at the time of layya / during layya”.

What exactly does kawu mean? Is it any uncle?

kawu most commonly means “maternal uncle” (your mother’s brother).
In everyday speech, people may also extend it to older male relatives, or even respected older men, kind of like “uncle” in many cultures.

There is also baba and other kin terms that can be used more broadly, but kawu has a strong association with your mother’s brother. In this sentence, you can safely understand kawu as “(my) uncle”.

I see kawu with k, but ƙauye with that special ƙ. What’s the difference between k and ƙ in Hausa?

Hausa distinguishes between k and ƙ as two different consonants:

k is a regular “k” sound, like in English “cat”.
ƙ is an implosive / glottalized k-like sound, made a bit deeper in the throat, somewhat like an emphatic “k/q”.

They are phonemically different, meaning they can change the meaning of a word.
In this sentence:

kawu – uncle
ƙauye – village

You should try to hear and produce the difference, but if you can’t yet, focusing on recognizing the written ƙ is a good start.

What is going on with yana sayen? Why not just yake saya or something like that?

yana sayen is a common progressive/habitual form built from:

yana – 3rd person singular “he is / he (usually) does” (imperfective/progressive)
saya – to buy
sayen – the verbal noun “buying” (from saya
- -n)

So yana sayen dabba literally is like “he is in the buying of an animal”, functioning as “he is buying an animal / he buys an animal (habitually)”.

You will see two main patterns:

yana sayen dabba – “he is buying an animal / he buys an animal”
yakan sayi dabba – “he (usually) buys an animal”

Both describe ongoing or repeated actions, depending on context. Here, with A lokacin layya, it can mean what he does at that time (every year).

Why is the verb form sayen and not saya or sayi?

sayen is the verbal noun (or gerund) derived from saya:

saya – to buy
sayen – buying (the act of buying)

With yana, Hausa often uses the verbal noun:

yana cin abinci – he is eating food (from ci → cin)
yana karatun littafi – he is reading a book (from karanta → karatu/karatun)
yana sayen dabba – he is buying an animal

So yana + verbal noun (sayen) together express a progressive / ongoing or typical action.

Does dabba mean specifically a sacrificial animal, or just any animal? And is it singular?

dabba basically means “animal” (usually a land animal; often domestic animals in many contexts).

Here it is:

singular: dabba – an animal
plural: dabbobi – animals

In the context of layya, it strongly suggests a sacrificial animal (like a ram, goat, cow, etc.), but the word itself is general. The form is singular and indefinite, so “an animal” (understood from context as an animal for sacrifice).

After kawu yana sayen dabba, why do we suddenly get ya kawo? Why not yana kawowa or something with yana again?

Hausa often uses clause chaining with different aspects to show sequence:

yana sayen dabba – he is (in the process of) buying an animal / he (typically) buys an animal
ya kawo wa iyali – he (then) brings it to the family

The ya here is a perfective (completed action) form: he brought / he brings (as a completed step).

So the pattern is:

A lokacin layya,
- kawu yana sayen dabba – uncle buys / is buying an animal
- ya kawo wa iyali a ƙauye – (and) he brings it to the family in the village

Using yana twice would not show the same sense of “first buying, then bringing” as clearly.

Who is the subject of ya kawo? Why is there no shi before it?

The subject of ya kawo is still kawu (uncle) from the first clause.

In Hausa, when several verbs share the same subject in a sequence, the subject noun/pronoun is usually stated once, then omitted in the following clauses if it’s clear:

Ali ya saya littafi ya ba kaninsa.
Ali bought a book (and) gave it to his younger brother.

Similarly:

kawu yana sayen dabba ya kawo wa iyali…
uncle is buying an animal (and) brings it to the family…

You don’t need shi because kawu is still understood as the subject.

What does the wa in kawo wa iyali do?

wa here marks the indirect object (the recipient of the action).

kawo – bring
wa iyali – to the family / for the family

So ya kawo wa iyali = “he brings (it) to the family”.

Other similar markers you’ll see are ga and ma, but wa is a very common indirect-object marker with verbs like ba (to give), kawo (to bring), aika (to send), etc.
Example: Na ba wa Maryam kuɗi. – I gave Maryam money.

Why is it just iyali and not iyalinsa (his family)?

Hausa often omits possessive markers like -nsa (his) when the possessor is obvious from context.

iyali – family (can mean “the family” in context)
iyalinsa – his family

Because we already know we are talking about kawu (uncle), iyali is naturally interpreted as his family, especially in a sentence like this. You can say iyalinsa for extra clarity or emphasis, but it is not required.

What exactly does ƙauye mean here? Is it “a village” or “the village”?

ƙauye means “village / rural area” (as opposed to town/city).

Hausa doesn’t use articles like “a / the”, so a ƙauye can be interpreted as either:

“in a village”, or
“in the village” (usually understood as their home village or the family’s village)

In this sentence, it most naturally means “in the village”, i.e. the village where the family lives.

Is this describing something that happens once, or something that happens regularly at every layya?

The form yana sayen dabba is imperfective and often used for ongoing or habitual actions.
Combined with A lokacin layya (“at the time of layya”), it most naturally suggests a repeated/habitual action:

“At layya time, uncle (typically) buys an animal and brings it to the family in the village.”

However, in the right context (like telling a story about this particular year), it could be understood as a specific event: “This layya time, uncle is buying an animal and (then) bringing it…” Context decides, but without extra context, learners can safely read it as a habitual practice.

Could we use kai instead of kawo here? What’s the nuance between kawo and kai?

Both kawo and kai involve moving something to someone/somewhere, but:

kawo – bring (towards the speaker / towards “here”)
kai – take (away from the speaker / towards “there”)

In practice, everyday speech doesn’t always keep this distinction perfectly, but that is the core idea.

In this sentence:

ya kawo wa iyali a ƙauye – he brings it to the family in the village
You could hear ya kai wa iyali a ƙauye in some contexts, especially if the point of view is from the town where he is starting. The original kawo suggests bringing to where the family is (their place), which fits the idea of going to the village to deliver the animal.