22 Comments
Asubuhi makes me think of the Japanese word asa (morning).
... well, actually, it made me think more of Asahi Shimbun (the "Morning Sun Newspaper", a popular newspaper in Japan)
That is very interesting. The word actually comes from Arabic "as-subh", meaning "the morning". It's cool how words are similar through languages.
1921
Arabic and Japanese are completely unrelated to each other. Outside of direct borrowings, any similarities are entirely coincidental.
- 1921
I was responding to the part where you said "It's cool how words are similar through languages." It sounded like you were making a more sweeping generalization.
Have a good morning, brother = asubhui njema kaka Have a good afternoon, sister = mchana mwema dada
The prefixes 'nj' and 'mw' - do they change because of the gender (brother vs sister), or the difference between morning and afternoon?
They change because of the difference between morning and afternoon. In Swahili, each noun belongs to a different noun class and the noun class it belongs to decides the prefix of the adjective describing it. The words "asubuhi" and "mchana" belong to different noun classes and thus, the adjectives take different prefixes.
Thank you very much for your reply. :) Fascinating that afternoon and morning are not in the same noun class despite both being 'times' of the day!
- 103
Fascinating, yes; however, not usual at all. You are studying Spanish, for example. Look at the example below, where the gender changed despite both being times of the day.
buenos días -- good morning buenas noches -- good evening
Interesting note. The reason might be because "asubuhi" is a borrowed word from Arabic
In East African culture, you would use "habari za asubuhi" much more frequently than "asubuhi njema," especially as a greeting. Perhaps you see someone on the street in the morning, the first thing you would say to them is "habari za asubuhi." "Asubuhi njema" would be used more frequently when leaving a conversation: "Bye. Have a good morning!" I have never heard someone start a conversation or greeting with "asubuhi njema."
I think, "Asubuhi njema" is more of a greeting, whereas "Habari za asubuhi" is a question. It can also mean good morning, but you simultaneously ask how that person's morning has been so far as well. I think, I'm not sure. I'm new to this :)
Asubuhi njema =Have a good morning same as siku njema(Have a good day) Habari za asubuhi?=Good morning?
