Lesson 8
Exercise 1

Exercise 2

Exercise 3

Exercise 4

Exercise 5

Exercise 6

Exercise 7


Exercise 1 Translate into English: "Habo ra"
Zarma English
Boro marge no kaa ne hunkuna? How many people came here today?
Ay si bay; ay mana di ey. I don't no, I didn't see them.
Gondi marge no ni di? How many snakes did you see?
Ba afo. Ay si ba r’ey mo. Not even one. I don't like them either.
Iri na tira wo caw, amma a gay; a si te koyne. We did read this book, but it is a long time; it won’t do anymore.
I n’ay donton ŋwari ceciyan se. They sent me looking for food.

I was sent looking for food
Habu koyyan si fala. Arrival at the market isn't easy
Dela way cindi gu si jiney bobo day, amma boro ga du ŋwari hanno sohon. Seventy-five Francs will not buy many things, but a person will get good food at once.
Dela waranka ihinka si, a si kilo fo ham day. One won't buy one kilo of meat for eighty Francs .
(Literally: Eighty Francs, it won't buy one kilo of meat.)
Ba boro kan ga ni bay, a si neera ni se fala. Even a person that you know won't sell it you cheap.
Wayboro bobo ga kaa habu susubey kulu. Many women come to market all mornings.
I ga kande haamo da kolkoti da labtanda da gunguri. They will bring guinea corn, maize, squash and eggs.
Amma han kulu i s’i kulu neera. But they won't sell it all all days.
Ni koy habu susub’o, wala? Did you go to market this morning?
Abada! Ay mana koy. No! I didn't go.
Ay mana ba fatta fuwo ra susub’o. I didn't even go out of the house this morning.
Wayborey kan ga kaa habu, i ga kaa ihinka-ihinka wala ihinza-ihinza; i si kaa afo-afo. The women that come to market will come two by two or three by three; they won't come one by one.

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Exercise 2 Translate into English: "Zanka darey"
Zarma English
Bi ay koy kwaara fo; zanka fo darey, ay mo n’a ceci. Yesterday I went to a village; a child got lost en I searched for him.
Kwaara borey ne, zanka fo kaa i do; amma manti nga no kan iri go no ga ceci. The village people said a child came to their place, but it was not him, whom we were looking for.
Amma boreydin mana cimi ci, zama zankadin go no. But that people didn't speak the truth, because that child was there.

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Exercise 3 Translate into Zarma "the snake"
Zarma English
Snakes come in the night. Gondiyan ga kaa cino ra.
One came to our door last night. Afo kaa iri fu meyo bi cino.
Did you see it? I didn’t. Ni di r'a, wala? Yana.
I didn’t even look at it. Ay mana b'a guna.
Even though it was dead,
I will not look at it.		 Ba n'a bu, ay s'a guna.

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Exercise 4 Translate into Zarma: "Shopping"
English Zarma
Every morning a woman comes to my compound. Susubey kulu wayboro fo ga kaa ay kwaara.
She sells beans, rice, onions, squash, and eggs. A ga neera dunguri da mo da albassan da labtanda da gunguri.

A ga dunguri da mo da albassan da labtanda da guri neera.
I shall buy eggs three for two delas, but not a dela each. Dela hinka ay ga gunguri hinza day, amma manti dela fo-fo.
There are not many oranges, but limes will do for us. Lemu beri bobo si no, amma lemu ga te iri se.
Limes are 8 for 2 delas. (the "for" is not transferable) Lemu ga ahaku dela hinka.

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Exercise 5 Translate into Zarma: "Food"
English Zarma
Africans make food with guinea corn, but white people like wheat. Boro bi ga haamo ŋwari te, amma anasara ga ba alkama.
Yesterday my mother didn’t buy meat, but today she will buy meat and also onions. Bi ay nya mana ham day, amma a ga ham da albassan mo day hunkuna.
They will take the meat out of the dish. I ga hamo kaa tasa ra.
They will take the money from the child. I ga  nooru kaa zanka gaa.

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Exercise 6 Translate into Zarma: negative, past tense
English Zarma
We didn’t remove the oranges. Iri mana lemu berey kaa.
We didn’t see the European. Iri mana di anasara.
We didn’t obtain the money. Iri mana du nooro.
We didn’t seek you (plural). Iri mana araŋ ceci.
We didn’t know that African. Iri mana bay boro bi wodin.

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Exercise 7 Translate into Zarma: negative, future tense
English Zarma
We won’t remove the oranges. Iri si lemu berey kaa.
We won’t see the European. Iri si di anasara.
We won’t obtain the money. Iri si du nooro.
We won’t seek you (p). Iri s'araŋ ceci.
We won’t know that African. Iri si bay boro bi wodin.

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Last updated: 11 maart 2012