(See You) Tomorrow, Kirundi Names, Do You Speak Kirundi?, Two Proverbs, Welcome!

(See You) Tomorrow:

• In addition to "tuzosubira ejo" -- literally "see you tomorrow" -- one can say "naho ejo" ("nahejo") to communicate the same thing.
• In this case, of course, "ejo" means tomorrow, but "naho" lacks any clear, distinct grammatical meaning -- it sort of takes the place of "tuzosabira."
• Similar constructions exist for "see you next week/month/year", but in each case the "naho" placeholder takes a slightly different form in order to agree.

Kirundi Names:

• In Burundi, rather than surnames or family names, all children are given two names, unique to them: a Christian or Muslim first name, and a Kirundi name.  The Kirundi name is almost always meaningful, but not always in ways that are intuitive to European sensibilities.  
• I have met several people whose Kirundi name is some version of "hated person" or "distrusted by all" or "misfortune."  Apparently this is neither unusual nor thought to reflect upon the bearer of that name.  Some parents are just having a rough time, and so name their kids to reflect that.  Others might just like the sound of the name.
• Other names are more positive, reflecting hope and good fortune.  Quite a lot of Kirundi names refer to God -- "known by God," "loved by God," "trusts to God," etc.  These names often end in "imana", the word for "God," but may take many other forms.
• Burundians tend to be fecund, and as may be expected, they often resort to simply numbering their children after the first few (note that these names are gender neutral):
• The name of the first child often includes the word "mfura," for example "Pamfura" and "Mfuranzima"
• There are no special names for children 2 - 5
• Miburu -- 6th Child
• Nyandwi -- 7th Child
• Minani -- 8th Child
• Nyabena -- 9th Child
• Bucumi -- 10th Child (I have met several Bucumi's...)
• Misago -- 11th Child
• In the case of twins, the first born is usually named "Bukuru" and the second born is named "Botoyi." The next child born after twins is often named "Ciza," and the child after that is often named "Nkurikiye."

Do You Speak Kirundi?

• uravuga ikirundi? -- do you speak Kirundi? (from "kuvuga" -- "to speak")
• gike cāne -- little | very (very little)
• buke / bukebuke! -- slowly! (or "little by little")

Two Proverbs:

• bukebuke bushikana umusiba kumugezilittle by little, a worm will get to the water source.
  (the Kirundi equivalent of "slow and steady wins the race")
• bukebuke -- slowly / little by little
• bushikana -- to arrive by way of (from "gushika" -- "to arrive")
• umusiba -- a worm
• kumugezi -- water source

• uwitonze amira ibinoze
  a careful person swallows well-chewed food
  (a way of saying "easy does it")
• uwitonze -- a person who does things carefully and slowly (from "kwitonda" --  "to do things slowly and carefully")
• amira -- swallows
• ibinoze -- well-chewed food

Welcome!

• kaze! -- welcome!

More on Good Morning, Sneezing, What Brings You Here?, I Have No Money, See You Another Day

More on good morning:

• Two ways of saying "Good Morning" have been mentioned here before.  This is how they are different:
• "bwakeye?" comes from the verb "guca" meaning "to become morning."  It has a neutral pronoun, so literally means "did it become morning?"
• "mwaramutse?" comes from the verb "kuramuka" meaning "to wake up."

Sneezing:

• When someone sneezes, a Kirundi speaker will say:
• kira -- be healed (the imparative form of "gukira" meaning "to get well" or "to get rich")
• The polite reply is:
• twese -- all of us

What brings you here?

• ugenzwa namaki? -- what brings you here?
• "kugenzwa" comes from "kugenda" meaning "to go"
• "amaki" comes from "amakuru" meaning "news"

I have no money:

• nta amafaranga ndafise -- no money | I have
• ("ntamafaranga ndafise")
• faranga -- money ("amafaranga" is plural)
• nta -- negation ("nta'mafaranga" = "no money")
• ndafise -- I have

See you another day:

• tuzosabira uwundi musi -- see you later | another | day
• "uwundi" is one of many words meaning "other", whose usage depends upon the type of thing...

Well & Good

Well & Good:

• "neza" means "well" (an adverb: "intunbuzi")
• mwaramutse nesa -- to wake up well
• gukora neza -- to work well
• kudya neza -- to eat well
• (as an aside, this phrase is as plagued by ambiguity in Kirundi as it is in English.  In the US, a Kirundi speaker would probably say it to mean "to watch what you eat", whereas in Burundi, they would probably say it to mean "to eat richly.")
• "meza" means "good" (an adjective)
• ni meza -- it's good

To [verb] Together / Each Other

(THIS POST IS NOT YET FINISHED!)

