Learn Hardcore Swahili: Ujumbe wa sauti uliomfikia ulimfanya atabasamu na kujisikia karibu nasi. - The voice message that reached her made her smile and feel close to us.

Subject noun phrase:
Ujumbe wa sauti – the voice message
- ujumbe – message (noun, class 3)
- wa – of (associative marker agreeing with class 3)
- sauti – voice
Relative clause describing “ujumbe”:
uliomfikia – that reached him/her
- tells us which message we are talking about
Main verb (past):
ulimfanya – made him/her
- the subject of this verb is still ujumbe (the message)
Complement clause (what the message made him/her do):
atabasamu na kujisikia karibu nasi – smile and feel close to us
- atabasamu – (that) he/she smile
- kujisikia – (to) feel (within oneself)
- karibu nasi – close to us

So the skeleton is:

[Ujumbe wa sauti] [uliomfikia] [ulimfanya] [atabasamu na kujisikia karibu nasi].
The voice message that reached him made him smile and feel close to us.

Why is it ujumbe wa sauti and not ujumbe ya sauti?

In Swahili, the “of” relation (the so‑called associative or genitive) must agree with the noun class of the first noun.

ujumbe – class 3 noun
The class 3 associative marker is wa, not ya.

Some examples of this pattern:

mti wa embe – mango tree (tree of mango)
mlango wa chuma – metal door (door of metal)
ujumbe wa sauti – voice message (message of voice)

ya is the associative marker for class 4, 6, 9, 10 (and others in certain roles), for example:

sauti ya redio – the sound of the radio
barua ya kazi – job letter

Because ujumbe is class 3, it must take wa → ujumbe wa sauti.

What exactly is inside uliomfikia and how does it work as a relative clause?

uliomfikia means roughly “that reached him/her” and is a relative form of the verb kufikia (to reach).

It breaks down as:

u- – subject prefix for class 3 (it = the message)
li- – past tense marker
-o- – relative marker (“which/that …”)
-m- – object marker (“him/her”)
fikia – verb root reach

So: u-li-o-m-fikia → uliomfikia

Functionally:

ujumbe wa sauti uliomfikia
= the voice message that reached him/her

The relative clause uliomfikia comes immediately after the noun phrase it describes (ujumbe wa sauti), which is the normal position for relative clauses in Swahili.

Why is the relative clause placed as …ujumbe wa sauti uliomfikia… and not somewhere else?

In Swahili, a relative clause almost always comes directly after the noun it modifies.

So we have:

ujumbe wa sauti [uliomfikia] – the voice message [that reached him]

Putting the relative clause in another position, like:

✗ Uliomfikia ujumbe wa sauti ulimfanya…

would sound wrong or at best very marked and confusing, because it breaks the tight link between the noun (ujumbe wa sauti) and its relative clause (uliomfikia).

Think:

English: the message *that reached him made him smile*
Swahili: ujumbe uliomfikia ulimfanya atabasamu
(relative clause sits right next to ujumbe)

What does ulimfanya literally mean, and how is it formed?

ulimfanya means “(it) made him/her”.

Breakdown:

u- – subject prefix for class 3 (it – referring back to ujumbe, the message)
li- – past tense marker
-m- – object marker for 3rd person singular (him/her)
fanya – verb root do/make

So u-li-m-fanya → ulimfanya
Literally: “it-past-him/her-make” → it made him/her.

Full idea in context:

…ujumbe wa sauti uliomfikia ulimfanya…
= the voice message that reached him made him…

Who does the -m- refer to in uliomfikia and ulimfanya?

In both verbs, the -m- is the 3rd person singular object marker, referring to the same person:

uliomfikia – that reached him/her
- -m- = him/her (the person who received the message)
ulimfanya – made him/her
- -m- = the same “him/her”

Swahili normally doesn’t repeat yeye unless you want to emphasize or clarify. You could say:

uliomfikia yeye
ulimfanya yeye atabasamu…

but here the context already makes it clear, so just -m- is used.

Why is it atabasamu and not kutabasamu after ulimfanya?

