Questions & Answers about Unguwar tana da shiru.
Why is it unguwar and not unguwa?
Unguwa is the basic dictionary form, meaning neighborhood or district.
Unguwar is a marked form often used for a definite noun, so here it works like the neighborhood. Hausa does not usually have a separate word for the like English does. Instead, definiteness is often shown by the form of the noun itself.
So:
- unguwa = neighborhood / a neighborhood
- unguwar = the neighborhood
Why is there a tana after unguwar? English would just say The neighborhood is...
In Hausa, it is very normal to have:
- a full noun subject, and
- an agreeing subject marker after it
So Unguwar tana... is literally something like:
- The neighborhood, it...
That is standard Hausa sentence structure. English usually does not repeat the subject this way, but Hausa does.
Why is it tana and not yana?