Learn about time-specific greetings in Swahili
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Brandon: Hello everyone, and welcome back to SwahiliPod101.com. This is Absolute Beginner, season 1, lesson 2 - Greeting People in Swahili, No Matter the Time of Day! My name is Brandon. |
| Medina: And I am Medina. |
| Brandon: In this lesson, you will learn how to say hello in Swahili according to the time of day. This lesson focuses on greetings that are time-specific. Medina, what can we expect in the conversation? |
| Medina: The conversation takes place between three sets of people who are exchanging greetings. |
| Brandon: In the morning, over lunch and in the evening. |
| Medina: The speakers are acquaintances, so they will be using formal language. |
| Brandon: But the vocabulary and phrases can be used in casual settings so the conversation is relevant for learners wanting to speak both formally and informally |
| Medina: That’s right. Okay, Now let’s listen to the conversation. |
Lesson conversation |
|---|
| (in the morning) |
| Ali: Habari ya asubuhi? |
| Rehema: Mzuri sana. |
| (in the afternoon) |
| Mustafa: Habari ya adhuhuri? |
| Maina: Mzuri sana. |
| (in the evening) |
| Otieno: Habari ya jioni? |
| Wanjala: Mzuri sana. |
| Brandon: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| (in the morning) |
| Ali: Habari ya asubuhi? |
| Rehema: Mzuri sana. |
| (in the afternoon) |
| Mustafa: Habari ya adhuhuri? |
| Maina: Mzuri sana. |
| (in the evening) |
| Otieno: Habari ya jioni? |
| Wanjala: Mzuri sana. |
| Brandon: Now let’s hear it with the English translation. |
| (in the morning) |
| Ali: Habari ya asubuhi? |
| Brandon: Good morning? |
| Rehema: Mzuri sana. |
| Brandon: Good morning to you. |
| (in the afternoon) |
| Mustafa: Habari ya adhuhuri? |
| Brandon: Good afternoon? |
| Maina: Mzuri sana. |
| Brandon: Good afternoon to you. |
| (in the evening) |
| Otieno: Habari ya jioni? |
| Brandon: Good evening? |
| Wanjala: Mzuri sana. |
| Brandon: Good evening to you. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Medina: Kenyans sometimes use time-specific greetings with people they know and even with strangers they meet who look friendly. |
| Brandon: Yes, the time of the day and gender reference are both added at the end of the phrase. Do we have an example? |
| Medina: Yes we do. First you say, Habari ya asubuhi. |
| Brandon: meaning “Good morning” |
| Medina: Then Kenyan people will add a word like Dada meaning “sister”, ndugu meaning “brother”, mama meaning “mom”, or baba meaning “dad” after saying Habari ya asubuhi. |
| Brandon: Okay. So that means that if you want to say “Good morning, brother” it will be... |
| Medina: Habari ya asubuhi ndugu? And there’s one more thing. The words babu or nyanya can be used to address the elderly to show respect. |
| Brandon: The two words mean “grandfather” and “grandmother” respectively in Swahili. |
| Medina: So according to Kenyan culture, you can comfortably say Habari ya jioni babu when you meet an elderly man and want to show him your respect. |
| Brandon: Keep those tips in mind, listeners! Now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Vocabulary and Phrases (running time 2: 30, preparation time 10 min.) |
| Brandon: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| The first word we shall see is: |
| Medina: Habari [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: How is... How are... |
| Medina: Habari [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: Habari [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Medina: asubuhi [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: morning |
| Medina: asubuhi [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: asubuhi [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Medina: adhuhuri [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: lunch hour |
| Medina: adhuhuri [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: adhuhuri [natural native speed] |
| And Last: |
| Medina: jioni [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: evening |
| Medina: jioni [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: jioni [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Brandon: Let’s take a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. What’s the first word, Medina? |
| Medina: Asubuhi It is the Swahili word for “morning”. |
| Brandon: When you greet people in the morning and you want to be specific, you can use this word. |
| Medina: That’s right. “Good morning” in Swahili is.. Habari ya asubuhi. |
| Brandon: Ok, so how do you reply to this greeting? |
| Medina: You can say Mzuri sana. Mzuri sana is the common response to the three time-specific greetings. Mzuri means “I’m fine” and Sana means “very.” |
| Brandon: And what’s the next word? |
| Medina: We have adhuhuri. |
| Brandon: It means “lunch hour” or “afternoon”. You can use this word to greet someone in the afternoon, right? |
| Medina: That’s right. As we heard in the dialogue, you can say Habari ya adhuhuri? |
| Brandon: “Good afternoon.” And you can answer the same way as you did with “Good morning”, right? |
| Medina: That’s right. You can say Mzuri sana. |
| Brandon: Ok, and what’s next? |
| Medina: Next up is jioni, which means “evening.” So “Good evening” in Swahili is Habari ya jioni? |
| Brandon: Alright be sure to remember these three greetings listeners. Now onto the grammar. |
Lesson focus |
| Medina: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to greet someone depending on the time of day in Swahili. |
| Brandon: We already covered three greetings earlier in this lesson. Let’s go over them one by one. How do you greet someone in the morning? |
| Medina: You can say.. Habari ya asubuhi? |
| Brandon: And how do you answer the greeting? |
| Medina: Mzuri sana. You can use this answer for all these greetings. |
| Brandon: Okay. And how do you say “Good afternoon.”? |
| Medina: Habari ya adhuhuri? |
| Brandon: Can you give us another sentence using this word? |
| Medina: Sure. Adhuhuri ya leo kuna baridi. This means it is cold this afternoon. |
| Brandon And what about evening? |
| Medina: You can say.. Habari ya jioni. Basically, you say Habari ya then the noun for a specific time. |
| Brandon: Okay. Now how about “Good night?” How do you say that? |
| Medina: You can say usiku mwema. Usiku means “night” and mwema means “good”. |
| Brandon: So literally it means “Good night.” Can you use this phrase with anyone? |
| Medina: Yes, you can use this with anyone, no matter their age or social status. |
| Brandon: Okay. Well listeners, that should cover greetings for meeting people in Kenya! |
| Medina: But also note that we have other expressions to use for greeting someone. For example, Jambo, hujambo, shikamoo. |
| Brandon: These are not time-specific, but you’ll hear them a lot. Could you say them again? |
| Medina: Sure. Jambo / hujambo / shikamoo. These all mean “Hello.” When you hear these greetings which are not time-specific, you can answer as follows: jambo/sijambo/marahaba respectivly. These words resemble the English word “hello.” |
Outro |
| Brandon: That is all we have for this lesson. |
| Medina: Remember to check the lesson notes for more information. |
| Brandon: Thanks for listening, and we’ll see you next time. Bye! |
| Medina: Mpaka wakati mwingine, Kwaheri ya kuonana! |
| MARKETING PIECE |
| Medina: Listeners, can you understand Swahili TV shows, movies or songs? |
| Brandon: How about friends and loved ones’ conversations in Swahili? |
| Medina: If you want to know what’s going on, we have a tool to help. |
| Brandon: Line-by-line audio. |
| Medina: Listen to the lesson conversations Line-By-Line, and learn to understand natural Swahili fast! |
| Brandon: It’s simple really. |
| Medina: With a click of a button, listen to each line of the conversation. |
| Brandon: Listen again and again, and tune your ear to natural Swahili. |
| Medina: Rapidly understand natural Swahili with this powerful tool. |
| Brandon: Find this feature on the lesson page in the Lesson Materials section at SwahiliPod101.com. |
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