Wording
|
Phonetic
|
English
|
Habari | Hah-bar-ee | Hello/Hi |
Kwa Heri | Co-wah Heh-ree | Good Bye! |
Unasema Kiingereza / Swahili | Oo-nah-seh-mah Kee-ehn-geh-reh-zah / Swah-hee-lee | Do you speak English / Spanish? |
Jina Langu Ni... | Gee-nah Lahn-goo Nee | My name is… |
Unaweza Kunsaidia | Oo-nah-weh-zah Koo-nee-sai-eed-ee-ah | Can you help me? |
Mimi Nina Kuangalia Kwa... | Mee-mee Nee-nah Koo-ahn-gah-lee-ah Co-wah | I’m looking for… |
Ndiyo / Hakuna | Un-dee-yoh / Hah-koo-nah | Yes / No |
Asante | Ah-san-tay | Mr / Mrs / Miss |
Leo / Sasa | Lee-oh / Sah-sah | Today / Now |
Kesho / Jana | Keh-show / Jah-nah | Tomorrow / Yesterday |
Hii / Kwamba / Hapa / Huko | Hee / Co-wahm-bah / Hah-pah / Hoo-koh | This / That / Here / There |
Phrases
Above are a few common Swahili phrases to help you get around.
Languages
There are around 70 languages spoken in Kenya with most being indigenous to the region and a few being imported from foreign countries. Most prominent is Swahili which developed during the 1st Millennium AD following the boost in trade and commerce with the Gulf and South East Asia. Additionally, English is used throughout the country frequently, especially for business transactions.
Indigenous languages can be broken into two main groups, the Niger-Congo languages which include Kikuyu, Kamba and Ekegusii, and the Nilo-Saharan languages which include Dholuo, Kalenjin and Maasai, among others. Additionally, many Afro-Asiatic languages such as Oromo and Arabic, as well as many Indo-European languages such as Hindustani and German, are also spoken frequently.