"Hawajambo?"
Translation:How are they?
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I know it's probably just because languages are weird, but since hawajambo is "how are they" shouldnt hamjambo be "how is he" and hajambo be "how are you"?
ni = I. Negative is si.
u = you. Negative is hu.
a = he/she. Negative is ha.
tu = us. Negative is hatu.
m = you (pl). Negative is ham.
wa = they. Negative is hawa.
If you want to know why the negative is used, it's because what we are saying is that we/they/whoever, have no issues.
...i'm aware. I'm asking why it is that way. Onthehype hit it on the dot though
Then I'm not sure I understand what you were asking. Why do you think hamjambo should be "how is he" and hajambo "how are you"? Why is it weird that they are not?
Coming to this as someone with no experience to the language, seeing hawajambo, i automatically made the connection to "wakenya" and "wachina", and selected hamjambo. I´m not saying its necessarily annoying or bad, just struck me as odd
Aah. Yeah, I get it now. I admit I already had some confused understanding of subject prefixes before I started (which got clarified when I reached the Present skill), so that never occurred to me. But now you've pointed it out I can definitely see where you're coming from.
Hamjambo is How are you?(you is plural), and Hajambo is actually How is he/she? I guess thats just how it works ¯\(ツ)/¯
The answer is also "hawajambo" but as a statement.
It's like someone asking "Are they good?" And then getting the response "They are good."
When speaking, intonation and context become important to distinguish between the question and the answer.
You are correct, it is the negative form. Or literally means something like, "Do they not have any issues?" But it is never actually translated like that.
