Matamshi ya neno hilo yalikuwa rahisi, lakini lafudhi ya mgeni ilikuwa tofauti kidogo.

Matamshi is a noun in class 6, which often has forms that look plural to English speakers. In this case, it is simply the normal dictionary form for pronunciation / utterance / articulation. Even if English uses a singular word, Swahili still treats matamshi as a class 6 noun, so the grammar around it agrees with class 6:

• matamshi ... yalikuwa ...

So the important thing is not whether English thinks it is singular or plural, but which noun class it belongs to in Swahili.

It literally means of that word.

Breakdown:

• ya = of, with agreement matching matamshi
• neno = word
• hilo = that (agreeing with neno)

So:

• matamshi ya neno hilo = the pronunciation of that word

In both places, ya is the connective meaning of, but it agrees with the noun that comes before it.

• matamshi is class 6, and class 6 uses ya
• lafudhi is class 9, and class 9 also uses ya

So the form happens to be the same in both phrases, even though the nouns belong to different classes.

That is why you get:

• matamshi ya neno hilo = pronunciation of that word
• lafudhi ya mgeni = accent of the foreigner / foreigner’s accent

They are related, but not the same.

• matamshi = pronunciation
  • usually how a particular word or sound is said
• lafudhi = accent
  • the general way a person or group speaks

So in this sentence:

• matamshi ya neno hilo talks about how one specific word was pronounced
• lafudhi ya mgeni talks about the foreigner’s overall accent

This is because Swahili verbs must agree with the subject’s noun class.

• matamshi is class 6, so the verb uses ya-
  • yalikuwa
• lafudhi is class 9, so the verb uses i-
  • ilikuwa

So both forms mean was / were, but the beginning changes to match the noun:

• matamshi yalikuwa rahisi
• lafudhi ilikuwa tofauti

They are past tense forms of kuwa, meaning to be.

You can think of them like this:

• ya-li-kuwa
• i-li-kuwa

Where:

• ya- / i- = subject agreement
• -li- = past tense marker
• -kuwa = be

So:

• yalikuwa = they were / it was with class 6 agreement
• ilikuwa = it was with class 9 agreement

Not every descriptive word in Swahili behaves like a fully agreeing adjective. Words such as rahisi and tofauti are often used in a fixed form, especially in predicate sentences like this one.

So you say:

• matamshi yalikuwa rahisi
• lafudhi ilikuwa tofauti

rather than changing rahisi or tofauti to match the noun class.

This is normal Swahili usage.

Kidogo means a little, slightly, or somewhat here.

So:

• tofauti kidogo = slightly different / a little different

It softens the statement. Without kidogo, the sentence would say the accent was simply different. With kidogo, it says the difference was small.

Mgeni can mean several things depending on context:

• guest
• visitor
• stranger
• newcomer
• foreigner

In this sentence, because it is talking about accent, the most natural meaning is foreigner or non-native speaker.

So:

• lafudhi ya mgeni = the foreigner’s accent

Both are demonstratives for the noun neno, but they mean different things.

• hili = this
• hilo = that

So:

• neno hili = this word
• neno hilo = that word

In your sentence, hilo shows that the speaker is referring to a word already mentioned or understood in the conversation: that word.