|
Lesson 16. Alfari haalo bare |
|
Content
-
Intro
- Vocabulary
- Practical idiomatic winks
-
Exercises
|
|
16.A. Intro
Alfari haalo bare
Alfari nda nga windo almayaalo kulu no ga
ziibi. I bankaarey ga ziibi, i tooru-tooru
mo. Ganda laabo ra no i go no fa goro, koyne
mo ce-koonu no i go ga dira. Alwaati kulu,
farga nda jante ra no i go.
Tuuri kambe na Alfari ca maray, biyo fumbu
ga te jombo. Ifo no go ga te? Alfari te jombo,
zama a si nyumay se. A sinda saafun, a sinda
safari fu. Alfari mana nga biyo safar, sohon a
te jombo.
Hanfo, lokotoro kwaara, Alfari ma kaη
ziibo no go ga a jantandi. Lokotora kwaara,
waasi boη no lokotora di Alfari almayaalo haalo.
A na Alfari ηwaaray a ma kaa ga hangan baano cawo
boη se. Sohon, Alfari faham nda mate kaη nga ga
te, a na ba saafun fareje boη day.
Sohon Alfari haalo bare, a go ga cabe nga
zankey se mata kaη i ga gaham saajaw nda. Wa
guna mata kaη Alfari almayaalo bare. Bankaarey
go nyumante, gahamey ga hanan, taamu go cey ga.
Waybora go ga farhan.
|
|
Source:
Gaham saajawyaη - Hygiène du corps (en langue zarma), SIL Niger
(2003).
After answering the
questions, you can read the
translation here.
Questions to practice your reading
skills
- Mate no Alfari na nga ca maray?
- Ifo no Alfari go ga cabe nga zankey?
Answers (to see answers, move
pointer over xxx)
xxx
xxx
|
|
16.B. Vocabulary
- Verbs
- Nouns
- Adverbs
Learn these words by heart.
Extra
Move the mouse to one of the underlined words and a sentence in which the word is used will appear. Click the left mouse button and a photo will appear in a popup.
When you move the pointer on the screen with your mouse over the photo the translation of the Zarma sentence will show.
|
|
16.B.1 Verbs
Zarma |
English |
Pronunciation |
bagu |
to break, to burst
(as a bag, bottle or dish does) |
bà / gu |
pati
bina ga pati |
to cut, to be torn
the heart breaks |
pà / ti
bîna ga pà ti |
ceri |
to snap, to break
(as a stick or bone does) |
ce / ri |
wongu |
to make war |
wôn / gu |
wongu |
to refuse, to resist, to reject; to hate |
won / gu |
danaw |
to be blind |
da / naw |
jiji |
to stutter, to stammer |
ji ji |
jijiri |
to tremble, to shiver, to shake, to hesitate |
ji ji / ri |
haŋ |
to drink; by extension: to undergo |
haŋ |
safar |
to treat medically, to apply medicine |
sà / far |
koto [toko1] |
to cough |
ko to / |
yeri [yeti2]
sanni yeriyan |
to vomit; by extension: to repeat
something said
repetition |
yê ri
sanni ye /
ri yan |
luttu |
to be stopped up, to be deaf |
lut / tu |
jante |
to be ill, to be sick |
jan / te |
batu
batu tee |
to wait, to wait for, to guard, to
lie in wait
to arrange an assembly |
ba / tu
|
|
Note:
1 Dendi use toko
2 infrequently yeti in stead of
yeri
Back |
|
16.B.2 Nouns
Zarma |
English |
Pronunciation |
wangu, wango |
war |
wan / gu |
batu,
bato |
feast, game; assembly |
ba tu , ba
to |
foy, foyo |
sauce, gravy to go on main dish |
fo y , foy o |
mo, moyo
|
eye |
mô , mwa |
danaw, danawo
|
blind person |
dan / aw |
simbarko, simbarkwa
|
lame person |
sim / ber / ko |
koma |
hump |
kô / ma |
komakoni |
hump backer, hunch back person |
ko ma kô ni / |
tafarnuwa [H] |
garlick |
ta far / nu wa |
sab'bize |
Borassus palm (tall palm from which
construction logs come from) [Borassus aethiopum] |
sab / bi ze |
kangaw, kangawa
|
Doum palm (smaller palm with
semi-edible nuts [Hyphaene
thebaica] |
kan / gaw |
tonko, tonkwa |
red hot pepper [Capsicum
annuum] |
