nini
interrogative
what?
Used directly or inside longer question constructions.
Origins
Nini is treated as an earlier Bantu inherited interrogative in the comparative record. Historical Swahili dictionaries document its use for “what?” and related questions.
Sources4
M. Haspelmath and U. Tadmor, World Loanword Database · Swahili profile (Max Planck Institute / Lexibank, 2009), Swahili profile; forms.csv.
Earlier Bantu classification cross-check.
A. C. Madan, Swahili-English Dictionary (1903), PDF p. 309.
Nini asks “what?”.
Edward Steere, A Handbook of the Swahili Language as Spoken at Zanzibar (Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1884), alphabetical entry: nini.
Historical interrogative use.
Harvard University Berkman Klein Center, Mahusiano Mema Mtandaoni, 2.
A question can place the noun phrase before ni nini.
Examples
Unataka nini?
What do you want?
Hii ni nini?
What is this?
Ulisema nini jana?
What did you say yesterday?
Nini kilitokea?
What happened?
Unasoma nini sasa?
What are you reading now?
Nini kinaendelea hapa?
What is going on here?
Alikula nini jioni?
What did they eat in the evening?
Maana ya neno hili ni nini?
What is the meaning of this word?
Unahitaji nini kutoka dukani?
What do you need from the shop?
