First letter of the Bemba alphabet.

In the spoken language, the letter a follows certain rules.

a before a becomes prolonged as in aa.

Example of use

Ubaafwe MEANING Help them

 

a before e or icontracts into ee

Example of use

Ubeebe from ubaebe MEANING You should tell them

 

a before u becomes o

Example of use

Sobule from Isa ubule MEANING Come and take

 

MEANING 1

Pronoun, he or she

Example of use

1.Isa MEANS to come. Mubanga aisa MEANING Mubanga has just come

2.Ya MEANS to go. Chiluba cumi ayako? MEANING Chiluba has actually gone there?

3. Cilolo tayeko MEANING The minister won’t go there.

4. Kutumana MEANING to keep quiet. Chansa akutumana MEANS Chansa kept quiet

 

MEANING 2

Interjection of surprise, protest, disgust.

Example of use

Aa! Te mu chishiba ca mafi caba Chifubu waswa uyu musalu? MEANING:  Ah! Is it not from the sewerage ponds of Chifubu Water and Sewerage that you gathered these vegetables?

 

MEANING 3

Characteristic of the immediate past.

Example of use

Chola ashita insalu ya kitchen party, MEANING: Chola has just bought some cloth for the kitchen party.

 

MEANING 4

Characteristic of the conditional, if.

Example of use         

Ukusala akubako leelo,nga nawina!  MEANING: If the election had been today, I would have won!

MEANING 5

So that

Example of use

Umushinine pano pene, nombaline, acipwa, MEANING: Confront him immediately, at this very spot, so that you can be done with it.

MEANING 6

With the verb –ti, (to say, to think or to imagine) the subject of the verb is preceded by a.

Example of use

Kateeka asosa ati bwesheni umutengo wamafuta MEANING: The president has spoken and said reduce the price of fuel

 

MEANING 7

The verb complement of suka takes a followed by the pronoun subject.

Example of use

Tukasuka atukumana, MEANING: We shall meet eventually.