kwanza
adverb
first.
Ya kwanza means first in expressions such as mara ya kwanza, the first time.
Origins
Kwanza comes from Proto-Sabaki -a kwanzya, built on -anzya, “to begin”: the “first” one is, literally, the “begin-ish” one.
Sources5
Charles Sacleux, Grammaire des dialectes Swahilis (Paris: Procure des PP. du Saint-Esprit, 1909), PDF page 123.
Explains -a kwanza as the expression for the ordinal “first”. Historical evidence; not a survey of current Kenyan speech.
A. C. Madan, Swahili-English Dictionary (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1903), PDF page 40.
Explains kwanza under anza as an adverb meaning first. Historical evidence; not a survey of current Kenyan speech.
Edward Steere, A Handbook of the Swahili Language as Spoken at Zanzibar (London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1884), PDF page 465.
Uses kwanza in an instruction to go first. Historical Zanzibar evidence.
University of Kansas Open Language Resource Center, University of Kansas Kiswahili Glossary (University of Kansas Open Language Resource Center), kwanza glossary rows.
Illustrates kwanza in shahada ya kwanza; the example concerns an undergraduate degree.
- kwanza (Wiktionary)
Derives kwanza from Proto-Sabaki *-a kwanzya (< *-anzya, “to begin”), cognate with Giryama.
Examples
Ni mara yangu ya kwanza hapa.
It’s my first time here.
Siku ya kwanza ilikuwa nzuri.
The first day was good.
Kwanza, tutakunywa chai.
First, we’ll have tea.
Wewe nenda kwanza.
You go first.
Nataka kusoma kwanza.
I want to read first.
Hii ni safari yangu ya kwanza.
This is my first journey.
Tafadhali subiri kwanza.
Please wait first.
Alifika kwanza.
They arrived first.
Kwanza, niambie jina lako.
First, tell me your name.