After verbs like kumfanya (to make someone do something), Swahili usually uses a finite verb in the subjunctive, not an infinitive:

ulimfanya atabasamu
= you/it made him/her (that he/she) smile

atabasamu breaks down as:

a- – 3rd person singular subject prefix (he/she)
(no tense marker) – typical of the subjunctive
tabasamu – smile

So atabasamu is a subjunctive form here: that he/she smile.

Using kutabasamu (to smile, infinitive) directly after ulimfanya would be unusual in standard Swahili in this pattern. The natural construction is:

kumfanya mtu afanye kitu – to make someone do something
e.g. ulimfanya acheke, alimfanya ajibu, etc.

Then why does the second verb use kujisikia (infinitive) instead of something like ajisikie?

Good noticing: the two verbs after ulimfanya are not in the same form:

ulimfanya atabasamu – subjunctive (a-)
na kujisikia karibu nasi – infinitive (ku-)

This kind of mixing is actually common and acceptable in Swahili. Roughly, it works like this:

The first complement verb is finite (subjunctive) and carries the person:
- atabasamu = (that) he/she smile
The second verb is coordinated with na and often appears in the infinitive:
- na kujisikia karibu nasi = and (to) feel close to us

The subject for kujisikia is still understood to be the same “he/she” from atabasamu and from the -m- in ulimfanya.

You could also say:

…ulimfanya atabasamu na ajisikie karibu nasi.

That is more strictly parallel (subjunctive + subjunctive), and it’s fine. The version with kujisikia feels a bit more like “smile and (to) feel…”, but in practice the meaning is the same.

What does kujisikia mean exactly, and why is there ji- inside it?

kujisikia means something like “to feel (within oneself)”, often emotionally or in terms of mood.

Breakdown:

ku- – infinitive marker (to …)
-ji- – reflexive marker (oneself)
sik – root related to hear/feel (from kusikia)
-ia – applicative extension (adds the idea of “feel something in/for oneself”)

So:

kusikia – to hear, to feel (physically, sense something)
kujisikia – to feel (in oneself: emotionally, health-wise, psychologically)

In this sentence:

…kujisikia karibu nasi – to feel close to us (emotionally)

The ji- shows that the feeling is reflexive: it’s a feeling happening inside that person, not an action done to something/someone else.

What does karibu nasi literally mean, and how does nasi work?

karibu nasi literally means “near/close-with-us”.

Parts:

karibu – near, close (also used as “welcome”)
na – with
sisi – we/us
nasi – contracted form of na sisi → with us

So:

karibu na sisi – close to us / near us
karibu nasi – same meaning, just a more compact, slightly more literary form

In the sentence:

kujisikia karibu nasi
= to feel close to us

The construction karibu na + noun/pronoun is common:

karibu na shule – near the school
karibu na bahari – near the sea
karibu nasi – near us

Can we say karibu na sisi instead of karibu nasi? Is there a difference?

Yes, you can say:

kujisikia karibu na sisi

The meaning is basically the same: to feel close to us.

Nuance:

karibu nasi – a bit more compact and somewhat more literary/formal sounding.
karibu na sisi – fully explicit, very clear, common in everyday speech.

Both are correct. In many contexts they are interchangeable.

Why do we see past tense li- in uliomfikia and ulimfanya, but no past tense on atabasamu or kujisikia?

The past tense li- appears in the main events:

uliomfikia – that reached him/her (past)
ulimfanya – made him/her (past)

These tell you when the message reached him and when it made him react.

But the verbs after ulimfanya are in a subordinate/complement structure:

atabasamu – subjunctive: (that) he/she smile
kujisikia – infinitive: (to) feel

In Swahili, when one action is caused by another (kumfanya mtu afanye kitu), the caused action is typically expressed:

with the subjunctive (no tense marker): afanye, atabasamu, aende
or sometimes with the infinitive: kufanya, kujisikia, especially in coordination

The time of these subordinate actions is understood from the main past-tense verb ulimfanya. So you could paraphrase:

ulimfanya atabasamu
= literally: it made him (that he) smile → it made him smile (then)

You don’t need another li- on atabasamu or kujisikia to show past.