| Kikuyu | |
|---|---|
| Gĩgĩkũyũ | |
| Pronunciation | [ɣēkōjó] |
| Native to | Kenya |
| Region | Central Province |
| Ethnicity | Agĩkũyũ |
Native speakers | 6.6 million (2009 census)[1] |
| Dialects |
|
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-1 | ki |
| ISO 639-2 | kik |
| ISO 639-3 | kik |
| Glottolog | kiku1240 |
E.51[3] | |
| Person | MũGĩkũyũ |
|---|---|
| People | AGĩkũyũ |
| Language | GĩGĩkũyũ |
| Country | Bũrũrĩ Wa Gĩkũyũ |
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 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.
Symbols shown in parentheses are those used in the orthography.
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | i | u | |
| Mid-high | e (ĩ) | o (ũ) | |
| Mid-low | ɛ (e) | ɔ (o) | |
| Low | a |
| Bilabial | Dental/ Alveolar |
Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive | voiceless | t (t) | k (k) | |||
| voiced prenasalised | ᵐb (mb) | ⁿd (nd) | ᵑɡ (ng) | |||
| Affricate | ᶮdʒ (nj) | |||||
| Nasal | m (m) | n (n) | ɲ (ny) | ŋ (ng') | ||
| Fricative | voiceless | ʃ (c) | h (h) | |||
| voiced | β (b) | ð (th) | ɣ (g) | |||
| Liquid | ɾ (r) | |||||
| Approximant | j (y) | w (w) | ||||
The prenasalized consonants are often pronounced without prenasalization, and thus /ᵐb ⁿd ᶮdʒ ᵑɡ/ are often realized as [b d dʒ ɡ].
Kikuyu has two level tones (high and low), a low-high rising tone, and downstep.[4]
The canonical word order of Gĩkũyũ is SVO (subject–verb–object). It uses prepositions rather than postpositions, and adjectives follow nouns.[5]
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:
Some sounds are represented by digraphs such as ng for the velar nasal /ŋ/.
| English | Gĩkũyũ |
|---|---|
| How are you | Ũhoro waku or kũhana atĩa? |
| Give me water | He maaĩ |
| How are you doing? | Ũrĩ mwega? or Wĩ mwega |
| I am hungry | Ndĩ mũhũtu |
| Help me | Ndeithia |
| I am good | Ndĩ mwega |
| Are you a friend? | Wĩ mũrata? |
| Bye, be blessed | Tigwo na wega/Tigwo na thaayũ |
| I love you | Nĩngwendete. |
| Come here | Ũka haha |
| I will phone you | Nĩngũkũhũrĩra thimũ |
| I give thanks | Nĩndacokia ngatho |
| I'm blessed | Ndĩĩ mũrathime |
| Give me money | He mbeca / He mbia |
| Stop nonsense | Tiga wana / tiga ũrimũ |
| Don't laugh | Ndũgatheke |
| You are learned | Wĩ mũthomu |
| Thank you | Thengiũ / Nĩ wega / Nĩ ngaatho |
| Go in peace | Thiĩ na thaayũ |
| Day | Mũthenya |
| Night | Ũtukũ |
| God | Ngai |
| Ancestral Spirits | Ngomi |
| 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 Thi na 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] |
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 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, features the Kenyan artist, Sofiya Nzau, singing in Kikuyu.[12]
