This week, I meet with my language partners twice. This week was probably the most exciting thus far because I was able to introduce add on material to my numbers and basic phrases. I was able to learn to construct basic sentences as well.
To start, I learned the numbers (10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100) in addition to the numbers 1-12 which I already knew from previous weeks. Just as the session began, I was catching on quickly.
10: thus
20: vis
30: thris
40: chalis
50: pachas
60: seite
70: sither
80: ehsii
THEN THE PROBLEM began: there was about a 10 minute disagreement about the pronunciation of 90 in Gujarati. Prachi said that it is pronounced Nehvu and Pooja says it's Nehv. I was deeply interested in why both ladies felt so strongly about the pronunciation of the word. I never realized different dialects conflict so much in Gujarat. I deeply respect this concern for proper pronunciation. I never really get excited about the proper pronunciation of things. I am so impressed that my language partners take their language so seriously. With that said, 90= nehv/nehvu and 100= so
To start, I learned basic directions. I felt these would be useful for me to learn because if I'm in Gujarat I would need to know how to ask for directions.
Left = dabo
Right= chumano
Front= ahgur
back= pahchur
I even learned to put these into sentences.
Hu ahgur jow chu (I am going forward)
Tu pahchur jai che (You are going backward)
Tame ahgur jow cho (Formal You are going forward)
I am learning the differences in verb endings and subject endings as well. For example: cho means is. So does chu and che. But cho is used in the formal you form. chu is used in the I form. And che is used in the informal you form.
In addition to directions and additional numbers I also learned about the days of the week known as (Divas)
Somvar (Monday)
Mungervar
Bhudhvar
Guruvar
Shukravar
Shunivar
Ravivar (Sunday)
(all end in VAR) which means "day" in Gujarati
They begin on a Monday unlike the US calendar which begins on a Sunday. Also, Gujaratis write out time in a format similar to the English: Day Month Year, instead of Month Day Year. I was not surprised by this, as India was formerly ruled by the Great Britain.
Additional words I learned
ahjay= today
kale= tomorrow
day after tomorrow and day before yesterday (same word in Gujarati)= puhrumdivse
yesterday= gaykale
hatho= was
morning= saavar
afternoon= bapoor
evening= sange
night= rats
I can make sentences now!
ahjay mungervar che: today is Monday
puhrumdivse ravivar hato: the day before yesterday was Sunday
This week was extremely productive. I am learning the basics in order to build into sentences!
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