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    Swahili: Unit 7 - Counting and Swahili Time Unit Objectives: by The End of This Unit, You Should Be Able To

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    MartyneJohn
    This document provides information about counting, numbers, and telling time in Swahili. It begins by listing basic Swahili numbers from 1 to 1 billion. It then explains how to form composite numbers by pronouncing each place value distinctly. The document also covers counting objects by using numbers as adjectives and attaching the correct prefix based on noun class. Finally, it describes the Swahili clock system, which is based on 12-hour cycles of sunrise and sunset rather than a.m. and p.m. Times are told using the hour in Swahili along with descriptors of morning, day, evening, or night.

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    Swahili: Unit 7 - Counting and Swahili Time Unit Objectives: by The End of This Unit, You Should Be Able To

    Uploaded by

    MartyneJohn
    343 views11 pages
    This document provides information about counting, numbers, and telling time in Swahili. It begins by listing basic Swahili numbers from 1 to 1 billion. It then explains how to form composite numbers by pronouncing each place value distinctly. The document also covers counting objects by using numbers as adjectives and attaching the correct prefix based on noun class. Finally, it describes the Swahili clock system, which is based on 12-hour cycles of sunrise and sunset rather than a.m. and p.m. Times are told using the hour in Swahili along with descriptors of morning, day, evening, or night.

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    Swahili

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    This document provides information about counting, numbers, and telling time in Swahili. It begins by listing basic Swahili numbers from 1 to 1 billion. It then explains how to form composite numbers by pronouncing each place value distinctly. The document also covers counting objects by using numbers as adjectives and attaching the correct prefix based on noun class. Finally, it describes the Swahili clock system, which is based on 12-hour cycles of sunrise and sunset rather than a.m. and p.m. Times are told using the hour in Swahili along with descriptors of morning, day, evening, or night.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as ODT, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as odt, pdf, or txt
    343 views11 pages

    Swahili: Unit 7 - Counting and Swahili Time Unit Objectives: by The End of This Unit, You Should Be Able To

    Uploaded by

    MartyneJohn
    This document provides information about counting, numbers, and telling time in Swahili. It begins by listing basic Swahili numbers from 1 to 1 billion. It then explains how to form composite numbers by pronouncing each place value distinctly. The document also covers counting objects by using numbers as adjectives and attaching the correct prefix based on noun class. Finally, it describes the Swahili clock system, which is based on 12-hour cycles of sunrise and sunset rather than a.m. and p.m. Times are told using the hour in Swahili along with descriptors of morning, day, evening, or night.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as ODT, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as odt, pdf, or txt
    of 11

    SWAHILI: UNIT 7 COUNTING AND

    SWAHILI TIME
    UNIT OBJECTIVES
    By the end of this unit, you should be able to:

    Count to a billion in Swahili

    Describe numbers of objects for nouns of all classes

    Tell Swahili Time

    Master the following vocabulary: Swahili Unit 7 Vocabulary

    NEW CONTENT
    Heres the lecture audio, if youd like to listen along:
    KUHESABU: TO COUNT
    Basic Numbers

    1: Moja

    40: Arobaini

    2: Mbili

    50: Hamsini

    3: Tatu

    60: Sitini

    4: Nne

    70: Sabini

    5: Tano

    80: Themanini

    6: Sita

    90: Tisini

    7: Saba

    100: Mia (mia moja)

    8: Nane

    1000: Elfu (elfu moja)

    9: Tisa

    100,000: Laki

    10: Kumi

    1,000,000: Milioni

    20: Ishirini

    1,000,000,000: Bilioni

    30: Thelathini

    Composite Numbers

    When forming composite numbers, pronounce every place (e.g., ones, tens,
    hundreds, etc.) distinctly, with a na (and) before the ones place (or the last
    place in use). The number 49, then, is said as, forty and nine. Here are some
    examples
    21: ishirini na moja //
    32: thelathini na mbili //
    43:arobaini na tatu //
    54: hamsini na nne //
    65: sitini na tano //
    76: sabini na sita //
    87: themanini na saba //
    98: tisini na nane.
    Multiple hundreds are pronounced hundred two or hundred three, etc. For
    example,
    200: mia mbili //
    300: mia tatu //
    400: mia nne //
    800: mia nane.

    The same rule applies for multiple thousands, hundred thousands, millions, etc.
    For example,
    5000:elfu tano //
    12,000: elfu kumi na mbili //
    60,000: elfu sitini //
    400,000: laki nne //
    7,000,000:milioni saba.
    More complex numbers combine all these rules. For example,
    249: mia mbili arobaini na tisa //
    928:mia tisa ishirini na nane //
    1,364: elfu moja mia tatu sitini na nne //
    8,723: elfu nane mia saba ishirini na tatu //
    19,284: elfu kumi na tisa mia mbili themanini na nne //
    53,981: elfu hamsini na tatu, mia tisa themanini na moja //
    125,728: laki moja elfu ishirini na tano mia saba ishirini na nane //
    500,200: laki tano (na*) mia mbili.

