Lesson 12 — What's your name?

The exchange you'll use more than almost any other: asking a name, and giving your own. One short template carries both.

1 · Say this

tu namu li shu? (too · NAH-moo · lee · shoo) What's your name?

Four little words, and you already know one of them — tu, you. Here are the other three:

Amatu	Says	Means
`namu`	"NAH-moo"	name
`li`	"lee"	is
`shu`	"shoo"	what / which

Read straight across: you — name — is — what? That's the whole question.

2 · A closer look: and your answer

To give your own name, keep the exact same frame and swap two words — tu becomes mi (me), and shu (what) becomes your actual name:

mi namu li [your name] (mee · NAH-moo · lee · …) My name is ___.

For example: mi namu li Joel · mi namu li Mira · mi namu li Talo. Slot your own name into the gap and you're done.

So the full exchange:

— tu namu li shu? (What's your name?) — mi namu li Mira. tu namu li shu? (My name is Mira. And yours?)

🧭 Why it's built this way shu is Amatu's all-purpose what / which — the word you drop into a sentence wherever the unknown sits. You ask "name is what?", and the answer simply replaces shu with the real word. Question and answer share one shape; you're not learning two patterns, you're learning one and filling the blank.

⚠️ Watch out shu is a single sound — "shoo," like the sh in shoe, one smooth syllable. Don't split it into "s-hoo." And li is "lee" (the "ee" of see), never "lie."

3 · Your turn

Out loud:

Ask someone's name → tu namu li shu?
Give your own → mi namu li [your name]
Run the whole exchange, both parts — ask, then answer and ask back.

4 · Tonight's phrase

mi namu li … — my name is … — paired with tu namu li shu?

30-second check

Cover the page. (1) Ask for a name. (2) Give yours. (3) Say which two words you swap to turn the question into your answer. Three for three? You can now introduce yourself and learn who you're talking to — the doorway into every other conversation.

⬅️ Back: Lesson 11 — Do you speak Amatu? · ➡️ Next: Lesson 13 — She, he, it