Learnt to say "Please" in 23 African languages
Africans are polite. Africans honour respect. Hence, we don't play with the word "Please". So wherever you are in Africa, you can really buy what you want for free if you throw in a "Please" word there. The MIghTy African is here to help you. With some help from my African friends, we have a list of 23 to work with.
- Akan: Mepa wo kyɛw. 2 many syllables for what should be an easy word. Not the stress on the double vowel. Yes is Yes and No is No :-) Bonus in Fante - Inyɔ & Anha :-)
- Ga: Ofai nɛ. Akan Twi and Ga are bedfellows when it comes to language. We know how Ga and Twi have similar words. So I should have seen this coming. Thanks to +Seyram Freddy Ahiabor for 'reminding' me.
- Ewe: Medekuku. +Doris Anson-Yevu who is a part of the +kasahorow team and also works on +Nyaseto taught me this one. I'm gonna be in Ho this weekend for +Barcamp Ho so.... :-)
- Dagbani: Dim suglo. +Ibn Shiraz taught me this one when I asked the +Barcamp Tamale crew.
- Hausa: Yankuri. Learnt this from a colleague at Rancard.
- Swahili: Tafadhali. A little long to say please. I've been reminded about this by countless Kiswahili-speaking friends.
- Siswati: Ngiyacela! Of course, you can guess who I learnt this from. I miss +Phelele Fakudze.
- Zulu: Ngiyacela. I learnt this from Phelele. Not that I needed a second opinion but some other Zulu friends confirmed this today too.
- Yoruba: Ejo. I learnt this from my friend Mimi as well.
- Igbo: Biko. o I learnt this from a P-Square song - Ifunanya :-) +Isioma Emordi confirmed this for me.
- Nyanja : Napapata. Thanks to +Mwana Ba Afrika, I learnt this one. When I am in Lusaka, I am going to say, "Napapata, I'm hungry, give me food. Oh wait, I think I should learn how to say "I'm hungry" next :-)
- Bemba: Napatata. Same as Nyanja. These Zambian languages are very similar. The intonation is different though. Napapata literally means "I am pleading".
- Ndebele: Ngiyacela. This Zimbabwean language is quite similar to Zulu and Siswati. It's all love.
- Sesotho: Ka kopo. +Sipho Ngwenya also speaks Sesotho though I know him to be from Zimbabwe. But isn't Sesothi really from Lesotho? Someone take me to Southern Africa like now!
- Eton: Ankoglan. My buddy +cedric Atangana taught me this. +237, stand up!
- Ewondo: Ankoglen. My buddy +cedric Atangana taught me this too. He's really awesome, if I had to say it here, that means I mean it. :-)
- Luganda: Mwattu. I learnt this one from +Muranga James, like just now. Help me say Weebale to him.
- Kinyarwanda: Meze neza. Learnt this from +RICHARD RUSA, who I know my Google times.
- Amharic: Ebakehn. I learnt this recently from +beza tesfaye too. She's my new Amharic teacher :-)
- Wolof: Dimbalima I learnt this one from +Baba TOURE. Here's a good example - "Dimbalima, daama khiff" which means "Please (help me), I'm hungry. For real authentic jollof. You could also say Diappelema. or Ngiur Yallaa which means "Please, for God's sake".
- Djiula: Sabari. I learnt this from +Paul Romuald Angbele who I know from Ivory Coast through my Google work.
- Xhosa: Ndiyacela. You see how it is relatively to speak multiple languages if you're from South Africa? They use the words all the time and they are similar.
- Setswana: Tsweetswee. Isn't this word just so cool? +Manteba S'rurubele, your people are cool okay!
This follows the "Thank You", "Let's Go, "Money", "I Love You", "How are You and I'm Fine" & "Yes & No" posts in this series. Share how to say "Please"
in other African languages via the comments. I could have said a few
more in other languages, but we had to stop at 23. Please, I don't need to tell
you why.
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