Mtoto alianza kutapika usiku, na asubuhi tumbo lake bado lilikuwa limevimba kidogo.

Alianza kutapika means began to vomit or started vomiting.

This uses:

• alianza = he/she began
• kutapika = to vomit

So the sentence is emphasizing the start of the vomiting during the night.

If you said alitapika, that would simply mean he/she vomited, without highlighting that it began at that time.

Alianza can be broken down like this:

• a- = he/she
• -li- = past tense marker
• -anza = begin/start

So alianza literally means he/she began.

This is a very common Swahili verb pattern:

• subject marker + tense marker + verb stem

For example:

• alisema = he/she said
• alikuja = he/she came
• alianza = he/she began

The ku- marks the infinitive, so kutapika means to vomit.

After verbs like kuanza (to begin), Swahili commonly uses another verb in the infinitive:

• alianza kulia = he/she began to cry
• alianza kukohoa = he/she began to cough
• alianza kutapika = he/she began to vomit

So this works much like English began to...

Here usiku means at night or during the night.

Swahili often uses time words without a separate word for at:

• asubuhi = in the morning
• mchana = during the day / in the daytime
• jioni = in the evening
• usiku = at night

So alianza kutapika usiku is very natural Swahili for the child started vomiting during the night.

Yes, na normally means and, and here it connects the two parts of the sentence:

• Mtoto alianza kutapika usiku
• na asubuhi tumbo lake bado lilikuwa limevimba kidogo

So the meaning is The child started vomiting at night, and in the morning...

In context, na asubuhi can feel a bit like and by morning or and in the morning.

Lake means his/her, but it has to agree with the noun class of tumbo.

• tumbo = stomach/belly
• tumbo belongs to noun class 5
• the possessive for his/her in this class is -ake, with the agreement form l-
• so lake = his/her for a class 5 noun

That gives:

• tumbo lake = his/her stomach

This is why you do not say just one unchanging word for his/her in all cases. Swahili possessives change to match the noun class.

A few comparisons:

• mtoto wake = his/her child
• kitabu chake = his/her book
• tumbo lake = his/her stomach

This is one of the trickiest parts of the sentence.

• lilikuwa = it was
• limevimba = has swollen / is swollen

Together, lilikuwa limevimba means something like:

• it was swollen
• it had become swollen
• it was in a swollen state

This pattern is very common in Swahili:

• a form of kuwa (to be) in the past
• followed by a perfect/result form

It often describes a state that already existed at that past time.

So here:

• asubuhi tumbo lake bado lilikuwa limevimba kidogo means that in the morning, her stomach was still a little swollen

The idea is not just that it swelled at that moment, but that it was already swollen and remained that way.

The li- at the beginning of lilikuwa is the subject marker agreeing with tumbo.

Since tumbo is a class 5 noun, verbs referring to it often use li- as the subject marker.

So:

• tumbo ... lilikuwa = the stomach ... was

This is the same agreement idea you see in lake.

Swahili requires this kind of agreement throughout the sentence, so learners often need to pay attention to the noun class of the main noun.

Limevimba comes from the verb kuvimba, meaning to swell or to become swollen.

It breaks down roughly as:

• li- = class 5 subject marker, agreeing with tumbo
• -me- = perfect marker
• vimba = swell

So limevimba means:

• it has swollen
• it is swollen
• it has become swollen

In natural English here, the best translation is usually simply was swollen or was still a little swollen, because English often uses an adjective where Swahili uses a verb.

Bado means still.

It shows that the condition continued:

• tumbo lake bado lilikuwa limevimba kidogo = her stomach was still a little swollen

Without bado, the sentence would just say the stomach was swollen that morning. With bado, it emphasizes that the swelling had not gone away yet.

Kidogo means a little or slightly here.

Placed after limevimba, it modifies the degree of swelling:

• limevimba kidogo = slightly swollen / swollen a little

This is very natural word order in Swahili. Adverbs and degree words like kidogo often come after the word they modify.

Compare:

• amechoka kidogo = he/she is a little tired
• imeharibika kidogo = it is a little damaged
• limevimba kidogo = it is a little swollen

Swahili does not have articles like English the and a/an.

So:

• mtoto can mean a child or the child
• the exact meaning depends on context

In this sentence, English naturally uses the child, but the Swahili noun itself does not need a separate article.

This is normal throughout the language:

• kitabu = a book / the book
• nyumba = a house / the house
• mtoto = a child / the child

Yes. There are several natural alternatives, depending on what you want to emphasize.

For example:

• Mtoto alitapika usiku = The child vomited at night
• Mtoto alikuwa anatapika usiku = The child was vomiting at night
• Asubuhi tumbo lake lilikuwa bado limevimba kidogo = In the morning, the stomach was still a little swollen

The original sentence is natural because it tells a small sequence of events:

1. the vomiting started at night
2. by morning the stomach was still somewhat swollen

So it is a good example of how Swahili can combine event and continuing state very neatly.