The Case of the Mistaken Consonant

As any of you who have learned a language have experienced, it’s a challenge to remember the right word at the right moment especially when there is just one sound that differentiates one word from another. When we first moved into our house here in the outskirts of Tana, Daniel had such an experience.

I was visiting some friends that live down the street but Daniel didn’t know that. It was starting to get dark so he decided to go out looking for me. As he started up the street, he ran into our guard who was on his way to our house. He said, “Mitady ny vadiko aho.” That means, I’m looking for my wife.
But our guard thought he said, “Mitady ny vary aho,” which means, I’m looking for the rice. So he asked, “Which would you like, brown or white?”

Daniel, thinking he had understood that he was looking for HIS wife, was shocked. Brown or white? What? Surely, he must be joking! I’m happy with the wife I have.
But he actually didn’t understand. Vady is the word for spouse while vary is the word for rice. Since the r in vary is a rolled, hard r, if you’re not precise, it can sound like a d! Later they both had a good laugh about it but since then we’re more careful when looking for one another! : )