    *As in English, youll often hear people add the na before the final
    consequential place: Laki tano na mia mbili rather than laki tano mia mbili.
    Both are correct, just as five hundred thousand two hundred and five
    hundred thousand and two hundred are both correct.
    Lets practice. How would you say the following numbers? Check your answers
    against the audio.
    26:
    COUNTING OBJECTS
    Fun as it is to just count, numbers will be most useful to you when they function
    as adjectives to indicate the number of objects being described:5 mangos,
    1000 shillings, 8 spoons, etc. There are two important rules to remember
    when using numbers to answer the question -ngapi? (how many?):
    1) The number (or any other adjective) always comes after the object being
    described. So, 1000 shillings is, shilingi elfu moja. Two seeds (yay!) is
    mbegu mbili.
    2) Certain numbers, when used as adjectives, must be modified with the
    adjectival prefix for the class of the noun being described. The numbers that
    take adjectival prefixes are: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 8. Dont ask me why this is. This is
    a good time to introduce the basic adjectival prefixes for all noun classes (much
    more to come on adjectives later):

    Noun Class

    Sample Noun

    Basic Adjectival Prefix

    mtu

    m-

    watu

    wa-

    mti

    m-

    miti

    mi-

    tunda

    (-)

    matunda

    ma-

    kitu

    ki-

    vitu

    vi-

    nyumba

    (-)

    10

    nyumba

    (-)

    11

    ukuta

    m-

    14

    upendo

    m-

    So, when using the numbers 1,2,3,4,5, and 8 as adjectives, you must affix the
    appropriate adjectival prefix to them, as in the following examples:
    Mtu mmoja : One person //
    Kitabu kimoja: One book
    When affixing an adjectival prefix to mbili, the stem changes to wili, so we
    get:
    Matunda mawili : Two fruits //
    Mikate miwili : Two breads
    None of the other number stems change when used as adjectives. So:
    Nyumba tatu : Three houses (remember, noun class 10 has no adjectival
    prefix!) //
    Wanafunzi watatu : Three students //
    Viti vinne : Four chairs //
    Miti minne : Four trees //

    Mashamba matano : Five farms //


    Wazee watano : Five elders //
    Mazao manane: Eight crops //
    Vitu vinane: Eight things
    When using any of the other numbers as adjectives, you do not have to add a
    prefix:
    Viti sita: Six chairs //
    Watu tisa: Nine people //
    Majiko ishirini: Twenty stoves //
    Walimu mia moja: One hundred teachers
    Note: You will sometimes hear Swahili purists use the adjectival prefixes within
    complex numbers. So, rather than saying watu kumi na mbili (12 people) they
    will say watu kumi na wawili.

    SWAHILI TIME
    Cultural Note on Relative Importance of Time
    One of the most common distinctions people (both Tanzanian and foreigners)
    make about the difference between Tanzanian culture and our own regards
    punctuality. Simply put, we tend to place a high value on it, and Tanzanians do
    not. Meetings in Tanzania just never seem to start on time. There is a real
    cultural difference here, but its also one that can be slightly overblown. After
    all, its harder to be punctual when you dont own any time-keeping device, as
    is the case for many of our friends and Partners. But the debate does offer an
    important window into the way the modes of economic production shape
    culture. In a subsistence economy, time is not money. In a true capitalist
    economy, it is. The economy of rural Tanzania exists somewhere in between
    these two zones, a fact reflected in attitudes towards time: people recognize the
    importance of time, but as the legacy of subsistence culture remains strong,
    most Tanzanians still do not value it as much as we tend to.
    The Swahili Clock
    To top this all off, the Swahili method of telling time lends itself well to jokes
    about lack of punctualitythe Swahili clock actually runs six hours behind our
    own. We divide our days into two 12-hour cycles of a.m. and p.m.
    according to the 12 oclocks (midnight and noon). The Tanzanian clock is based
    instead on 12-hour cycles according to the hours of sunrise and sunset, which
    happen at 7:00am and 7:00pm every day. So 7:00am (Sunrise) marks hour one
    of the daytime on the Swahili clock: saa moja (saa means hour). 7:00pm
    (Sunset) is hour one of the nighttime: saa moja again.

    The clock proceeds accordingly:


    7:00am/pm = saa moja
    8:00am/pm = saa mbili
    9:00am/pm = saa tatu
    10:00am/pm = saa nne
    11:00am/pm = saa tano
    12:00am/pm = saa sita
    1:00am/pm = saa saba
    2:00am/pm = saa nane
    3:00am/pm = saa tisa
    4:00am/pm = saa kumi
    5:00am/pm = saa kumi na moja
    6:00am/pm = saa kumi na mbili
    Rather than distinguishing times by a.m. and p.m., Swahili speakers distinguish
    according to the period of day. A rough breakdown:
    Saa kumi na moja hadi (until) saa nne (5:00am-10:00am): Asubuhi (morning)
    Saa nne hadi saa kumi (10:00am 4:00pm): Mchana (day)
    Saa kumi hadi saa moja (4:00pm 7:00pm) : Jioni (evening)
    Saa tatu hadi saa kumi na moja (8:00pm 5:00am): Usiku (night)
    So:
    8:00am = saa mbili asubuhi
    12:00pm = saa sita mchana
    6:00pm = saa kumi na mbili jioni
    10:00pm = saa nne usiku

    Telling the exact time


    So, ni saa ngapi?what time is it?
    In the first 30 minutes of an hour, you combine the current hour and minutes
    (note that multiples of 15 minutes are special). 7:10am: Saa moja na dakika
    kumi asubuhi (the first hour and ten minutes of the morning)
    9:15am: Saa tatu na robo (the third hour and a quarter of the morning)
    10:27am: Saa nne na dakika ishirini na saba mchana (the fourth hour and twenty
    seven minutes of the daytime)
    3:30pm: Saa tisa na nusu mchana (the ninth hour and a half of the daytime)
    In the last 30 minutes of the hour, you read the time as a statement of
    subtraction from the coming hour, using kasoro to indicate less than:
    7:40am: Saa mbili kasoro dakika ishirini asubuhi (twenty minutes short of the
    second hour of the morning)
    9:45pm: Saa nne kasorobo usiku (A quarter short of the fourth hour of the
    night).
    Since most people in villages dont have clocks, youll rarely discuss time with
    minute precision. But its good to know the rules.
    CONCLUDING ADVICE
    Tardiness is unprofessional!
    EXERCISES
    Listening comprehension questions for Unit 7 dialogues are in the worksheet.

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