Bert: Asalaa maalekum.
Ernie: Maalekum salaam.
Bert: Nanga def?
Ernie: Mangi fii rekk.
Bert: Ana waa ker ga?
Ernie: Nunga fa.
Bert: Alhamdulilaay!
Asalaa maalekum
Malekum salaam
Greetings / Hello
from Arabic: Peace to you, and to you peace.
USE when entering or arriving at a place or when approaching an already established group.
Naka nga def?
Na nga def?
How are you doing?
(literally: How you do?)
na = naka — how
nga — you
def — verb: to do
An informal greeting. DON’T USE to initiate greetings with a person to whom you want to show respect.
Maa ngi fi rekk.
I am fine
(lit: I am here only.)
maa ngi — here I am
maa — presentative pronoun first person singular
fi — here
rekk — only
Ana waa ker ga?
How’s the family?
ana — how is / how are / where is / where are
waa ker ga — the people of the house, “the family”
waa — the people of / the inhabitants of
ker — house
ker gi — this house
ker ga — the house (distance)
Nu nga fa.
They are fine.
(lit: They are there.)
nu nga — they are
fa — there
nu ngi fi — they are here
nu nga fa — they are there
Alhamdulilay.
Thank God.
(from Arabic)
