We’ve confusion here, pitting “RAISE” and “RISE”. An old hand in the, one WM, advises: “Be conscious of the fact that they’re pronounced differently, contrary to what people think.
The way we pronounce Kiswahili words determines the way we spell them. Not so in this treacherous language called English. It’s only through lots of reading and listening that we can lessen the goofs we make in our endeavours to inform, educate and entertain our readers.
We tend to suffer immensely when confronted with words that sound virtually alike while they mean different things.
Take for instance the gem we unearthed from Page 2 of the Oct. 26 edition of the Sunday sister tabloid of Bongo’s huge and colourful broadsheet. In the story entitled “Govt concedes corruption shadows export of hides”, the scribbler says in Para 1:
“Tanzania LOOSES a staggering Sh500 million a month in export levy, reliable sources ALLEGED to… (this writer) and the Livestock Development and Fisheries ministry has confirmed.”
Our colleague had in mind the word “lose”, which is a verb, but ended up penning down “loose” which is an adjective (describing something that’s not tight).
In the same sentence, we smell a contradiction, for our colleague defines his source as “reliable” and in the same breath goes on to say the information he received from the same – and which was confirmed by the relevant ministry—is an ALLEGATION!
And then, in Bongo’s senior-most broadsheet of Saturday, Oct . 29, there was, on Page 5, a story with the headline, “Three people killed in Chalinze road accident.” Now in an item unrelated to the mishap, introduced by a “meanwhile”, the scribbler writes: “According to Mr Mtei, primary investigation in the suspect’s car… succeeded to secure one SHORT gun…”
Duh! A short gun? No, please! If we’re referring to a firearm, then it’s a SHOTGUN (and it’s one word).Bongo’s huge and colourful broadsheet did too have a problem with sounds and spelling. On Page 4 of Monday, Oct. 27, there’s a story headlined, “Higher learning institutions warned…” in which the scribbler writes: “Colleges and universities that are RISING their tuition fees have been warned to desist with immediate effect….”
We’ve confusion here, pitting “RAISE” and “RISE”. An old hand in the, one WM, advises: “Be conscious of the fact that they’re pronounced differently, contrary to what people think. For “rise” it is RA-I-Z; for ‘raise’ it is RE-I-Z. And says further: on the one hand, things RA-I-Z (rise) on their own and on the other, things are RE-I-ZED (raised).”
Now there’re times you know a word very scantly, yet feel like you’ve to use it, since you’ve heard others do. Or you might know a word’s meaning but fail to understand the context in which it is applied. It appears to us that’s the explanation of what happened on Page 32 of the Wednesday, Oct. 29 edition of the tabloid that is closely associated with this columnist, wherein a caption writer, in reference to the Simba Sports Club head coach Patrick Phiri, says:
“The Zambian has signed a one-year contract in his tough bid (sic) of chasing the premier league title, which Simba has ELUDED for some years.” Oh, no, we say! It cannot be Simba that has eluded the title; it is the TITLE that HAS ELUDED Simba.
Ah, this treacherous language called English!
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MAJ GEN HERMAN C.
LUPOGO: A TRIBUTE
This column isn’t about me, Abdi; it is about all of us that are keen on English as an important tool of communication. Much as it mostly targets journalists—professionals to whom mastery of this language is, literally, a matter of life and death—I’ve been gratified to note that hordes of non-journalists can be just as keen.
One such person was Major General Herman Lupogo. Over the years, he would send me tips on gems –some picked from goofs I made in the process of penning this column—that I would gladly include in subsequent articles. Most memorable is when, in an article, I wrote on “Six-month toddlers collected and taken for burial at a mass grave in Ilala, Dar”.
He wrote to me and said: “Abdi, there cannot be a six-week-old toddler because at that age, a child CANNOT TODDLE”. I thanked him and went on to publish the correction in the subsequent Sunday’s column.
Maj Gen Lupogo died at Lugalo Military Hospital on Oct. 19 and was buried at Kinondoni in Dar on Friday, Oct. 24.
Brother, I’ll forever cherish you for your encouragement and input that boosted this column, just as my readers will, I’m sure. May the Lord rest your soul in eternal peace, brother Herman.—Abdi
