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- "Hanywi"
"Hanywi"
Translation:He does not drink
13 Comments
In the affirmative sentence, it's "Anakunywa', so why is the -ku gone here?
447
If you read the tips and notes you will find that in the negative, monosyllabic verbs drop their infinitive "ku"
Note 2: - Monosyllabic verbs like kula, kunywa, and kuja, drop the infinitive ‘ku’ in the negative present. https://www.duolingo.com/skill/sw/Present-Tense-1
Does this also imply he does not drink alcohol in Swahili as it would in English?
- 447
Just to clarify. In Swahili, and all the Bantu languages that I checked, there is no distinction between "he" and "she" . The same word or prefix is used to denote either a he or she. In the example of Swahili, the full sentence would be "Yeye hanywi" . Here "yeye" means either he or she. Also, in the word "hanywi", the "ha-" prefix signifies the negation for a verb that applies to either a he or she such that even without the "yeye" part, it is clear that the sentence refers to a he or she. I hope that helps.
If you know IPA, it's [ɲwi]. The "ny" is one sound, like an "n" but further back with the front of your tongue down and the back arched against your palate, as if you're saying "n" and "y" at the same time. It's the same as ñ in Spanish, so this word is kind of like jañui
The ‘ny’ is a single sound, like ‘ñ’ in Spanish. If nothing else, remember that ‘y’ is always a consonant.
As one syllable, a bit like nwi where i is pronounced as ea in tea (non native, neither in Swahili nor English!)
