Kikuyu language

Kikuyu or Gikuyu (Gikuyu: Gĩkũyũ [ɣēkōjó]) (also known as Gĩgĩkũyũ) is a Bantu language spoken by the Gĩkũyũ (Agĩkũyũ) of Kenya. Kikuyu is mainly spoken in the area between Nyeri, Nairobi and Nakuru. The Kikuyu people usually identify their lands by the surrounding mountain ranges in Central Kenya, including Mount Kenya, which they call Kĩrĩnyaga.

Kikuyu
Gĩgĩkũyũ
Pronunciation[ɣēkōjó]
Native toKenya
RegionCentral Province
EthnicityAgĩkũyũ
Native speakers
6.6 million (2009 census)[1]
Dialects
  • Gichugu
  • Mathira
  • Ndia
  • Northern Gikuyu
  • Southern Gikuyu
Language codes
ISO 639-1ki
ISO 639-2kik
ISO 639-3kik
Glottologkiku1240
E.51[3]
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.
PersonGĩkũyũ
PeopleAGĩkũyũ
LanguageGĩkũyũ
CountryBũrũrĩ Wa Gĩkũyũ

Dialects

Kikuyu has four main mutually intelligible dialects. The Central Province districts are divided along the traditional boundaries of these dialects, which are Kĩrĩnyaga, Mũrang'a, Nyeri and Kiambu.

The Kikuyu from Kĩrĩnyaga are composed of two main sub-dialects – the Ndia and Gichugu who speak the dialects Kĩndia and Gĩgĩcũgũ. The Gicugus and the Ndias do not have the "ch" or "sh" sound (same as in Mũrang'a) and will use the "s" sound instead (Kikuyu has no letter S), hence the pronunciation of "Gĩcũgũ" as opposed to "Gĩchũgũ". To hear Ndia being spoken, one needs to be in Kerugoya, the largest town in Kirinyaga County. Other home towns for the Ndia, where "purer" forms of the dialect are spoken, are located in the tea-growing areas of Kagumo, Baricho, Kagio, and the Kangaita hills. Lower down the slopes is Kutus, which is a bustling town with so many influences from the other dialects that it is difficult to distinguish between them. The dialect is also prevalent in the rice growing area of Mwea.

The unmistakable tonal patterns of the Gichũgũ dialect (which sounds like Meru or Embu, sister languages to Kikuyu) can be heard in the coffee-growing areas of Kianyaga, Gĩthũre, Kathũngũri, Marigiti. The Gichugu switch easily to other Kikuyu dialects in conversation with the rest of the Kikuyu.

Phonology

Symbols shown in parentheses are those used in the orthography.

Vowels

FrontCentralBack
Highiu
Mid-highe (ĩ)o (ũ)
Mid-lowɛ (e)ɔ (o)
Lowa

Consonants

BilabialDental/
Alveolar
PalatalVelarGlottal
Plosivevoicelesst (t)k (k)
voiced prenasalisedᵐb (mb)ⁿd (nd)ᵑɡ (ng)
Affricateᶮdʒ (nj)
Nasalm (m)n (n)ɲ (ny)ŋ (ng')
Fricativevoicelessʃ (c)h (h)
voicedβ (b)ð (th)ɣ (g)
Liquidɾ (r)
Approximantj (y)w (w)

The prenasalized consonants are often pronounced without prenasalization, and thus /ᵐb ⁿd ᶮdʒ ᵑɡ/ are often realized as [b d ɡ].

Tones

Kikuyu has two level tones (high and low), a low-high rising tone, and downstep.[4]

Grammar

The canonical word order of Gĩkũyũ is SVO (subject–verb–object). It uses prepositions rather than postpositions, and adjectives follow nouns.[5]

Alphabet

Kikuyu is written in a Latin alphabet. It does not use the letters l f p q s v x z, and adds the letters ĩ and ũ. The Kikuyu alphabet is:

a b c d e g h i ĩ j k m n o r t u ũ w y[6]

Some sounds are represented by digraphs such as ng for the velar nasal /ŋ/.

