Ndagukunda
In Kinyarwanda, "I love you" is expressed as Ndagukunda.
This phrase is used as an affirmation of romantic feeling.
Meaning: affirmation of romantic feeling (phrase)
What does it mean word for word?
The word Ndagukunda is composed of the prefix Nda- (I), the object marker -ku- (you) and the verb stem -kunda (love/like).
Did you know?
- In Rwanda, people rarely say Ndagukunda out loud to parents or elders. Affection is traditionally shown through actions and respect rather than verbal declarations.
- Kinyarwanda is a tonal language, meaning the pitch used when saying Ndagukunda can subtly alter the emotion or intent behind the phrase.
- The grammar of Ndagukunda allows the entire sentence to be condensed into one single word. This is a common feature of Bantu languages called agglutination.
Examples in context
- Ndagukunda cyane.I love you very much.
- Ndagukunda rwose.I truly love you.
Example conversation
A couple is saying goodbye before work.
- OlivierNdagukunda, Alice.I love you, Alice.
- AliceNawe ndagukunda, Olivier.I love you too, Olivier.
- OlivierUmeze neza uyu munsi.You look great today.
- AliceMurakoze cyane!Thank you very much!
