Lesson 4. Han fo. Content Intro Vocabulary Greetings Grammar Exercises   4.A. Intro Han fo, a day, shows you the main parts of the day that a distinguished by the Zarma. In total there are nine periods. Move the mouse to the picture. Click the left mouse button and an animation will appear in a popup. Most of the initial greetings are related to the moment of the day. In the table below the this greetings are given for each moment of the day. In addition the name of some parts of the day also is related to the prayer. Part of the day and greetings Zarma alfazar adduha weete zaari alula wiciri hire almari & cini English dawn, sunrise early morning sunrise till 10:00 am mid-morning 10:00 till 11:30 am noon early afternoon 12:30 am till 4:30 pm late after noon to sunset after sunset till supper time after dark until bed time night Greeting * kani kani weete foy foy wiciri hire almare . Prayers ** alfazar at sunrise adduha 9:00 till 10:00 am weete 10:00 till 12:00 am . alula 2:30 till 3:00 pm alasar 4:30 till 5:00 pm . almari 8:30 till 9:00 pm . * greetings are formed with the verb given, e.g. "Ni weete baani?" (see also Lesson 5.C). The given verb usually means 'to pass the specific part of the day'. Exceptions are "kani" (to rest) that refers to the night before, and "foy" (to spent the daytime) that refers to the whole day. ** Formal current prayer times are different (see here) nr Arab name English time 1 Fajr morning between the very beginning of dawn and sunrise 2 Shurooq sunrise the time of sunrise, the time when the upper limb of the sun just starts to appear above the horizon. This marks the end time for Fajr (morning) prayer. 3 Dhuhr noon Between the declining of the sun and Asr (when the shadow of something is twice its own length) 4 Asr late afternoon Immediately after the last time limit of Dhuhr until (just before) the sunset 5 Maghrib evening Soon after the sunset until the disappearance of the twilight 6 Isha night After the disappearance of the twilight until midnight. & "almari kambu" means twilight   4.B. Vocabulary Verbs Nouns Adverbs, prepositions, etc. 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. 4.B.1 Verbs Zarma English Pronunciation hire to pass the early evening (used in greeting) hî/ re almare to pass the late evening (used in greeting) al/ mâ/ re goy to work goy kande # to bring (literally: to come with) kan/ de nwa to eat nwa faham # to understand, to comprehend (usually put "nda" before the object which follow the verb) fa/ ham haw to tie, to tie up hàw Back Note: # signifies verb that take the direct object afterwards, see Lesson 2.C.1 & 3.D.5 4.B.2 Nouns Zarma English Pronunciation habu, habo market, week hà/ bu hab'ize, hab'izo trader, small gift from market, items purchased in market hàb/ i ze ize, izo fruit, offspring, seed, child (in this sense) i/ ze goy, goyo work goy; go/ yo jiney belongings, baggage, things (collective) ji/ ney dari, daro bed, bed frame dâ/ ro boro, bora person, human, individual bo rô/ boro fo someone, somebody, a certain person bo/ ro/ fo tasa (F) dish, usually of enamelled tin ta/ sa feji, fejo sheep (singular) fê/ ji tabal, tablo (F) table tà/ bal kubay, kubayo darkness ku/ bey; ku/ be/ yo ŋwari, ŋwaro food, victuals ŋwâ/ ri safari, safaro medicine, magic, fetish charm sà fa/ ri susubey, susuba morning su/ su/ bey Back 4.B.3 Adverbs, prepositions, etc. Zarma English Pronunciation suba (adverb) tomorrow su/ bà suba susubey, suba susba (adverb) tomorrow morning bi subasi (adverb) day after tomorrow, or some other future day, not to far off su ba si alula (adverb) 2:30 or 3:00 p.m. 'prayer' time a lu/ la alasar, alasaro (adverb) 4:30 or 5:00 p.m. ''prayer time a là/ sar wiciri, wiciro (adverb) late afternoon to sunset, today only wi ci/ ri wiciri kambu, wiciri kambo (adverb) late afternoon to sunset, any day wi ci ri kam bu almari, almaro (adverb) 8:30 or 9:00 p.m. 'prayer' time, by extension evening after dark up to bedtime. al mâ/ ri kuna (preposition) inside, within (use sparingly) ku na ra (preposition) in ra/ do (preposition, sometimes noun) to, at, by means of, at the place of, "chez" (French) do cire (preposition) under, below, beneath ci/ re za (preposition or conjunction) since (precedes object rather than follows) za bori (adjective) good, good looking, pretty (always a predicate adj. m. never attribute of a noun) Note: also beautiful bo/ ri Back   4.C. Greeting (foyan) As was explained in Lessons 1 and 3 greetings are time and context dependent. In those lessons we have learned to greet an individual and a group and to say goodbye. In this lesson we will learn to greet a person at his work and to thank someone. We will also learn to ask pardon. In the greetings grammar is used beyond the grammar explained in this lesson. To one who is working: Greeting: Fonda goy (greeting to your work) Reply: Ngoyya (anyone's reply) Ngway (only man or boy can use this) To thank someone: Greeting: Fonda goy. Fofo. Reply: Ngoyya (anyone's reply) Ngway (only man or boy can use this) Note: We remind you that a greeting that begins with a "fo" or a "fonda will have an ""ngoyya" repley. To ask pardon, or to excuse oneself: Excuse: Alha han (mild) (Sorry. Excuse me.) Alha kuna (more serious) (I'm sorry.) Reply: Alhasi (That's all right) Note: The words in parentheses are not direct translation, but an idea equivalent. These are Arabic words and we don't know their direct translation, but this is the way Zarmas excuse themselves for an unintentional incivility.   