The base of the mountain lies at some 5,250 feet (1,600 metres). At the 8,000-foot (2,440-metre) contour, the circumference is approximately 95 miles (153 km). Sheng is another language you may hear in Kenya. Sheng (the word coming from a combination of the words SwaHili and ENGlish) is a language that has grown out of Nairobi that is used almost exclusively by the younger crowd. It is a mix of Kiswahili, English, and the Bantu tribal tongues. Sheng is regarded almost as a secret language of the youth, and when spoken by a tourist, it is sure to impress any young adult in any big city. It is hard to differentiate from Kiswahili without knowing the language, but it can still be fun to substitute a Sheng greeting for a Kiswahili greeting if you run into a young adult. Common Sheng greetings are: “Sasa?” which is answered by “fit” or “fiti,” and “Mambo?” (or “Mambo vipi?” or just “Vipi?”), which is answered by “poa.”
What follows is a list of Kiswahili vocabulary that will allow you to have a working knowledge of the language. This could be useful to get you out of a fix, order food, or just impress a local.
Pronunciation: One of the reasons Kiswahili is not a difficult language is that it is very grammatical and pronunciation never changes from word to word.
A as the ‘a’ in ‘father’
E as the ‘e’ in ‘best’ or the ‘a’ in ‘hay’
I as the ‘ee’ in ‘bee’
O as the ‘o’ in ‘cold’
U as the ‘ou” in “you”
Dh as the ‘th’ in ‘this’
Ng’ as the ‘ng’ in ‘sing’
All other consonants require no explanation.
Greetings and Civilties:
Greeting is extremely important in Kenyan culture. Before talking to anyone, it is polite to greet them first. After a greeting, some Kenyans may even carry on with small talk for ten good minutes before getting to the topic at hand.
Welcome Karibu
How are you (greeting a singular person)? Habari yako? or Habari gani?
How are you (greeting many people)? Habari zenu? or Habari gani?
I’m fine Nzuri, Salama, or Njema
What is your name? Unaitwa nani?
My name is ____ Ninaitwa ______
Where are you from? Unatoka wapi?
I’m from _____ Ninatoka shiut______
Where do you live? Unakaa wapi?
I live in _____ Ninakaa ______
Thank you very much Asante sana
Yes ndio
No hapana
Goodbye fkwaheri
hello jambo, salama, sasa
No problem Hakuna Matata, ni sawa, usijali
White person (foreigner) Mzungu
White people (foreigners) Wazungu
Finding your way around:
I want to go to _____ Nataka kwenda mpaka/nataka kwenda ______
Is this the way to ______? Hii ni njia ya wapi _____?
Is this the car to _____? Hii ina enda wapi_____?
How much is it to go to _____? Ni pesa ngapi kwenda _____?
bus basi
train gari la moshi
vehicle gari
boat meli
taxi taxi
ticket tikiti
Wait a little! Ngoja kidogo!
Stop here! Simama hapa!
Where is _____? Wapi _____?
hotel hoteli ya kulala
bank bank
restaurant hoteli ya chakula
post office posta
toilet choo
hospital hospitali
police station stesheni ya polisi
Accommodation:
Where is a hotel? Wapi hoteli ya kulala?
Do you have a room for one person? Kuna chumba kwa mtu moja?
Do you have a room for two people? Kuna chumba kwa watu wawili?
Is there hot water? Kuna maji ya moto?
How much is the room? Chumba ni pesa ngapi?
I want to see the room please. Nataka kuona chumba tafadhali.
For one day siku moja
For one week wiki mzima /moja
key ufunguo/ kifunguo
Animals:
bird - ndege
crocodile - mamba
elephant - ndovu/tembo
giraffe - twiga
hippopotamus - kiboko
hyena - fisi
insects/bugs - wadudu
lion - simba
monkey - tumbili
mosquito - mbu
rhinoceros - kifaru
snake - nyoka
water buffalo - nyati
numbers:
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
20 ishirini
30 thelathini
40 arobaini
50 hamsini
60 sitini
70 sabini
80 themanini
90 tisini
100 mia moja
200 mia mbili
1000 elfu moja
4567 elfu nne mia tano sitini na saba
Emergencies:
I’m sick mimi mgonjwa/ mi nimgonjwa
I need a doctor ninahitaji daktari/ nataka daktari
I’m pregnant nina mimba
hospital hospitali
pharmacy duka la dawa
medicine dawa
Security:
Help! Saidia!
I’m lost nimepotea
I’ve been robbed nimeibwa
Don’t bother me. usinisumbue
Go away kwenda kabisa/ toka hapa
I have no money sina pesa
At the restaurant:
Vegetables and Grains:
beans (pinto, kidney) maharagwe
cabbage kabichi
carrots karoti
cassava muhogo
kale sukuma wiki
lettuce salad
onions vitunguu
potatoes viazi
rice mchele
tomatoes nyanya
vegetables (greens) mboga
Meat:
beef - nyama ya ng’ombe
goat - nyama ya mbuzi
kebabs - mushkaki
meat - nyama
mutton - nyama ya kondoo
pork - nyama ya ng’uruwe
crab - kaa
fish - samaki
lobster - kamba
chicken - kuku
Fruit:
bananas - ndizi
coconut - nazi
dates - tende
fruit - matunda
guava - pera
limes - ndimu
mangoes - maembe
oranges - machungwa
papayas - paipai
passion fruit - pashoni/ passion fruit
pineapples - mananasi
sugar cane - miwa
Other useful words and phrases:
boiled - chemsha
bread - mkate
butter - siagi/ blue band
cold - baridi
cup - kikombe
Do you have____? - Kuna/ uko na _____?
eggs - mayai
food - chakula
fork - uma
fried - kaanga
glass - glasi/ glass
hot - moto
hot(spicy) - kali
knife - kisu
napkin - kitambaa
pepper - pilipili
plate - sahani
raw - mbichi
ripe - mbivu
roast - choma
table - meza
salt - chumvi
spoon - kijiko
soup - supu
sweet - tamu
without meat - bila nyama
What follows is a list of Kiswahili vocabulary that will allow you to have a working knowledge of the language. This could be useful to get you out of a fix, order food, or just impress a local.
