Before we learn the words, we always want to refer to ourselves. In Pwekish, "I" or "me" is spelled "ņra", pronounced as /ŋra/ .
Once we have the ego, let's learn a few nouns (words that represent things) that we often encounter.
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| awú | /aˈwu/ | dog |
| baln | /baln/ | book |
| bimbo | /ˈbimbo/ | apple |
| dorn | /dorn/ | house; home |
| má | /ˈma/ | my mum |
| nur | /nur/ | people; human |
| pá | /ˈpa/ | my dad |
| skod | /skod/ | pen |
| tolontenPwék | /tolontenˈpʷek/ | Pwekish |
| zim | /zim/ | money |
You may have noticed some words have an accent marker on top of the letter (like ú in awú). They show the stress of a word. If no accent marker presents, the stress falls on the second last syllable by default.
After having the nouns, we need verbs, the words for action, to form a complete sentence.
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| bal | /bal/ | to read |
| bay | /baj/ | to see |
| dip | /dip/ | to eat |
| koko | /ˈkoko/ | to play |
| masul | /ˈmasul/ | to sleep |
| mor | /mor/ | to go |
| nuke | /ˈnuke/ | to like |
| pe | /pe/ | to be |
| sano | /ˈsano/ | to have |
| tolo | /ˈtolo/ | to speak |
The basic sentence structure of Pwekish is SOV, that is, instead of saying "I eat an apple", we say "I an apple eat". Here are some sample sentences we can form using "ņra" ("I"), and the nouns and verbs we have learned.
| Sentence | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Ņra bimbo dip. | I eat an apple. |
| Ņra ma nuke. | I like my mum. |
| Ņra nur pe. | I am a human. |
| Ņra baln bal. | I read a book. |
| Ņra sewu bay. | I see a fish. |
| Ņra zim sano. | I have money. |
| Ņra awú sano. | I have a dog. |
| Ņra masul. | I sleep. |
| Ņra dorn mor. | I go home. |
| Ņra tolontenPwék tolo. | I speak Pwekish. |
Note that Pwekish doesn't have words like "a", "an", "the". You just omit these articles when translating to Pwekish.
In Pwekish, we have the verb for "go home" ("domor").
So, the sentence "Ņra dorn mor" can be written as "Ņra domor".
1. Translate the following sentences into Pwekish.
i. I like my dad.
ii. I see the apple.
iii. I have a pen.
iv. I am a book.
v. I play.
i. Ņra pá nuke.
ii. Ņra bimbo bay.
iii. Ņra skod sano.
iv. Ņra baln pe.
v. Ņra koko.
2. Translate the following sentences into English.
i. Ņra bimbo sano.
ii. Ņra sewu nuke.
iii. Ņra tolotenPwék tolo.
iv. Ņra zim bay.
v. Ņra bal.
i. I have an apple.
ii. I like fish.
iii. I speak Pwekish.
iv. I see money.
v. I read.