Sample phrases

EnglishGĩkũyũ
How are youŨhoro waku or kũhana atĩa?
Give me waterHe maaĩ
How are you doing?Ũrĩ mwega? or Wĩ mwega
I am hungryNdĩ mũhũtu
Help meNdeithia
I am goodNdĩ mwega
Are you a friend?Wĩ mũrata?
Bye, be blessedTigwo na wega/Tigwo na thaayũ
I love youNĩngwendete.
Come hereŨka haha
I will phone youNĩngũkũhũrĩra thimũ
I give thanksNĩndacokia ngatho
I'm blessedNdĩĩ mũrathime
Give me moneyHe mbeca / He mbia
Stop nonsenseTiga wana / tiga ũrimũ
Don't laughNdũgatheke
You are learnedWĩ mũthomu
Thank youThengiũ / Nĩ wega / Nĩ ngaatho
Go in peace Thiĩ na thaayũ
DayMũthenya
NightŨtukũ
GodNgai
Ancestral SpiritsNgomi

Sample texts

English[7]Kikuyu[7]
The Gikuyu believe in God

the creator of heaven and earth,

the giver of all things.

Gikuyu ni gitikitie Ngai

mumbi wa Iguru na Thina muheani wa indo ciothe

Letter from the Hen to the Eagle[8]MarŪa Ma NgŪkŪ KŪrĪ RwĪgĪ[8]
My father is very strict

He had warned me about marrying you

When he sees me back home, he is going to be furious

And when that happens, he is uncontrollable

You will have to relocate

Young man[9]

Naniguo muthee akoragwo mwaki

Naniajirite digakuhikie

Anyona muciì nìekurakara

Nake arakara dahorekaga

Noùùthamire

Mwanake[9]

Literature

There is notable literature written in the Kikuyu language. For instance, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o's Mũrogi wa Kagogo (Wizard of the Crow) is the longest known book written in Kikuyu. Other authors writing in Kikuyu are Gatua wa Mbũgwa and Waithĩra wa Mbuthia. Mbuthia has published various works in different genres—essays, poetry, children stories and translations—in Kikuyu. The late Wahome Mutahi also sometimes wrote in Kikuyu. Also, Gakaara wa Wanjaũ wrote his popular book, Mau Mau Author in Detention, which won a Noma Award in 1984.[10]

In popular culture

In the 1983 movie Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, the character Nien Nunb speaks in the Kikuyu language.[11]

The 2023 song, Mwaki, by the Brazilian DJ, Zerb [pt], features the Kenyan artist, Sofiya Nzau, singing in Kikuyu.[12]

References

Bibliography

  • Armstrong, Lilias E. 1967. The Phonetic and Tonal Structure of Kikuyu. London: Published for the International African Institute by Dawsons of Pall Mall.
  • Barlow, A. Ruffell and T. G. Benson. 1975. English-Kikuyu Dictionary. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
  • Barlow, A. Ruffell. 1951. Studies in Kikuyu Grammar and Idiom. Edinburgh: William Blackwood & Sons,
  • Benson, T. G. 1964. Kikuyu–English Dictionary. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
  • Gecaga B. M. and Kirkaldy-Willis W.H. 1953. English–Kikuyu, Kikuyu–English Vocabulary. Nairobi: The Eagle Press.
  • Kihara, Claudius P. "Middle and Antipassive Voices in Gĩkũyũ (E51)." Arusha Working Papers in African Linguistics, 6(1): 17-39.
  • Leakey L. S. B. 1989. First Lessons in Kikuyu. Nairobi: Kenya Literature Bureau.
  • Mugane John 1997. A Paradigmatic Grammar of Gikuyu. Stanford, California: CSLI publications.

External links