Tanzania

Kiswahili

Swahili - Kiswahili

The Swahili language is spoken throughout East Africa (that is to say Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda), and also areas a little on the Eastern side of Zaire and Burundi. The purest Swahili is to be found on the island of Zanzibar and along the mainland coastline closest to it. However as you get farther away, both north and south as well as inland, so does the Swahili begin to stray from its origin.

Therefore, in Northern Kenya, the extreme west of Tanzania and its southern borders, the language may be little known or extremely ungrammatical. In Uganda, the language is fairly commonly used except in the south-west. In eastern Zaire and Burundi, the Swahili language has a strong French flavour which is perfectly understandable to someone conversant with both languages.

P.M. Wilson, C.D.A., Cert. Ed. Simplified Swahili

Greetings

Swahili speaking people make a very strong use of greetings and can last several minutes before the subject for discussion is broached. To fail to reply to a greeting can cause great offence, and English greetings given in reply will not always be understood, or accepted. It is therefore important to learn and use these greetings.

The most common greeting used between two persons is:

Hujambo? Reply: Sijambo(Hello, are you well?) (Hello, yes I’m well)

The greeting used for more than one person is:

Hamjambo? Reply: Hatujambo(Hello, are you (pl) well?) (Hello, yes we are well)

When greeting your elders or people of senior positions, there is a particular greeting that is used.

Shikamuu! (Lit. I hold your feet)

Reply: Marahaba! (Delightful)

Habari yako? How are you? Reply: Nzuri!

Habari gani? What news? Reply: Nzuri! (Good)

U Mzima? Are you well? Reply: Mzima! (Lit. I am alive/whole)(Lit. Are you whole/alive?)

The reply is always ‘Good’ which can be either ‘Nzuri’ or ‘Njema’.

(For the learner, it is suggested that you keep on to ‘Nzuri’ as being the more common.)

A third alternative one may hear ‘Salama’ which means ‘Peaceful’.

Nzuri Good Ngema Well Salama Peaceful

Quick Exercise

In pairs, take it in turns to ask each other the following questions.

Person A Person B

Hujambo? (Hello, are you well?) Sijambo (Hello, I’m well)Habari yako? (How are you?) Nzuri (Good)U Mzima? (Are you alive/whole?) Mzima (Alive/whole)

(all in one piece?) (all in one piece)

Gina lako nani? (What is your name?) Gina langu …….. (My name is …….)Unatoka wapi? (Where are you from?) Ninatoka Australia (I’m from Australia)

Other useful words:

Asante Thank you

Pole Sorry

Samahani Excuse me

Tafadhali Please

Sana Very much

Kwa heri! Good-bye!

Siku Day

Mchana Daytime

Usiku Nightime

Asubuhi Morning

Jioni Evening

Wiki Week

Mwezi Month

Mwaka Year

Time is told with the word saa, which means "time or hour". Swahili time and western time are six hours apart. The Swahili

clock begins counting hours from sundown and daybreak.

Numbers

1. One Moja2. Two Mbili3. Three Tatu4. Four Nne5. Five Tano6. Six Sita7. Seven Saba8. Eight Nane9. Nine Tisa10. Ten Kumi11. Eleven Kumi na moja12. Twelve Kuma na mbili

Saa ngapi? What’s the time?

Seven o’clock

Saa..

moja

Three o’clock

Saa..

__________

Nine o’clock

Saa…

___________

Eleven o’clock

Saa…

___________

Six o’clock

Saa…

___________

Two o’clock

Saa…

___________

1. Moja

2. Mbili

3. Tatu

4. Nne

5. Tano

6. Sita

7. Saba

8. Nane

9. Tisa

10. Kumi

11. Kumi na moja

12. Kumi na mbili

Hodi

When approaching a house the custom is to call ‘Hodi?’

The word has no equivalent meaning in English, but vaguely means ‘Hello, is anyone about, please may I enter?’ The reply, if in the affirmative, is ‘Karibu’, meaning ‘Welcome’. If the reply is ‘Ngoja’, meaning ‘Wait’, then one must wait until they are welcomed inside or someone actually comes to the door.

Hodi? – Hello, is anyone about, please may I enter?

Karibu – Welcome

Ngoja – Wait

Personal Pronouns

mimi - I, me

wewe - you

yeye - he, him, she, her. (But NEVER ‘it’ unless referring to animals.)

sisi - we, us

nyinyi - you (pl.)

wao - they, them (of persons only)

Days

Monday jumatatu

Tuesday jumanne

Wednesday jumatano

Thursday alhamisi

Friday ijumaa

Saturday jumamosi

Sunday jumapili

Ijumaa (Friday) is the Muslim holy day.

Other Useful Words

tomorrow kesho

today leo

yesterday jana

tonight leo usiku

tomorrow evening kesho usiku

tomorrow morning kesho asubuhi

yesterday evening jana usiku

yesterday morning jana asubuhi

last week wiki jana

next week wiki ijayo

Vocabulary

Kiswahili Swahili

Hujambo Hello, are you well? (singular)

Sijambo Hello, yes I’m well

Hamjambo Hello, are you well? (plural)

Hatujambo Hello, yes we are well

Shikamuu Lit. I hold your feet (greeting for elders and people in senior positions)

Marahaba Delightful (response to shikamuu)

Habari yako? How are you? (singular)

Habari yenu? How are you? (plural)

Habari gani? What’s the news?

Mzima Alive/whole (all in one piece)

Nzuri Good

Ngema Well

Salama Peaceful

Gina lako nani? What is your name?

Gina langu ni ….. My name is…..

Unatoka wapi? Where are you from?

Ninatoka Australia I’m from Australia

Wapi? Where?

Asante Thank you

Pole Sorry

Samahani Excuse me

Tafadhali Please

Sana Very much

Kwa heri! Good-bye!

Siku Day

Mchana Daytime

Usiku Nightime

Asubuhi Morning

Jioni Evening

Wiki Week

Mwezi Month

Mwaka Year

Saa Time/hour

Saa ngapi? What is the time?

Ngapi? How much?

Hodi Hello, is there anyone about please may I enter?

Questions?

P.M. Wilson, C.D.A., Cert. Ed.

Simplified Swahili

http://kamusiproject.org/

http://mwanasimba.online.fr/E_index.html