Mtoto akianza kukohoa usiku, mama atampa sharubati ya kikohozi.

akianza comes from the verb kuanza (to begin / to start).

It breaks down as:

• a- = he/she (class 1 singular subject marker)
• -ki- = a marker often meaning if/when/while
• -anza = begin

So akianza means something like if/when he or she starts.

In this sentence, it links naturally to the next verb:

• akianza kukohoa = if/when the child starts coughing

It can cover all of those ideas depending on context.

In many sentences, -ki- gives a meaning like:

• if
• when
• whenever
• sometimes while/as

Here, akianza kukohoa usiku is most naturally understood as if/when the child starts coughing at night.

So the Swahili is a little broader than any one single English word. English has to choose one option, but Swahili -ki- often leaves that slightly open.

Because after kuanza (to begin/start), Swahili normally uses the infinitive form of the next verb.

So:

• kukohoa = to cough
• kuanza kukohoa = to begin to cough

This is similar to English start to cough.

Here the subject is already contained in akianza, so kukohoa does not need its own subject marker.

Because in Swahili, a full verb normally includes a subject marker even when the subject noun is also stated.

So:

• Mtoto akianza...
  The noun mtoto is there, but the verb still needs a- to agree with it.

• mama atampa...
  The noun mama is there, but the verb still needs a- as its subject marker.

Both mtoto and mama are singular human nouns, so they take the class 1 subject marker a-.

This is completely normal Swahili structure.

Yes:

• a- = he/she
• -ta- = future tense (will)
• -m- = him/her
• -pa = give

So atampa literally means he/she will give him/her.

In this sentence, because the subject is mama, it means:

• mama atampa = mother will give him/her

We know because of the object marker -m- inside atampa.

That -m- means him/her, and here it refers back to mtoto.

So the structure is:

• mtoto = the child
• mama atampa = mother will give him/her
• sharubati ya kikohozi = cough syrup

So the child is the person receiving the syrup.

Because kikohozi is a noun, while kukohoa is a verb.

• kikohozi = cough (the noun)
• kukohoa = to cough (the verb)

Swahili names this medicine with a noun phrase:

• sharubati ya kikohozi = literally syrup of cough
• natural English: cough syrup

The connector ya here means something like of / for, and it agrees with sharubati.

So sharubati ya kikohozi is the correct form because it uses the noun kikohozi, not the verb kukohoa.

usiku means night or at night here.

Swahili often uses time words without adding a preposition like English at or in.

So:

• usiku = at night / during the night

That is completely normal. Swahili does this with many time expressions.

Not in the verb agreement.

The markers:

• a- = he/she
• -m- = him/her

do not tell you whether the person is male or female.

So:

• mtoto could be a boy or a girl
• atampa could mean will give him or will give her

We know mama is female only because the word mama itself means mother/mom, not because of the verb form.

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

So:

• mtoto can mean a child or the child
• mama can mean mother, a mother, or the mother

The exact meaning depends on context.

That is why English translations have to choose, even though the Swahili sentence does not explicitly mark it.

Literally, mama just means mother / mom.

In this sentence, it will usually be understood as the child's mother, because that makes the most sense in context. But Swahili does not explicitly say his/her mother here.

If you wanted to make that explicit, you could say:

• mama yake = his/her mother

So the sentence as written leaves that relationship to context, just as Swahili often does.