Asante, kwa sasa sitashiriki; kwa kifupi nina aibu kidogo.

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Breakdown of Asante, kwa sasa sitashiriki; kwa kifupi nina aibu kidogo.

• kuwa na: to have
• kidogo: a bit
• kushiriki: to participate

Questions & Answers about Asante, kwa sasa sitashiriki; kwa kifupi nina aibu kidogo.

Can you break the sentence down morpheme by morpheme?

• Asante = thanks/thank you.
• kwa sasa = for now/for the time being. kwa (preposition) + sasa (now).
• sitashiriki = si- (1st person singular negative subject) + -ta- (future) + shiriki (participate) → “I will not participate.”
• kwa kifupi = in short/briefly. kwa
  • kifupi (shortness/brief form; from adjective fupi “short” with class 7 noun prefix ki-).
• nina aibu kidogo = ni- (I) + -na (present) → nina (I have) + aibu (shyness/embarrassment) + kidogo (a little). Literally: “I have a little shyness.”

Why is it sitashiriki and not sishiriki?

• sishiriki = “I don’t participate / I’m not participating” (negative present/habitual).
• sitashiriki = “I will not participate” (negative future).
  Patterns with shiriki:
• Present: nashiriki → Negative: sishiriki
• Future: nitashiriki → Negative: sitashiriki So the -ta- marks future time; adding si- makes it negative future.

What exactly does kwa mean here, and why does it appear twice?