sasa
adverb · phrase
now; hey (as a greeting).
Use sasa for the present moment. As an informal greeting, it can be answered with poa (“cool”).
Also hey. (phrase)
An informal greeting; poa (“cool”) is a common reply.
Origins
An Arabic origin has been proposed for sasa, meaning “now.” Compare saa, “hour” or “clock,” borrowed from Arabic ساعة (sāʿa, “hour”). Whether sasa developed from saa remains under review.
Sources7
Amani Lusekelo, Lexicalization of concepts of time in naming sequences of days in Tanzanian Bantu (Studies in African Linguistics, 2023), 52 (Supplement 13), pp. 233–255; Arabic-origin statement on p. 242, section 5.1 (PDF p. 10); DOI 10.32473/sal.52.Supplement.13.133797..
Reports Arabic origin for sasa, citing TUKI 2014. The cited TUKI entry has not been inspected; this paper supplies no donor form or derivation from saa.
Brenda Wawire with John Muchira, Peter Ojiambo, and Purity Wawire, Hujambo! A Standards-Based Approach to Introductory Kiswahili, Units 1–4 (University of Kansas Open Language Resource Center, 2022), Unit 1.1, Cultural Explorations, printed p. 7 (PDF p. 13); Unit 1.4, Key Vocabulary, printed p. 38 (PDF p. 44); Unit 3.1, printed p. 108 (PDF p. 114)..
Supports the present-time adverb, its use with current activities, and the informal greeting with poa as a reply. Does not establish an etymology or verify these teaching examples.
Innovative Language Learning, Arabic Survival Phrases, lesson 53: What Time Is It? (ArabicPod101.com / Innovative Language Learning, 2013), Lesson 53, Arabic/English lists, PDF p. 96; grammar, PDF p. 98..
Documents Arabic ساعة meaning hour. Supports the Arabic spelling and gloss in the saa comparison; makes no claim about the origin of sasa.
Thilo Schadeberg, World Loanword Database: Swahili saa (World Loanword Database, edited by Martin Haspelmath and Uri Tadmor, 2009), Word 72141734278207022; Arabic donor record 8294..
Records saa as hour, watch, clock and clearly borrowed from Arabic sāˁa(t), hour or watch. Supports the comparison, not a derivation of sasa from saa.
Thilo Schadeberg, World Loanword Database: Swahili sasa (World Loanword Database, edited by Martin Haspelmath and Uri Tadmor, 2009), CLDF forms.csv, record Swahili-14-18-1; word 72141734431005090; reference Johnson 1939..
Classifies sasa as perhaps borrowed. Does not establish an Arabic donor or a derivation from saa; preserves the uncertainty in Origins.
A. C. Madan, Swahili-English Dictionary (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1903), s.v. sasa; digitized PDF p. 360..
Independently records the present-time adverb. Historical attestation does not establish its deeper origin.
University of Kansas Open Language Resource Center, Kiswahili Glossary (University of Kansas), Phrases: Sasa.; (Sasa) ni saa ngapi?.
Records Sasa as a greeting and uses sasa in a question asking the current time.
Examples
Ninafanya kazi sasa.
I am working now.
Unataka kulala sasa?
Do you want to sleep now?
Sasa ni saa ngapi?
What time is it now?
Sasa!
Hey!
Ninaondoka sasa.
I’m leaving now.
Tuko hotelini sasa.
We’re at the hotel now.
Je, unaweza kuzungumza sasa?
Can you talk now?
Sihitaji msaada sasa.
I don’t need help now.
Sasa, Asha!
Hey, Asha!
