Asking questions
Lesson 7 of 7≈ 10 min
The question word at the end
In shimaoré, the question word stays at the end of the sentence: Wawe uketsi havi?, literally « you live where? », « where do you live? ».
For a yes/no question, intonation is enough: Wawe ulagua shizungu?, « do you speak French? ». From the Nisusoma shimaore booklet (CASNAV, 2019, p. 20).
Question words
Nisusoma shimaore booklet, p. 20.
| Shikomori | English | Note |
|---|---|---|
| trini | what? | |
| mbani | who? | written m'bani in the source; na mbani « with whom? » |
| havi | where? | |
| lini | when? | |
| mgavi | how many? | written m'gavi in the source |
| manatrini | why? | |
| jeje | how? | also « hello » between peers |
Ready-made questions
From the Nisusoma shimaore booklet (CASNAV, 2019).
| Shikomori | English | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Wawe de mbani ? | Who are you? | de « it is » |
| Usufanya trini ? | What are you doing? | u-su-fanya |
| Utsaha trini ? | What do you want? | |
| U sendra havi ? | Where are you going? | |
| Usi kotza havi ? | Where does it hurt? | |
| Leo lini ? | What day is it today? | |
| Una wana gavi ? | How many children do you have? | u-na « you have » |
| Mutru urongoa jeje (…) shimaore ? | How do you say (…) in shimaoré? | the one to remember |
« Which? » agrees
In shiNdzuani, « which? » is built on -vi, agreeing with the noun class: muntru uvi? « which man? » (class 1), shintru shivi? « which object? » (class 7). From Ahmed-Chamanga (1992, pp. 19-26).
Practice
« Where do you live? » is said…
Wawe uketsi ___?
« What do you want? » is said…
Utsaha ___?
Mini-quiz
« Who? » is said…
___?
Module 4 complete — you can speak!
Greet, deny, point at, conjugate, ask — you have the tools for everyday exchanges.
Next: Module 3 brings together everything you've seen, this time through the morphological lens — prefixes, roots, noun classes. And after that, Modules 5 (dialect variation), 6 (legacy texts) and 7 (culture and oral literature).