Luganda linguistics lesson

OK so I've only met with Francis a handful of times in 3 months (5 times exactly), partially due to our busy schedules, partially due to the protests, but he's a natural Luganda tutor, his enunciation is beautiful (people either speak too fast or mumble, and sometimes both), his spelling is impeccable (people spell stuff in Luganda all sorts of ways), and we meet at the Makerere University Guild Canteen cafe, which has the best, puffiest, sweet-but-not-too-sweet chindazi (Ugandan donut) and African tea. African tea is just milk tea, even though Ugandans mostly drink their tea black.

The Makerere University Guild Canteen cafe




The Alphabet

The letters q and x don't exist, and there is an extra letter that looks like a script j and sounds like a soft "nj"

The letters h, i, p, r, and u don't start words but are used in words

The word for home = waka (tsamina mina eh eh, waka waka eh eh, tsamina mina zangalewa, this time for Africa...)

Ugandans know the word for cooking oil = butto, but the word for butter = siyagi, is never used and nobody knows it

Family

A mother's sisters are all called mother = maama, a father's brothers are all called father = taata, and an older brother or sister = baaba (that means father in Mandarin!)

If a female is speaking, there is no way to refer to a wife's family (because there is no way for a female to refer to a wife), and if a male is speaking, there is no way to refer to a husband's family (because there is no way for a male to refer to a husband)

Time

The word for mid-morning = kalasa mayanzi, which literally means "grasshopper's playing," and late afternoon = kawoza masiga, which literally means "cool down"

There is a difference between times at night, evening to midnight = ttumbi, and midnight to 4am = kinywa mbogo

Size Matters

The verbs kufirwa and kusuula both mean to lose something, but the first refers to losing something valuable, and the second refers to losing something regular

The verbs kutema and kusala both mean to cut something, but the first refers to using a large machete, and the second refers to using a small knife

Verbs, Nouns, Etc

The verb prefix ku is used to indicate the "to" form of a verb: kulya = to eat, kunywa, = to drink, kumanya = to know, kugamba = to say

The word ku means some: ku mmere = some food, ku mazzi = some water

The verbs to feel (physically/emotionally), to hear, to smell, and to taste something are all the same = kuwulira, but the verb to see/to meet someone is different = kulaba

The verb to choose/vote = londa, and the verb to wait = linda

The word for a story or a conversation = nboozi

There are 3 ways to say and = era, ate, and kyokka (I use ate, as in "ate gwe?/and you?" in response to someone asking "oli otya?/how are you?")

There isn't actually a way to say "I'm busy" in Luganda

Possession

Francis had to stop the lesson entirely because possession (mine, yours, his/hers, ours, yours, theirs) is so nuanced that he sat for a solid 10 mins thinking about how to explain it to me, and came up with nothing. We have yet to revisit this topic.