Back to Level 1 Index

Lesson 12 – Talking about places in Uganda


Kigezi kiri mu maserengeta ga Uganda. (Kigezi is in the south of Uganda)
Bugisu kiri mu buvanjuba bwa Uganda. (Bugisu is in the east of Uganda)
Acholi kiri mu mambuka ga Uganda. (Acholi is in the north of Uganda)

A: Gulu kibuga, oba nsi? (Gulu is a town or a region?)
B: Gulu kibuga. (Gulu is a town)
Note: currently districts are named after major towns in Uganda.
A: Kiri mu mambuka ga Uganda? (Is it in the north of Uganda)
Note: by the construction of the sentence and its tonality, one also knows that it is a question)
B: Yee, kiri mu mambuka ga Uganda, kiri mu Acholi. (It’s in the north, it’s in Acholi [region])

A: Mbale kiri ludda wa? (Where is Mbale?)
B: Mbale kiri mu Bugisu. (Mbale is in Bugisu [region])


Tuning the Ear to Tonality
Kino kiki? (What is this?), Kitabo. (It’s a book.), Kkalaamu. (It’s a pencil.), Mmeeza. (It’s a table), Kkalaamu ya bwino. (It’s a pen.), Kafumu ka bwino. (It's a pen.) , Fuuti. (a ruler), Akati. (a stick)

Building Vocabulary [ki/bi - class]
kigere (a foot), bigere (feet), kitengi (an African print cloth), bitengi ([many] African print cloths), kinaabiro (a bathroom), binaabiro (bathrooms)

Summary
A: Mbarara kibuga, oba nsi? (Is Mbarara a town, or a region?)
B: Kibuga mu Uganda. (It is a town in Uganda.)
A: Kiri ludda wa? (Where is it?)
B: Kiri mu Ankole. (It's in Ankole.)
A: Ankole kiri mu bukiika ki obwa Uganda? (What region/part of Uganda is Ankole in?)
B: Kiri mu bugwanjuba. (It's in the west.)