Asha anauliza ati nahau hii ina maana gani, huku Juma akiandika fasili yake polepole.

In Swahili, demonstratives usually come after the noun, not before it.

So:

• nahau hii = this idiom
• literally, it looks like idiom this

That is normal Swahili word order. English puts this first, but Swahili usually puts the equivalent after the noun.

Because nahau belongs to a noun class that takes the subject marker i-.

So in:

• nahau hii ina maana gani

the i- in ina agrees with nahau.

A very literal breakdown is:

• i-na = it has / it is with
• maana = meaning
• gani = what / which

So ina maana gani is literally something like it has what meaning?, which is how Swahili expresses what does it mean?

Here ati introduces reported speech or a reported question. It is a bit like:

• that
• saying
• like
• sometimes even a spoken-language what does ... mean, exactly?

In this sentence, ati helps introduce what Asha is asking:

• Asha anauliza ati nahau hii ina maana gani

This is roughly Asha asks what this idiom means.

In everyday Swahili, ati is common in speech and storytelling when introducing what someone said, asked, or thought.

Anauliza is the present tense form:

• a- = he/she
• -na- = present / ongoing
• uliza = ask

So anauliza means she is asking or she asks, depending on context.

It fits because the sentence describes an action happening at the same time as Juma’s writing. The whole sentence presents a scene in progress.

This is a very common Swahili pattern for asking about meaning.

Breakdown:

• ina = it has
• maana = meaning
• gani = what / which

So literally it is:

• it has what meaning?

Natural English would be:

• what does it mean?
• what is its meaning?

A learner often expects a direct word-for-word equivalent of English mean, but Swahili often uses this kuwa na maana or ina maana structure instead.

Here huku introduces a simultaneous action. It often means:

• while
• as
• meanwhile

So:

• huku Juma akiandika fasili yake polepole

means something like:

• while Juma is writing its definition slowly

It connects the second action to the first and shows both are happening at the same time.

Because after huku, Swahili commonly uses the -ki- form to show an action happening at the same time.

Breakdown:

• a- = he
• -ki- = while / when / in the course of
• andika = write

So akiandika means:

• while he writes
• while he is writing
• as he writes

If you said huku Juma anaandika, it would sound less natural in this structure. With huku, the -ki- form is the normal choice for this kind of dependent clause.

Fasili means definition or sometimes explanation.

So:

• fasili yake = its definition

Here yake refers to nahau hii, the idiom.

A useful thing to know is that yake can mean:

• his
• her
• its
• sometimes their

depending on context.

In this sentence, context tells us it means its, because Juma is writing the definition of the idiom.

Polepole is an adverb meaning:

• slowly
• gently
• little by little, depending on context

Here it modifies akiandika, so it tells us how Juma is writing:

• akiandika ... polepole = writing ... slowly

It is a very common Swahili word.

Nahau specifically refers to an idiom or idiomatic expression, not just any phrase.

So it is more specific than:

• neno = word
• sentensi = sentence
• kifungu cha maneno = phrase / expression

If a learner sees nahau, they should think of an expression whose meaning may not be fully obvious from the individual words.

Often, yes.

You could say:

• Asha anauliza nahau hii ina maana gani

and it would still make sense as Asha asks what this idiom means.

Including ati gives the sentence a more reported-speech or spoken feel, as if introducing the exact content of the question. It is especially common in conversation and narrative styles.

Yes. A fairly literal breakdown is:

• Asha = Asha
• anauliza = is asking
• ati = that / saying / like
• nahau hii = this idiom
• ina maana gani = has what meaning
• huku = while
• Juma = Juma
• akiandika = while he is writing
• fasili yake = its definition
• polepole = slowly

So the sentence is built as:

• Asha is asking ... what meaning this idiom has, while Juma is writing its definition slowly

That is not natural English, but it shows how the Swahili grammar is put together.