To [verb] together / each other:

• kwandika -- to write
• kwandikana -- to write together (i.e. to co-author)
• kwandikira -- to write to
• kwandikiranira -- to write each other, to correspond
• kwambura -- to undress, but also to strip or rob
• kwamburana -- literally,"to undress each other," with the natural connotations. Also can mean "to rob each other," depending on context.
• kwambara -- to dress
• kwambarana -- literally "to dress together," but also means "to swap or share clothes"
• gutera -- to find
• guterana -- literally "to find together with," but also means "to inherit"
• guta -- to lose or throw away
• gutana -- literally "to lose each other," but also means "to go separate ways"
• kuzimira -- to get lost
• kuzimirana -- literally "to get lost together," but also means the same thing as "gutana" -- "to go separate ways" 
• kwimuka -- to move oneself
• kwimukana -- to move oneself together with
• guteka -- to cook
• gutekana -- this is apparently a strange thing to say, as it suggests "to cook each other".  Instead one might say "guteka hamwe" -- "to cook |  one/same place" (see notes on "hamwe" below!)
• kurya -- to eat
• kuryana -- "to eat each other"; to fight (usually infighting, between brothers or others who shouldn't be fighting) or to have a strong disagreement.  A different verb -- "gusangira" -- means "to eat together."
• gushaka -- to want
• gushakana -- not used in Kirundi, but in Kinyarwanda means "to be married to each other."
• kwicara -- to sit
• kwicarana -- to sit with / together
• gukunda -- to be cold
• gukundana -- to be cold with / together
• kugenda -- to travel or go
• kugendana -- to travel or go together
• guhaguruka -- to stand up
• guhagurukana -- to stand up with / together
• this word is in the national anthem of Burundi, refering to being knocked down and standing up, not with other people, but with greater strength...
• gukora -- to work
• gukorana -- to work with
• gukunda -- to love
• gukundana -- to love each other

•  Clear exceptions to this pattern:

• kwugara -- to close
• kwugarana -- to lock out, or lock in

•  In sentences:

•  tuzozanana na David -- we will come together | with | David.
• "tu" indicates "we"
• used even if speaking of oneself, as David is included in "we"
• nzozanana na David -- I will come together | with | David.
• "nz" indicates "I"
• "I will come" and "we will come" are equally valid and common expression in this case.
• John na Peter barakorana -- John | and | Peter | they work together
• gukorana -- to work with/together
• bara -- indicates "they" (third person plural)

Variants of "mwe":

• mwe -- a simplification of "mwebwe" meaning "you"
• guteka hamwe" -- to cook |  one (place); to cook together
• tuba hamwe -- to live | one (place); to live together
• kuvuga rumwe -- to speak | one (number/language); to agree
• kuvuga kimwe/cokimwe -- to speak | one (way); to speak the same way (accent, manner, etc.)
• "kimwe/cokimwe" are used to indicate similarity or resemblance in behavior 
• ikitabu kimwe -- book | one (number); one book
• inhebe imwe -- chair | one (number)
• inka imwe -- cow | one (number)
• turi kumwe -- we are | one (place); "we are together", also a way of saying goodbye.

Verbs in Present Tense, 1st & 2nd Person

These are the first four (and most complete) columns of a much larger table of verb conjugations, here listing the present tense, 1st and 2nd person forms.  As you can see, for many verbs, these conjugations follow a pattern, adding "ura" and "nda" on the imperative (infinitive minus the "ku" or "gu" prefix) for "I" and "you" respectively.  Many verbs also have a "reduced" form -- either "u" or "n" -- which requires an object, whereas the full form can stand alone.  For example, to announce "I love to play" you could say either "ndakunda gukina" or "nkunda gukina" but only by the extended form ("ndakunda" alone) could you make the rather ambiguous statement "I love."

A dash indicates that I have been explicitly told by my teacher that the reduced form does not exist for this verb, typically because the reduced form would be the same as the imperative.   A question mark indicates that I do not know or am not sure what this form would be and need to ask. In the case of "ndatora/?" for example, the reduced form might be "ntora," but I am wary of consonant combinations without the explicit guidance of a native speaker.  Likewise if there is a "w" towards the beginning of the infinitive I'm leaving that alone.  These things tend to confound my English monoglot instincts...

	infinitive	you (present)	I (pres.)
to have	kugira	urafise/ufise	ndafise/mfise
to come	kuza	uraza/uraje	ndaza/--
to go	kugenda	uragenda/ugenda	ndagenda/ngenda
to like	gukunda	urakunda/ukunda	ndakunda/nkunda
to be cold	gukanya	urakanye/ukanye	ndakanye/nkanye
to be hot	gushuha	urashushe/ushushe	ndashushe/nshushe
to want	gushaka	urashaka/ushaka	ndashaka/nshaka
to need	?	urakeneye/ukeneye	ndakeneye/nkeneye
to say	?	uravuze/uvuze	ndavuze/nvuze
to work for	?	urakorera/ukorera	ndakorera/nkorera
to work	gukora	urakora/ukora	ndakora/nkora
to eat	kurya	urarya/urya	ndarya/--
to cook	guteka	urateka/uteka	ndateka/nteka
to sit	kwicara	uricara/--	ndicara/--
to stand	guhaguruka	urahaguruka/?	ndahaguruka/mhaguruka(?)
to carry / take away / lead	gutwara	uratwara/utwara	ndatwara/ntwara
to be / reside	kuba	uraba/uba	ndaba/nba
to lose / throw away	guta	urata/uta	ndata/nta
to find / pick up	gutora	uratora/utora	ndatora/?
to get lost	kuzimira	urazimira/uzimira	ndazimira/?
to fill up / fill out	kwuzuza	uruzuza/--	nduzuza/--
to move other	kwimura	urimura/--	ndimura/--
to move self	kwimuka	urimuka/--	ndimuka/--
to dress	kwambara	urambara/?	ndambara
to undress	kuwambura	?	?
to close	kwugara	urugara/--	ndugara/--
to bring	kuzana	?	?
to write	kwandika	?	?
to play	gukina	?	?
to do	?	?	?
to carry	?	?	?

