Sounds
Let's start with the sounds of Kah and their pronounciation:
a | Spanish "mal" | ny | Spanish "señor" |
b | French "beau" | ng | English "bang" |
ch | Spanish "churro" | o | Spanish "no" |
d | English "do" | p | Spanish "por" |
e | Spanish "el" | py | Korean "Pyongyang" |
f | French "faire" | r | Spanish "rey" |
g | English "good" | s | French "sel" |
h | English "hey" | sh | English "she" |
i | Spanish "si" | sw | Swahili "Kiswahili" |
j | English "joke" | t | French "tu" |
k | Spanish "como" | u | Spanish "su" |
kw | English "quarter" | w | English "we" |
l | French "lire" | v | English "veil" |
m | Spanish "mal" | y | Spanish "yo" |
mw | Swahili "mwalimu" | z | French "zero" |
n | Spanish "no" |
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Amaika - Greetings
As in any language, a most vital element to start with are greetings. These are the key to starting a proper conversation. The following dialogue is an example of the use of Kah greetings:
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mai - hello, hi mai - hello, hi haya la? - how are you? nen - to be good, fine li - you (singular) ha - question particle, expresses question ayo - everything, all wa - I, me lo - well, well then om wayun - goodbye |
Paragraph 1.1 - Mai
The basic greeting in Kah is mai. There is no distinction between formal or informal greetings, in all situations just mai will do. The proper reply to this greeting is also mai, but variations such as mai li ("hi you"), mai mai ("hi hi") or mai wai ("hi back") are suitable as well. The word mai can also be combined with other words such as parts of the day to form a specific greeting:
mai anin - good day mai ninku - good morning mai baninta - good afternoon mai zekita - good evening mai manta - good night mai zon - sleep well mai kiza - enjoy your meal, bon appetit mai nunai - happy trails, travel well mai hai - farewell anin - day ninku - morning baninta - afternoon zekita - evening manta - night zon - sleep kiza - eat nunai - travel hai - to live |
Paragraph 1.2 - Ha
In most parts of the world greetings don't stop at this point. Not only the well-being of the speakers is discussed, but the entire family and social environment are informed at.
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eo -yes ai - and vanyo - family vawana - wife yu - he, she uba - father benyo - children, offspring uyo - everybody |
Please note the role of the question particle ha in the previous conversation, which can be translated best as "what about...?" in this context. It is a very important word in Kah which can be combined with many words in order to express a question:
li ha? - what about you? yu ha? - what about him? uba ha? - what about your father? uma ha? - what about your mother? vabu ha? - what about your husband? vawana ha? - what about your wife? benyo ha? - what about the kids? vanyo ha? - what about your family? Okan ha? - what about Ökan? uma - mother vabu - husband |
The same goes for the phrases haya la and nen when specifying things:
haya la yu? - how is he? haya la uba? - how is your father? haya la Okan? - how is Okan? haya la vanyo? - how is your family? haya la vabu? - how is your husband? haya la uyo? - how is everybody? haya la Okan ai Fatimeh? - how are Okan and Fatime? yu nen - he is fine uba nen - my father is fine Okan nen - Okan is fine vanyo nen - my family is fine vabu nen - my husband is fine uyo nen - everybody is fine Okan ai Fatimeh nen - Okan and Fatime are fine yu nen ha? - is he fine? uba nen ha? - is your father fine? Okan nen ha? - is Okan fine? vanyo nen ha? - is your family fine? vabu nen ha? - is your husband fine? uyo nen ha? - is everybody fine? Okan ai Fatimeh nen ha? - are Okan and Fatime fine? |
In order to practice and test your insight in the previous section, please make the following short exercise:
Translate into Kah: 1. And how are you? 2. How is your wife? 3. How are your father and mother? 4. My wife is fine. 5. And what about the kids? Are the kids fine? |
