Onyo la dhoruba linaonyesha kimo cha wimbi.

A natural word-by-word breakdown is:

• Onyo = warning
• la dhoruba = of a storm / storm-related
• linaonyesha = shows / indicates
• kimo = height
• cha wimbi = of a wave

So the structure is basically:

[warning] [of storm] [shows] [height] [of wave]

Swahili often builds noun phrases with noun + connector + noun, where English might use of or a noun used like an adjective.

La is a linking word often translated as of, but its form changes depending on the noun class of the first noun.

Here, the first noun is onyo (warning), which belongs to noun class 5.
For class 5 nouns, the connector is la.

So:

• onyo la dhoruba = warning of storm / storm warning

A key point: la agrees with onyo, not with dhoruba.

For the same reason: the connector changes to match the noun class of the first noun.

Here the first noun is kimo (height), which is in noun class 7.
Class 7 uses cha.

So:

• kimo cha wimbi = height of a wave

Again, the connector agrees with kimo, not with wimbi.

The li- is the subject marker that agrees with onyo.

Since onyo is a class 5 noun, the verb also takes the class 5 subject prefix, which is li-.

So:

• li- = it (for a class 5 noun)
• -na- = present tense
• -onyesha = show / indicate

Therefore:

• linaonyesha = it shows / it is showing

Because onyo is the subject, the verb has to match it.

-na- marks the present tense in Swahili.

So:

• linaonyesha = it shows / it is showing

Depending on context, Swahili present tense can translate into English in more than one way:

• shows
• is showing
• sometimes even does show

Here, shows or indicates is the most natural English choice.

Yes. The dictionary form is kuonyesha, meaning to show, to indicate, or to display.

In the sentence, it appears as linaonyesha, where prefixes are added:

• kuonyesha = to show
• linaonyesha = it shows

In weather, warning, and technical contexts, kuonyesha often means indicate rather than physically show.

Dhoruba means storm.

So onyo la dhoruba is literally warning of storm, but in natural English that becomes storm warning.

This is a very common pattern in Swahili:

• X la Y = X of Y
• often translated more naturally in English as Y X

For example:

• onyo la dhoruba = storm warning

Kimo usually means height, stature, or size/measurement upward.

In this sentence, it means height, specifically the vertical size of the wave.

So:

• kimo cha wimbi = wave height / the height of the wave

It is a good word when talking about how high something is.

Yes, and Swahili can also use a singular noun in a general or category-like sense.

So wimbi here does not have to mean one specific single wave in a very narrow sense. It can represent the idea of a wave or wave height generally.

• wimbi = wave
• mawimbi = waves

If you wanted to make it clearly plural, you could change the phrase, but the singular here is perfectly normal.

Wimbi is typically a class 5 singular noun, and its plural is mawimbi in class 6.

So:

• wimbi = wave
• mawimbi = waves

That is useful because many agreement patterns in Swahili depend on noun class.

Swahili does not normally use articles like a, an, or the.

Whether something is understood as a warning, the warning, a wave, or the wave usually comes from context.

So:

• Onyo la dhoruba could mean a storm warning or the storm warning
• kimo cha wimbi could mean the height of a wave or the wave height

English requires an article, but Swahili usually does not.

Yes. This sentence follows a very normal pattern:

• Subject: Onyo la dhoruba
• Verb: linaonyesha
• Object: kimo cha wimbi

So it is basically:

Subject – Verb – Object

That is one of the most common word orders in Swahili.

Yes. That is a very natural translation.

Because kuonyesha can mean show, indicate, or display, and because kimo cha wimbi can be rendered as the height of the wave or wave height, several English versions are possible, such as:

• The storm warning shows the height of the wave.
• The storm warning indicates the wave height.
• The storm warning displays wave height.

The best choice depends on context.

If you made onyo plural, it would become maonyo.

Then the agreement would change too:

• maonyo ya dhoruba yanaonyesha ...

Here is what changes:

• onyo → maonyo
• connector la → ya
• subject marker li- → ya-

So Swahili agreement changes across the sentence when the noun class changes.

A very important lesson is that agreement in Swahili is driven by noun class.

You can see it twice here:

1. In the connector after a noun:

   • onyo la dhoruba
   • kimo cha wimbi

2. In the verb:

   • onyo is class 5, so the verb begins with li-
   • linaonyesha

So this sentence is a good example of how Swahili nouns control the form of nearby words.