Pronunciation: One of the reasons Kiswahili is not a difficult language is that it is very grammatical and pronunciation never changes from word to word.
A as the ‘a’ in ‘father’
E as the ‘e’ in ‘best’ or the ‘a’ in ‘hay’
I as the ‘ee’ in ‘bee’
O as the ‘o’ in ‘cold’
U as the ‘ou” in “you”
Dh as the ‘th’ in ‘this’
Ng’ as the ‘ng’ in ‘sing’
All other consonants require no explanation.
Greetings and Civilties:
Greeting is extremely important in Kenyan culture. Before talking to anyone, it is polite to greet them first. After a greeting, some Kenyans may even carry on with small talk for ten good minutes before getting to the topic at hand.
Welcome Karibu
How are you (greeting a singular person)? Habari yako? or Habari gani?
How are you (greeting many people)? Habari zenu? or Habari gani?
I’m fine Nzuri, Salama, or Njema
What is your name? Unaitwa nani?
My name is ____ Ninaitwa ______
Where are you from? Unatoka wapi?
I’m from _____ Ninatoka shiut______
Where do you live? Unakaa wapi?
I live in _____ Ninakaa ______
Thank you very much Asante sana
Yes ndio
No hapana
Goodbye fkwaheri
hello jambo, salama, sasa
No problem Hakuna Matata, ni sawa, usijali
White person (foreigner) Mzungu
White people (foreigners) Wazungu
Finding your way around:
I want to go to _____ Nataka kwenda mpaka/nataka kwenda ______
Is this the way to ______? Hii ni njia ya wapi _____?
Is this the car to _____? Hii ina enda wapi_____?
How much is it to go to _____? Ni pesa ngapi kwenda _____?
bus basi
train gari la moshi
vehicle gari
boat meli
taxi taxi
ticket tikiti
Wait a little! Ngoja kidogo!
Stop here! Simama hapa!
Where is _____? Wapi _____?
hotel hoteli ya kulala
bank bank
restaurant hoteli ya chakula
post office posta
toilet choo
hospital hospitali
police station stesheni ya polisi
Accommodation:
Where is a hotel? Wapi hoteli ya kulala?
Do you have a room for one person? Kuna chumba kwa mtu moja?
Do you have a room for two people? Kuna chumba kwa watu wawili?
Is there hot water? Kuna maji ya moto?
How much is the room? Chumba ni pesa ngapi?
I want to see the room please. Nataka kuona chumba tafadhali.
For one day siku moja
For one week wiki mzima /moja
key ufunguo/ kifunguo
Animals:
bird - ndege
crocodile - mamba
elephant - ndovu/tembo
giraffe - twiga
hippopotamus - kiboko
hyena - fisi
insects/bugs - wadudu
lion - simba
monkey - tumbili
mosquito - mbu
rhinoceros - kifaru
snake - nyoka
water buffalo - nyati
numbers:
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
20 ishirini
30 thelathini
40 arobaini
50 hamsini
60 sitini
70 sabini
80 themanini
90 tisini
100 mia moja
200 mia mbili
1000 elfu moja
4567 elfu nne mia tano sitini na saba
Emergencies:
I’m sick mimi mgonjwa/ mi nimgonjwa
I need a doctor ninahitaji daktari/ nataka daktari
I’m pregnant nina mimba
hospital hospitali
pharmacy duka la dawa
medicine dawa
Security:
Help! Saidia!
I’m lost nimepotea
I’ve been robbed nimeibwa
Don’t bother me. usinisumbue
Go away kwenda kabisa/ toka hapa
I have no money sina pesa
At the restaurant:
Vegetables and Grains:
beans (pinto, kidney) maharagwe
cabbage kabichi
carrots karoti
cassava muhogo
kale sukuma wiki
lettuce salad
onions vitunguu
potatoes viazi
rice mchele
tomatoes nyanya
vegetables (greens) mboga
Meat:
beef - nyama ya ng’ombe
goat - nyama ya mbuzi
kebabs - mushkaki
meat - nyama
mutton - nyama ya kondoo
pork - nyama ya ng’uruwe
crab - kaa
fish - samaki
lobster - kamba
chicken - kuku
Fruit:
bananas - ndizi
coconut - nazi
dates - tende
fruit - matunda
guava - pera
limes - ndimu
mangoes - maembe
oranges - machungwa
papayas - paipai
passion fruit - pashoni/ passion fruit
pineapples - mananasi
sugar cane - miwa
Other useful words and phrases:
boiled - chemsha
bread - mkate
butter - siagi/ blue band
cold - baridi
cup - kikombe
Do you have____? - Kuna/ uko na _____?
eggs - mayai
food - chakula
fork - uma
fried - kaanga
glass - glasi/ glass
hot - moto
hot(spicy) - kali
knife - kisu
napkin - kitambaa
pepper - pilipili
plate - sahani
raw - mbichi
ripe - mbivu
roast - choma
table - meza
salt - chumvi
spoon - kijiko
soup - supu
sweet - tamu
without meat - bila nyama
