Over 120 different dialects are used throughout Tanzania, most tribal languages. Fortunately for any visitor, the national language of Swahili (or kiswahili) dominates throughout the country. Below are a few terms or phrases from this lovely Bantu language that you might find in a few of my blog posts. Some things just sound better in kiswahili!
Bibi: grandmother, probably some of the coolest people in your vill.
Diamond Platnumz: not kiswahili, but if you ever visit this country, you gotta know all about Diamond - he's all the rage here.
Furahi: happy!
Fundi: the brilliant people you go to when you encounter any shida, basically anyone who is an expert in their field. i.e. carpenter, seamstress.
Hamna shida: no problem, no worries
Hapana: no
Jua ni kali: dude, the sun is intense here!
Kali: intense
Karibu(ni): Welcome!
Kweli: true, truth, yahhh!
Nipe tano: "give me five," or basically a fist bump
Safi: clean, fresh, awesome, good, stellar (basically there aren't enough adjectives in the kiswahili language)
Shanga: shockers, awhh, amazement
Shagalabagala: chaos or disorganization - literally my favorite word here and basically the state of my mind every time I speak Kiswahili!
Shida: problem
Vumbi sana: very dusty, basically if you could describe Singida in one word
Watoto: the kiddos, children, youngins
No comments:
Post a Comment