The Little Dog That Could Read

Sakata (also known as Kisakata or Kesakata) is a language in the Bantu family spoken by several thousand people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It consists of several quite distinct dialects; this problem features the dialect spoken in the village of Bosobe in the 1980s.

Below are some Sakata sentences, alongside their English translations. Note that ə and ü are both vowels, and that one Sakata noun is slightly irregular.

Banka balülü bamwi bebil benini.

The good women saw the big fields.

Banjir babibə badzo ibat lelülü.

The bad men killed the good duck.

Keto ketita kejo ntaw ne banjir.

The long snake heard the men's goat.

Mabat masinxunə ola mokan mo munjir.

The ducks wanted to eat the man's book.

Mva nekikə ne banka nejao otang.

The women's little dog learned to read.

Nə ala ipe le ibat lenini?

Who ate the big duck's wing?

Munkar nejo nko ne bang.

The woman heard the children's chicken.

Nko ibibə ila ncher i bang.

The bad chickens ate the children's peanuts.

Bande bachunga ntaw ilülü.

The white men bought the good goats.

Ntaw i banka ikwi o kebil ke munde.

The women's goats went to the white man's field.

Nə amwi bena be bande?

Who saw the white men's things?

Ngombe nekikə nemwi lecher lenini.

The little cow saw the big peanut.

Below are some numerical phrases in Sakata, alongside their English translations.

ledze lemo

one finger

ipyao lemo

one shoulder

nchungə ipə

two pigs

befwa besa

three bones

mete meni

four trees