ton ko |
yazi, yazo |
spicy seasonings in general,
some people even apply to
garlic, black pepper, anise,
cloves, other spices, all more
or less 'hot'; each spices also
has its individual name |
yâ / zi |
mafey |
meat and vegetable stew |
mâ / fey |
hinni, hinno |
pus |
hin / ni |
koto, kota |
cough |
ko to / |
mo-fo-koy |
one-eyed person |
mô fo koy |
beebe, beeba |
mute person
(generally deaf as well) |
bee be |
luttu |
deaf person
(not necessarily mute) |
lut tu |
jante, janta |
illness |
jan / te |
pointi [F] |
nail (tack, spike) |
poin / ti |
kusa |
hand forged nail, any larger nail |
ku / sâ |
|
Back |
|
16.B.3 Adverbs
Zarma |
English |
Pronunciation |
nda hiney |
at an early hour, earlier, soon
(sometimes) |
da hi ney / |
za doŋ |
since long ago, since formerly |
sa doŋ |
|
Back
|
|
16.C Practical idiomatic winks
The following topics are discussed:
-
use of
koyne
-
use of jina
-
use of
ba, ha and ga
-
use of hala
-
use of du
-
use of za watifo
-
use of te
-
use of yadin
|
|
16.C.1 koyne
To express 'not any more, not more, not again', you
join koyne to the negative present.
Examples
Zarma |
English |
A si te koyne. |
It won't do anymore. |
I si kaa ne koyne. |
They don't come here any more. |
Ma si kand' a koyne. |
Don't bring him again. |
Ay si ba r' a koyne. |
I don't like it any more. |
|
Back
|
|
16.C.2 jina
To express 'not yet', you should use the
negative 'past tense' particle (mana) before
and jina after the
verb.
Examples
Zarma |
English |
A mana kaa jina. |
He hasn't come as yet. |
Ni mana ci ay se jina. |
You haven't told me yet. |
Ay mana koy Agadez jina. |
I didn´t go to Agadez yet. |
A mana nga hincino neera
jina. |
He hasn't sold his goat yet. |
To express 'already', you should place
jina before a verb-link construction, that
is ga (ka) plus a verb.
Examples
Zarma |
English |
A jin ga kaa. |
He has already come. |
Ni jin ga di a. |
You have already seen it. |
A jin ga nga safaro haŋ. |
He has already drunk his medicine. |
|
Back
|
|
16.C.3 ba, gaa & ha
The next examples all are in
first person, they can of course have other
subjects.
ba and
gaa
If using ba
you can either express meddling
or indifference. Using gaa you can rebuke
someone who is interfering.
Examples
Zarma |
English |
Ay ba fo. |
It 's none of my business.
literally: my portion is other |
Ay ba si. |
I don't care. I don't give
a hoot.
literally: my portion is not |
Ay si ni gaa. |
I wasn't speaking to you.
(to someone interfering in a
conversation) |
ha
If someone isn't listening to what you are
saying you may reprove by using ha and
repetition of the things you just said and he or
she didn't hear or didn't paid attention to.
Examples
Zarma |
English |
Ay ne ha ...... ! |
I said .... !
(undertone of exasperation) |
Ay si ha, ay si hin. |
I 'm saying one thing or
another (not).
I'm not sticking my oars in.
It makes no odds to me.
Literally: I don't ask, I don't
offer. |
Ay man' a ha, ay
man' a hin. |
I didn't say a word to him.
That's none of his business. |
ba kayna
To express 'not at all' or 'not a bit' in
Zarma, you put ba kayna in a negative
sentence. This idiom may be used along as a
negative to some questions as well.
Examples
Zarma |
English |
I si ba nin, ba kayna. |
They don't like you at all. |
I mana kande
hayni, ba kayna. |
They didn't even bring a bit
of millet. |
Ay mana maa han
kan ni ne, ba kayna. |
I didn't hear what you said
at all. |
Ni gonda ham,
wala?