4.D. Grammar Subjects in this lesson Possession Prepositions The verb "to be", past and present Sentence order (continued from past lessons) 4.D.1. Possessions The general rule for possession is to place the noun of the possessor before the thing possessed. Examples Zarma English Niamey habu Niamey market fu borey home folks Alzuma kwaara Alzuma's town Malam kwaara Teacher's compound There are times when this construction is more easily translated into English by the formula 'the ____ of ____'; for example "Niamey habu" can be understood as 'the market of Niamey', but the form is invariable in Zarma, as it is not in English. Possessions are used as possessives when placed before a noun, and agree in number with facts. The noun very frequently has the definite ending on it ("o" or "a" in singular, and "ey" in plural; see respectively Lesson 1.D.2 and 1.D.3). Examples Zarma English Zarma English ay bariyo my horse i bariyey & their horses iri fuwo our house (home) a goyo & his work araŋ tasey your dishes a haro & its water & Those short forms of the third person pronoun "a" and "i", are always used as possessives except as shown in the rule below for the long forms "nga" and "ngey". When two third person pronoun, referring to the same person or thing, the first one being the subject and the second having a reflexive application, occur in the same clause, the second one uses the longer form, whether it is possessive or otherwise. Examples Zarma English A na nga daro neera. He sold his (own) bed. I kande ngey bariyey. They brought their (own) horses. A ne nga ga koy fu. He said he (himself) will go home. This rule also applies when the subject is a noun Example Zarma English Zanka ne nga ga koy fu. The child said he (himself) will go home. But when the first of the third person pronouns referring to the same person or thing is used as possessive (not the subject), this rule does not apply. Examples Zarma English A wando ga koy a do. His wife will go to him. A izo n' a fo. Her child greeted her. Back 4.D.2. Prepositions The prepositions, for the most part, are placed after their objects (thus are actually 'postpositions'), except "za" and "nda" and a few other (that have a double use, as they are sometimes conjunctions); these latter precede their object. Examples Zarma English fuwo ra in the house tasa ra in the dish boro kuna in man A koy fu za bi. He went (has been gone) home since yesterday. Iri ma kani da gomni! May we rest with grace! Back 4.D.3. The verb 'to be' , past and present positive. This verb is expressed by two words, either "go no" or "si no". "go no" is the positive. "si no" is the negative (see Lesson 8.D.3). The tense is indicated by the context. These words, "go no", may be used either together or separately, in different kinds of "being", as follows: "go no" to show absolute existence; nearly equals French "il y a". Examples Zarma English Hunkuna kubay go no It is dark today. (Lit.: Darkness is today.) Bi ŋwari go no. Yesterday there was food. (Lit.: Yesterday food was)   "go" is used along between the subject and predicate nominative to indicate locations. Examples Zarma English Jiney go daro cire. The baggage is under the bed. Hanso go fuwo ra. The dog is in the house. Tasey go tablo boŋ. The dishes are on the table. Note: If one had "go no" in any of the above, then the meaning would be: 'there is (there are) ... ', but the subject could not be definite.   "no" with a predicate nominative, very like the French "c'est" and "ce sont". No subject is needed when it is understood to be the 3rd person pronoun. If the subject of this "no" verb is stated, there is a special auxiliary, to be learned later (Lesson 6.D.5). This verb comes at the end of its clause, and is the most widely used, especially being added for emphasis, where we would let the main verb carry it. Examples Zarma English Safari no ay kande. It is medicine I brought. Ni do no ay koy. It was to you I went. A tasa no. It is his dish. Zanka no. She's a child. / He's a child   "no" when the predicate nominative is a pronoun. Same construction is used as 3 above. The long forms of the third person pronouns are used with this verb. Examples Zarma English Ay no. It is I. Ni no It is you. Nga no, wala? Is it she? Oho, ngey no go fuwa ra. Yes, it is they (who) are in the house. Ay no g' a te. It is I (who) will do it.   Exception: When there is a predicate adjective (describing the subject) the particle "ga" is used to link the subject to its attribute, rather than a verb. For emphasis a "no" may be added after the adjective. Examples Zarma English Bi habo ga beri. Yesterday's market was big. Bi habo ga beri no. It's that yesterday's market was big. A ga bori. It (he, she) is pretty. A ga bori no. It's that she's pretty. Back 4.D.4. Sentence Order (continued from past lessons) Possession, with ownership in subject Example language possessor possession-article predicate Zarma Ay izo zuru fuwo ra. English My child ran into the house. Possession with ownership in subject, regular verb Example language subject auxiliary possessor possession-article verb Zarma Zankey na araŋ hanso kar English The children (intransitive) your dog hit Possession with ownership in subject, special verb Example language subject auxiliary verb possessor possession-article Zarma Iri (if needed) di ni fu borey English We (intransitive) saw your family Absolute existence Example language time element (may be) object "go no" Zarma - Hansi go no English# - A dog is # There is a dog. "Being" in location Example language subject "go" place preposition Zarma Ni hanso go daro ciri English# Your dog is the bed under # Your dog is under the bed "Being" with a predicate nominative Example language predicate nominative (never definite) "no" Zarma Hansi no English# A dog it is. # It is a dog Predicate adjective after "being" Example language subject "ga" adjective attribute of subject Zarma Ni hanso ga bori English Your dog is pretty Back   Last updated: 18 maart 2012 web site metrics website analytics