- ukwezi guheze -- last month
- ukwezi -- month
- guheze -- last ("to finish")
- umwaka uheze -- last year
- umwaka -- year
- uheze -- last
- umwaka uza -- next year
- uza -- next/coming
- mu indwi iza ("mundwiza") -- in the next week
- mu -- in
- indwi -- week, the number 7
- iza -- coming/next
- mu indwi iheze ("mundwiheze") -- in the last/previous week
- iheze -- last/previous
- mu ukwezi kuza ("mukwezi kuza") -- in the coming month
- kuza -- coming (also the verb, "to come")
- There are several ways one might refer to October:
- cumi ukwezi -- ten month
- ukwezi kwa cumi -- (the) month of ten
- the word "month" is often left out, leaving only "kwa cumi"
- (this may also be said "ukwezi kw'icumi" but I'm not certain of the reason)
- turi mu kw'icumi -- we are | in | of-ten
- turi -- we are
- Similarly, one can refer to other months by number, eg:
- mu kwa mbere -- in (the month) of one -- January
- mu kwa kabiri -- in (the month) of two -- February
- mu kwa gatatu -- in (the month) of three -- March
- and so on with kane (4), gatanu (5), gatandatu (6), ndwi (7), munani (8), cenda (9), and cumi (10)
- [[The pattern breaks for November and December ???
- Amajambo says:
- November: kwa cumi na rimwe (or, kw'icumi na rimwe)
- December: kw'icumi na kabiri]]
- All of the months also have traditional Kirundi names:
- Nzero -- January
- Ruhuhuma -- February
- Ntaranhe -- March
- Ndamukiza -- April
- Rusama -- May
- Ruheshi -- June
- Mukakaro -- July
- Myandagro -- August
- ... (we ran out of time in this part of the lesson!)
Prepositions and Possessives:
- prepositions:
- imbere -- in front
- inyuma -- behind
- munsi -- under
- hejuru -- above
- ku -- on
- ku imeza ("kumeza") -- on the table
- " y' " is a possessive marker (shortened from "ya")
- some prepositions, but all (namely "musi" and "hejuru") require the possessive:
- munsi y'imeza -- under of the chair
- hejuru y'imeza -- above of the chair
- possessive markers, generally divided into these categories, but not always:
- ca -- for objects
- icayi cawe -- your tea
- ha -- for places
- ahantu hanje -- my place
- ahantu -- some place
- ha -- possessive marker
- nje -- me
- wa -- for people
- ya -- for miscellaneous things
- "ya" is often shortened to " y' "
No Word for Weekend:
- no word for weekend in Kirundi, instead say:
- akaruhuko -- time off (singular)
- uburuhuko -- time off (plural)
- both of these come from "kuruhuka" -- "to rest"
- c.f. "kuruha" -- "to tire"
- so to wish someone a good weekend, you could say:
- "akaruhuko keza" -- (singular)
- "uburuhuko bwiza" -- (plural)
- (both "keza" and "bwiza" mean good, but are modified according to number)
My Favorite Valediction:
- gira umugisha ("giramugisha") -- good luck
- gira -- have
- umugisha -- luck
- so literally "have luck", but is understood to mean "good luck"
Time Specific Goodbyes:
- turasubira kuwambere -- see you monday
- turasubira mukwese kwisa -- see you next month
No comments:
Post a Comment