Ba kayna. |
Do you have meat?
Not at all. |
nda
Irikoy ba
If God wills, nd' Irikoy ba, is
an often used expression. It is usually
said after telling of some future
action, which one is planning.
Examples
Zarma |
English |
Suba a ga kand' a araŋ do, nda Irikoy ba. |
Tomorrow he will bring it to you, Lord willing. |
|
Back
|
|
16.C.4 hala
hal 'a ma bori
To show that an action is or
should be well done, you should add hal' a ma
bori or hal ma
bori after the main part of the sentence.
Examples
Zarma |
English |
I n' a hanse hal' a ma bori. |
They fixed it very well. |
Monsieur ga wani
moteuryan hal' a ma bori. |
Monsieur knows engines very
well. |
M' a haw hal ma
bori. |
Tie it up real good. |
hala manti moso
To express 'not a little, considerably,
quite a lot', you should add hala manti
mosso to the verb. Hala manti moso
literally means 'till not slowly', thus
Zarma say it in a negative, while in English
the idea is usually expressed in a positive
way.
Examples
Zarma |
English |
A maray hala manti moso |
He was badly hurt.
literally: He was not a little hurt. |
A gonda
nooru hala manti moso |
He has quite a lot of money. |
|
Back
|
|
16.C.5 du
The Zarma verb du means to get, to
obtain, to acquire. In certain word combinations
it may have another meaning.
ifo ga du
The combination ifo ga du means 'what is
the matter with' or 'what happened to'.
Examples
Zarma |
English |
Ifo ga du ni baba? |
What is the matter with your father? |
Ifo ga du Amadou? |
What happened to Amadou? |
du ga
Du with the verb
link construction (ga) means 'to
get to' or
'to have the opportunity to' or in the
same way we use 'can' or 'cannot' as
auxiliaries, to the next verb. Not from
the physical inability, but from the
circumstances.
Examples
Zarma |
English |
Ay mana du ga koy Niamey. |
I didn't get a chance to go to Niamey. |
Ni du ga lettre
hantum ni nya se, wala? |
Did you get to write a
letter to your mother? |
Ay du ga di
Zarmakoy. |
I got the change to see
Zarmakoy. |
Iri mana du g'
in dum. |
We haven't had the
opportunity to accompany you. |
|
Back
|
|
6.C.6 za watifo
To convey the idea of 'since a long time ago,
since I don't know when', put
za watifo either at the beginning or at
the end of the clause.
Examples
Zarma |
English |
Ay ga ni batu za watifo. |
I' ve been waiting for you
for a long time. |
Za watifo a ne nga ga kaa. |
A long time ago he said he would come. |
|
Back
|
|
16.C.7 te
The zarma verb te (to make, to do, to
happen) in
combination with a noun may means 'to be'.
For other combinations with the verb te,
see
Lesson 13.
Examples
Zarma noun |
Zarma |
English |
bonkano (lucky person) |
te bonkaney |
to be lucky |
saye (luck) |
te saye |
to be lucky |
bonfuto (unlucky
person) |
te bonfutey |
to be unlucky |
|
Back
|
|
16.C.8 yadin
yadin ga
The combination yadin ga expresses 'therefore',
'and so', 'consequently'.
Examples
Zarma |
English |
A ne nangu si no
moto ra. Yadin ga,ay si du ka koy. |
He said there is no place in
the car, and so I won't get to go. |
Wayna ga koron
gumo sohon. Yadin ga, iri kulu
ga maa fufule gumo. |
The sun is very hot now;
therefore we all feel the heat
very much. |
kulu nda yadin
The combination kulu nda yadin
means 'nevertheless', 'in spite of
that', and 'anyhow'. Usually this
combination precedes its clause.
Examples
Zarma |
English |
Iri kulu ga ti
zunubikoniyan, amma kulu nda
yadin Almasihu bu ir se. |
We are all sinners, but in
spite of that Christ died for
us. |
Nd' a ga ba, nd'
a si ba, kulu nda yadin a ma kaa. |
If he wants to or if he
doesn't, let him come anyhow. |
|
Back
|
|
|
Last updated:
11 maart 2012
|
|
|