Misc., New Year Phrases, Asking About Work, Answers to Questions, Hot & Cold

Miscellaneous:

• hewe -- a general form of "you", used to attract attention
• kuberako -- because

New Year Phrases:

• umwaka mushasha -- year | new (new year)
• umwaka mwiza -- year | good (good year!)

Asking About Work:

• watanguye gukora ryari? -- you started | work | when?
• "wutanguye" comes from "utangura" -- "to start"
• This is a case where a slight difference in stress can change the meaning of the word.  I was only barely able to perceive the difference between the two pronunciations when my teacher demonstrated them, and he did not tell me how to notate the difference.  Luckily, the two different meanings are "you started in the recent past" and "you started in the distant past", so the question should be undestood in either case.
• watanguye gukora muri Giant Eagle ryari? -- you started | work | in Giant Eagle | when?
• watanguye gukorera Giant Eagle ryari? -- you started | work for | Giant Eagle | when?
• gukorera -- "work for" but can refer either to employer or compensation (e.g. peanuts)
• ukorera iki? -- you work for | what? (in terms of compensation)
• ukorera nde? -- you work for | who? (in terms of employer)

Answers to Questions:

• want/need what
• "iki" means both "this" and "what"
• in the sentence "iki ni igiki?", the first "iki" is merely one of many forms of "this" (a demonstrative pronoun), and the second is a special form of "what" -- "iki" is the more general form.
• thus, it would be:
• ukeneye iki? -- you need | what? 
• ushaka iki? -- you want | what?
• these are correct and proper ways to ask "what do you want/need?" meaning "how can I help you?"
• the correct way to respond would be, for example:
• nkeneye igitabu -- I need | a book
• nshaka igitabu -- I want | a book [correct!?]
• another useful phrase:
• uvuze iki? -- you said | what?
• can you verb
• urashobora kuza? -- can you | come?
• eego ndashobora kuza -- yes | I can | come
• oya sinshobora kuza -- no | I cannot | come

Hot & Cold:

• cold
• imbeho -- cold (noun)
• gukanya -- to be cold
• urakanye -- you are cold
• ndakanye -- I am cold
• harakanye -- it is cold
• amazi akanye -- water | cold (adj)
• hot
• ubushuhe -- heat (noun)
• gushuha -- to be hot
• urashushe -- you are hot
• ndashushe -- I am hot
• harashushe -- it is hot
• gushusha -- to make hot, to heat up

Questions, From the Internet

Here are a few questions that came up in my review that I need to ask my teacher about:

• how do I ask: "how much is it / the bill / your paycheck?" and how would someone respond?
• having learned how to ask "can you [verb]?" ("urashobora [verb]?"), how then would I answer "yes/no I can/not [verb]" ? [ANSWERED, see next post...]
• if "ukeneye nde?" means "you need | who?" and "iki ni igiki?" means "this | is | what?", then does "ukeneye igiki?" mean "you need | what?" and would this be an appropriate way to ask "what do you need?" [ANSWERED, see next post...]
• if so, would "ushaka igiki?" mean "you want | what?" [ANSWERED, see next post...]
• what is the most appropriate way to ask "what do you need?" or "how can I help you?" [ANSWERED, see next post...]

Here are a few useful phrases that I found on other websites about Kirundi that I also need to confirm with my teacher:

• ingo -- come!
• bangwe -- stop!
• amahera / amafranga -- money
• sindabizi -- I don't know
• ndibaza -- maybe
• cane -- a lot, very (as in "urakoze cane" -- "thank you very much")
• canke -- or
• kuki? -- why?
• kuko -- because
• ryari? -- when?
• vuba -- soon, recently 
• ndihuta -- I'm in a hurry
• ndarwaye -- I'm sick/ill
• wewe - you
• twebwe - we (how is this pronounced?)
• ico -- that

Sources: 

• http://burundi2007.blogspot.com/2008/06/kirundi-basic-phrases.html
• http://burundibound.blogspot.com/p/kirundi-survival-phrases.html