Questions & Answers about Tazarar maki biyu ce!
What is the literal structure of Tazarar maki biyu ce?
A helpful word-by-word breakdown is:
- tazarar = gap / difference of ...
- maki = points
- biyu = two
- ce = the feminine equational marker, roughly is in this kind of sentence
So the structure is basically:
- gap-of points two is
More natural English would be something like It is a two-point gap or The difference is two points.
Why is it tazarar, not just tazara?
Because tazara is being linked to what comes after it: maki biyu.
In Hausa, when a noun is followed by another noun phrase in an of relationship, the first noun often takes a linking form. Here:
- tazara = gap / difference
- tazarar maki biyu = gap of two points
So the final -r is doing the job that English often does with of.
What does ce mean here?
Ce is the equational marker used in this kind of sentence, roughly like is in English.
Hausa often makes statements of identification or description without a normal verb like English to be. Instead, it uses or at the end.