Mwalimu alisema “m” ni konsonanti, lakini “a” ni irabu.

Mwalimu means teacher. Its plural is walimu, meaning teachers.

This is part of a common Swahili noun pattern for people:

• mwalimu = teacher
• walimu = teachers

The mw- at the beginning is just how the singular form appears here.

Alisema can be broken down like this:

• a- = he/she
• -li- = past tense
• sema = say

So alisema literally means he/she said.

Swahili often puts the subject marker inside the verb, so you do not need a separate word for he or she.

Because Swahili usually includes that information inside the verb.

In alisema, the a- already means he/she. So the sentence does not need a separate pronoun.

This is very normal in Swahili:

• alisema = he/she said
• walisema = they said
• nilisema = I said

Here, ni means is.

It links one thing to another:

• m ni konsonanti = m is a consonant
• a ni irabu = a is a vowel

In sentences like this, ni is the standard way to say that something is something else.

Because the sentence is talking about the letters themselves, not using them as part of ordinary words.

So m and a are being mentioned as symbols/letters:

• m is being identified as a consonant
• a is being identified as a vowel

In English, we do the same thing when we say M is a consonant and A is a vowel.

Lakini means but.

It connects two contrasting ideas:

• m ni konsonanti
• a ni irabu

So lakini shows the contrast between the two: m is one type of letter, but a is another.

Its position here is very natural: it comes between the two clauses.

• konsonanti = consonant
• irabu = vowel

These are the normal grammar terms used in Swahili.

Konsonanti is clearly related to the English word consonant.
Irabu is the standard Swahili word for vowel.

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

So where English says:

• m is a consonant
• a is a vowel

Swahili simply says:

• m ni konsonanti
• a ni irabu

This is one of the basic differences between English and Swahili grammar.

Yes, it is very normal.

The pattern is:

• Mwalimu = subject
• alisema = verb
• then the content of what was said

Inside that content, the pattern is also straightforward:

• m ni konsonanti
• a ni irabu

So the overall structure is basically: The teacher said [X is Y, but Z is W].

Yes, sometimes Swahili uses kwamba, meaning something like that.

So you could also see: Mwalimu alisema kwamba m ni konsonanti, lakini a ni irabu.

That means essentially the same thing: The teacher said that m is a consonant, but a is a vowel.

Without kwamba, the sentence is still completely natural.

A simple pronunciation guide:

• mwalimu ≈ mwa-LEE-moo
• alisema ≈ a-lee-SEH-ma
• lakini ≈ la-KEE-nee
• konsonanti ≈ kon-so-NAN-tee
• irabu ≈ ee-RAH-boo

A few useful pronunciation points:

• Swahili vowels are usually very consistent:
  • a as in father
  • e as in bed or a pure eh
  • i as in machine
  • o as in a pure oh
  • u as in flute
• Most letters are pronounced clearly.
• Swahili spelling is generally much more regular than English spelling.

Because each clause needs its own is relationship:

• m ni konsonanti
• a ni irabu

Each part is a complete statement, so ni appears in both.
This is similar to English:

• m is a consonant
• a is a vowel

You would not normally leave the second ni out here.