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Swahili for Beginners

High time to catch up with this and that...

<table class="ui celled table">
 <thead>
 <tr>
 <th></th>
 <th>M/Wa - sg</th>
 <th>M/Wa - pl</th>
 <th>NN - sg</th>
 <th>N/N - pl</th>
 </tr>
 </thead>
 <tbody>
 <tr>
 <th>this - these</th>
 <td>huyu</td>
 <td>hawa</td>
 <td>hii</td>
 <td>hizi</td>
 
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <th>that - those</th>
 <td>yule </td>
 <td>wale</td>
 <td>ile</td>
 <td>zile</td>
 
 </tr>
 </tbody>
</table>

 Still not sure how to build these? Let's add some colours...

<img src="https://elonstorage.blob.core.windows.net/file/2010611.jpg" alt="Grammar 1" />

 We have learned those two singular forms in the M/Wa class.They share a common syllable: yu. We could say that this 'yu' is the M/Wa singular part, while 'hu' stands for 'this' and 'le' stands for that.


 As I had mentionned before - but this is a rule completely made up by me :D - hu / this is close by so it stands before the Noun class part (here: yu); le / that is far off, so it stands after the Noun class part (here: yu)

<img src="https://elonstorage.blob.core.windows.net/file/2010616.jpg" alt="Grammar 2" />

 Now let's make the plural. What changes is the Noun Class part: M/Wa singular (yu-) turns into M/Wa plural (wa-)

<img src="https://elonstorage.blob.core.windows.net/file/2010625.jpg" alt="Grammar 3" />

 The this (hu-)/ that (-le) parts need to be added again

<img src="https://elonstorage.blob.core.windows.net/file/2010626.jpg" alt="Grammar 4" />

 This gives us the following forms:

<img src="https://elonstorage.blob.core.windows.net/file/2010627.jpg" alt="Grammar 5" />

 'Wale' (those) is already correct. But the first form needs a little vowel adaptation: The syllable 'hu' adapts to the vowel of the second syllable. In our case the second syllable is 'wA' now. So 'hu' changes accordingly into 'hA'.

<img src="https://elonstorage.blob.core.windows.net/file/2010628.jpg" alt="Grammar 6" />

 So this is our end product:


 hawa (these) - wale (those) 


 Now let us convert this to N/N !


 Our converting rule is:

<img src="https://elonstorage.blob.core.windows.net/file/2010629.jpg" alt="Grammar7" />


 In other words: hu-yu turns into: hu-i and yu-le becomes i-le. But we need to adapt the 'hu' vowel to match the 'i' in the second syllable:

<img src="https://elonstorage.blob.core.windows.net/file/2011263.jpg" alt="Grammar 12" />

 For the plural we change again the Noun class part into its plural form (i becomes zi)

<img src="https://elonstorage.blob.core.windows.net/file/2011264.jpg" alt="Grammar 13" />


 We now add as before the this (hi) / that (le) particles:


 and we get 'zile' (those) which is correct and 'hizi' which has already undergone the vowel adaptation in the previous step.




 So we have our end product:


 hizi (these) - zile (those)


 Everything clear now? Or did I manage to confuse you completely now?


 You can of course simply memorize those forms. But let me warn you, you will end up with a lot of forms to memorize. (There are many more to come...) You might thus end up with a soup... and I personally like to know what's going on in my soup :D


 Anyway, let's have some examples:

 
 nguruwe huyu - this pig
 
 
 ng'ombe yule - that cow
 
 
 kuku wale - those chicken
 
 
 mbuzi hawa - these goats
 
 
 ndizi hii - this banana
 
 
 
 nazi hizi - these coconuts
 
 
 siagi ile - that butter
 
 
 chupa zile - those bottles
 

 Now before I let you go, why don't we have some more animals. Remember the animal rule? 


 
 Animals can be found in various classes. Most of them are in the N/N class. However this affects only the formation of their plural noun form. (in N/N: plural = singular) For everything else animals behave as M/Wa class nouns)
 

<table class="ui celled definition table">
 <tbody>
 <tr>
 <td>chui</td>
 <td>leopard</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>kondoo</td>
 <td>sheep</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>punda</td>
 <td>donkey</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>farasi</td>
 <td>horse</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>paa</td>
 <td>gazelle / deer</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>nyati</td>
 <td>buffalo</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>punda</td>
 <td>donkey</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>punda milia</td>
 <td>zebra (lit. a striped donkey)</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>nyani</td>
 <td>baboon</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td></td>
 <td></td>
 </tr>
 
 </tbody>
</table>
<img src="https://elonstorage.blob.core.windows.net/file/2010738.png" alt="baboon" />

 Nyani


 And let's end this lesson with me presenting you a most adorable little fellow: a hyrax.


 Of course you all know what a hyrax is. I for one didn't until yesterday. But now I even can tell you his Swahili name: Pimbi


 And here he is:

<img src="https://elonstorage.blob.core.windows.net/file/2010751.png" alt="hyrax" />

Question	Answer
this (M/Wa)	huyu
this pig	nguruwe huyu
that (M/Wa)	yule
that cow	ng'ombe yule
this goat	mbuzi huyu
that goat	mbuzi yule
this chicken and that chicken	kuku huyu na kuku yule
these (M/Wa)	hawa
these goats	mbuzi hawa
these pigs	nguruwe hawa
these cows	ng'ombe hawa
those (M/Wa)	wale
those chickens	kuku wale
these chickens and those chickens	kuku hawa na kuku wale
this (N/N)	hii
this banana	ndizi hii
this pig and this banana	nguruwe huyu na ndizi hii
that (N/N)	ile
that butter	siagi ile
that cow and that butter	ng'ombe yule na siagi ile
this coconut and that coconut	nazi hii na nazi ile
these (N/N)	hizi
these bottles	chupa hizi
these coconuts	nazi hizi
these goats and these coconuts	mbuzi hawa na nazi hizi
those (N/N)	zile
those coconuts	nazi zile
these bottles and those bottles	chupa hizi na chupa zile
that banana and those bananas	ndizi ile na ndizi zile
this bottle and these bottles	chupa hii na chupa hizi
leopard	chui
Those leopards are big.	Chui wale ni wakubwa.
sheep	kondoo
This sheep is so nice.	Kondoo huyu ni mzuri sana.
donkey	punda
I like that donkey.	Ninapenda punda yule.
horse	farasi
That horse is bigger than the donkey.	Farasi yule ni mkubwa zaidi kuliko punda.
zebra	punda milia
Is this zebra nicer than the donkey?	Je punda milia huyu ni mzuri zaidi kuliko punda?
gazelle / deer	paa
gentle	mpole
This little gazelle is very gentle.	Paa mdogo huyu ni mpole sana.
buffalo	nyati
Those buffalos are very fierce.	Nyati wale ni wakali sana.
baboon	nyani
A baboon is not a buffalo.	Nyani si nyati.
The baboon eats a banana.	Nyani anakula ndizi.
hyrax*	pimbi * You don't know what I am ? Look at the lecture file and you ll see my photo. I am sooooo cute.
I like the hyrax a lot.	Ninapenda pimbi sana.