Another Saying, Being Late, Apologizing

Another saying:

• yet another Kirundi version of "slow and steady wins the race":
  bukebuke nirwo rugendo -- little by little | is the | trip
• nirwo -- is the, compound of ni (as is often used to mean "it is") and rwo (which can mean "the" or "that")
• rugendo -- trip, from kugenda, "to go"

Being Late:

•  ndaza gucererwa -- I'm going to be late
• ndaza -- I'm going to [verb]
• gucererwa -- to be late
• be careful: the word "ndāza" (long a) by itself means "I'm going to come today")
• this phrase is present-progressive tense but suggests something about the future.
• ndacerewe -- I'm running late; I'm in a hurry (because I'm late)
• from gucererwa -- to be late
• this phrase uses present tense but suggest something about the future (I will be late)
• ndacerewe -- I am late

Apologizing:

• mbabarira -- I'm sorry
• ngirira ikigongwe -- have for me | forgiveness
• gira imbabazi -- have | mercy

Where is the Party, More Questions About Drinking

Where is the party?

• party iri hehe? -- the party | is | where?
• or, more traditionally: tuzinywera hehe? -- we drink | where?
• tuzinywera
• from "kunywe" -- "to drink"
• tu -- subject-pronoun for "us"
• zi -- object-pronoun for "drinks" (this same object-pronoun can be used for any inanimate object and animals)
• ra -- indicates that a specifier will follow, in this case "where"

More questions about drinking:

• the "ra" in "tunywera" indicates that some kind of specifier will follow, like where, what, how, in what quantity, for how much, etc.
• tunywera muki? -- we drink | in what? (what are we drinking out of?)
• mu -- in
• ki -- what (as in "iki")
• tunywera angahe? -- we drink (for) | how much? (how much will it cost for us to drink?)
• angahe -- how much or how many (a general word with wide application, whether talking about drinks, eggs, whatever)

Be careful asking about pregnancy...

Two words to be careful about:

• inda -- hair lice
• īnda -- belly

This is especially true because the commonest way to say that someone is pregnant is to say that they "have a belly"

• ufise/urafise īnda -- you have a belly (you are pregnant)
• (to say this to a man would be teasing him)
• ufise/urafise īnda? -- do you have a belly? (are you pregnant?)
• ndafise īnda -- I am pregnant

Any Questions?

Any questions?

• urafise ikibazo / ufise ikibazo? -- do you have | a question?
• "urafiikibazo" / "ufisikibazo"
• from "kubaza" -- "to ask"
• ikibazo -- a question
• ibibazo -- questions
• hari ikibazo? -- is there | a question?
• "harikibazo"

Another Greeting, What a Baby was Doing, Negation, Races Illustrating Pluralization

Another Greeting:

• As an alternative to "bite?" -- "how (are you doing)?" one can ask:
  urakomeye? -- you (are) strong?
• ura -- present tense, second person
• komeye --  from "gukomera," "to be strong"
• Instead of "ni meza" one replies:
  ego, ndakomeye -- yes, I (am) strong.
• nda -- present tense, first person 

What a baby was doing:

• gutwanga -- to laugh or smile 

Nagation:

• Should you not be feeling strong if someone asks you "urakomeye?" you could reply 
• oya, ndarwaye -- no, I am sick 
• oya, sinkomeye -- no, I am not strong  
• si -- negation 
• n -- self; first person present tense
•  This same pattern applies for many verbs:
• nzoza -- I will come  |  sinzoza -- I will not come
• ndakunda amata -- I like milk  |  sinkunda amata -- I do not like milk
• nivyo canhe sivyo? -- true or false?
• The "vyo" is a challenging combination to my English ear and tongue.  My teacher uses "sivyo" in conversation frequently, to mean "isn't that so?" or "right?"  It sounds to me like "siv-zyu", and "nivyo" sounds like "niv-yu."

Races illustrating pluralization:

• Burundians in America might use the following words to talk about people of different races:
• umuzumbu/abazumbu -- a white person / white people
• umwirabure/abirabure -- a black African person / black African people
• umublack / abablack -- an African American person / African American People
• this is simply the incorporation of American English "black" into Kirundi grammar, and may be pronounced, according to speaker's English fluency, as "umu/ababarake."

Kinyarwanda

Kinyarwanda:

• The language of Burundi is Kirundi, and the language of Rwanda is Kinyarwanda.  They are mutually intelligible, as similar to each other as American and British English.
• According to my teacher, however, Kinyarwanda sounds more expressive and romantic, is better in song, and contagious among Kirundi speakers.  He told me that a Rwandan refugee in Burundi will, even after 50 years, retain his native language, whereas a Burundian that visits Rwanda for a day will come back speaking Kinyarwanda.  In my own experience thus far, it certainly seems true that Kirundi speakers incorporate a great deal of the other language into their own.
•  Kinyarwana, to my English ear, is pronounced "kin-yar-gwanda."