Useful Swahili Words

Pronunciation

To be able to pronounce Swahili words correctly, I strongly recommend the Teach Yourself Swahili CD. You can also check out the Introduction to Kiswahili Language by AbdulGhany Mohammed and Kassim A. Abdullah or the Swahili Pronunciation Guide by Thomas Hinnebusch and Sarah Mirza. Some pronunciation is provided in each section of this page in MP3 format. Just click on the Swahili words. You may have to replay the words in some cases.

Quick Swahili Lessons

Many readers of this page have been asking me where they can have quick Swahili lessons. The Teach Yourself Swahili CD has been prepared exactly to address that need. For those who get a chance to visit Zanzibar, Tanzania, they can have Swahili lessons from the Institute of Kiswahili and Foreign Languages of the State University of Zanzibar. Follow the link for more information. Various universities in North America, Europe, and Asia, also offer such lessons. You may locate through the Internet the one that is closest to you.

Swahili Basics

Swahili is one of the easiest languages to learn. Here are a few basic things to know about Swahili:

Swahili verbs always carry with them the subject (and sometimes the object) and the tense. For example, Ninakula , is a complete sentence which means "I am eating". Ni- prefix stands for the subject "I", the -na- affix stands for "am" showing the tense i.e. the "present continuous" tense, and -kula is the root of the verb "eat".

Another example, Alitupa zawadi which means "He/She gave us gifts". First of all note that in the Swahili language, the pronouns are the same for all the genders - he, him, she, and her are not distinguishable in Swahili - same words, prefixes, affixes and suffixes are used. The well sought after "gender equality" is in-built in the Swahili language!! Now back to the sentence. The prefix A- stands for the subject "He" or "She", the -li- affix indicates the past tense, the -tu- affix stands for the object "us", and -pa is the root of the verb "give".

More examples:



Nilikula - I ate

Nimekula - I have eaten

Ninakula - I am eating

Nitakula - I will eat



If you have any comments or questions, I'd be pleased to receive them at: [email protected]



Greetings

Between peers: " Habari! " and the greeted answers, " Nzuri! ". Between peers: " Hujambo? " (Are you fine?) and the greeted answers, " Sijambo! " (I'm fine!) Young to older: " Shikamoo! " (originally it meant "I touch your feet" as a sign of respect) and the greeted answers, " Marahabaa! " (I acknowledge your respect!).

Personal Pronouns

English Swahili I Mimi We Sisi You (singular) Wewe You (plural) nyinyi He Yeye She Yeye They Wao





Common Dialogue





General Words and Phrases







Days of the Week

i

Alkhamis

English Swahili Saturday

Jumamosi (literally: first day of the week)

Sunday Jumapili (literally: second day of the week) Monday Jumatatu (literally: third day of the week) Tuesday Jumanne (literally: fourth day of the week) Wednesday Jumatano (literally: fifth day of the week) Thursday Alhamisi (Arabic: fifth day of the week) Friday Ijumaa (Arabic: the day of congregational prayer)





Numbers





Time

It is interesting to note that in the Swahili culture the day starts at sunrise (unlike in the Arab world where the day starts at sunset, and in the Western world where the day starts at midnight). Sunrise in East Africa, being exactly at the Equator, happens every day at approximately 6:00 a.m. And for that reason, 6:00 a.m. is "0:00 morning" Swahili time. By "Swahili time" I mean the time as spoken in Swahili.

So the hands of a watch or clock meant to read Swahili time would always point to a number opposite to the number for the actual time as spoken in English. That is, the Swahili time anywhere in the world (not just East Africa) is delayed by 6 hours.

Therefore 7:00 a.m. is "1:00 morning" (saa moja asubuhi) Swahili time; midnight is "6:00 night" (saa sita usiku) Swahili time. 5:00 a.m. is "11:00 early morning" (saa kumi na moja alfajiri) Swahili time.

Note also that the Swahili time doesn't use "noon" as the reference as in a.m. (before noon) and p.m. (after noon). The time is spoken using "alfajiri" which is the early morning time during which the morning light has started to shine but the sun has not risen yet; "asubuhi" which is the morning time between sunrise and a little before noon; "mchana" which is from around noon to around 3:00 p.m.; "alasiri" which is from around 3:00 p.m. to sunset; "jioni" which is the entire time period from around 3:00 p.m. up to a little before 7:00 p.m.; and "usiku" which is the entire time period from around 7:00 p.m. to early morning.

Animals

English Picture Swahili Baboon Nyani Bird(s) Ndege Buffalo Nyati Cat Paka Cheetah Duma Chimpanzee Sokwe Cow/Ox Ng'ombe Deer Paa Dog Mbwa Donkey Punda Elephant Tembo/Ndovu Giraffe Twiga Goat Mbuzi Hippopotamus Kiboko Hyena Fisi Impala Swala Leopard Chui Lion Simba Monkey Kima Ostrich Mbuni Peacock Tausi Pig Nguruwe Python Chatu Rhinoceros Kifaru Sheep Kondoo Snake Nyoka Warthog Ngiri Wild Boar

Nguruwe-mwitu Wild Dog Mbwa-mwitu Zebra Punda-milia