Learn all you need to know about greetings in Swahili
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Intro |
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| Antoni: Which greetings depend on the time of day in Swahili? |
| Gertrude: And can they be replaced with time-neutral greetings? |
| Antoni: At SwahiliPod101.com, we hear these questions often. Imagine the following situation: Ben Lee is greeting his friend, but he hasn't noticed how late it has become. Ben says, |
| "Good morning, my friend." |
| Ben Lee: Habari ya asubuhi rafiki yangu. |
| Dialogue |
| Ben Lee: Habari ya asubuhi rafiki yangu. |
| Grace Njenga: Tayari ni saa tisa. Ni habari ya adhuhuri rafiki yangu. |
| Antoni: Once more with the English translation. |
| Ben Lee: Habari ya asubuhi rafiki yangu. |
| Antoni: "Good morning, my friend." |
| Grace Njenga: Tayari ni saa tisa. Ni habari ya adhuhuri rafiki yangu. |
| Antoni: "It's already 3:00 PM. It's "good afternoon," my friend." |
Lesson focus |
| Antoni: In this lesson, we will talk about time-sensitive Swahili greetings. Swahili, similar to English, has some greetings that are used depending on the "time of the day," or |
| Gertrude: Wakati wa siku |
| Antoni: That said, there are greetings during the first part of the day, which are |
| Gertrude: Habari za asubuhi |
| Antoni: or "Good morning," in the afternoon, which is |
| Gertrude: Habari za mchana |
| Antoni: or "Good afternoon," and in the evening, which is |
| Gertrude: Habari za jioni |
| Antoni: or "Good evening." These are standard greetings and are used in the same manner as they are used in most cultures. "Good morning," for instance, is used as soon as the day starts until midday. On the other hand, "Good afternoon" is used right after the clock strikes past noon time. Finally, "Good evening" is used right after sunset when it’s getting dark. |
| Antoni: Take note of the first word used in these three greetings. It’s the word, |
| Gertrude: Habari |
| Antoni: This literally means "news" or "information." In Swahili, greeting someone with "Good morning" is asking that person the latest news about them. This same word is also used as a stand-alone greeting, which could mean "Any news?" |
| [Recall 1] |
| Antoni: This time, let’s take a closer look at the dialogue. |
| Do you remember how Ben Lee says "Good morning, my friend?" |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Gertrude as Ben Lee: Habari ya asubuhi rafiki yangu. |
| Antoni: Earlier, we mentioned that "Good morning" in Swahili is |
| Gertrude: Habari za asubuhi |
| Antoni: Here, we see Ben Lee using a different version of the Swahili greeting for "Good morning," which is |
| Gertrude: Habari ya asubuhi |
| Antoni: Both are acceptable versions. The only difference is in the particle used. As a rule, when greeting one person, the particle to use is |
| Gertrude: ya |
| Antoni: You also use this particle if you wish to engage in a conversation. On the other hand, when greeting more than one person or when making a general greeting that doesn’t require an in-depth response or any response at all, the particle to use is |
| Gertrude: za |
| [Recall 2] |
| Antoni: Now, let’s take a look at our second sentence. |
| Do you remember how Grace Njenga says "It's already 3:00 PM. It's "good afternoon," my friend?" |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Gertrude as Grace Njenga: Tayari ni saa tisa. Ni habari ya adhuhuri rafiki yangu. |
| Antoni: Ben Lee isn’t aware that it’s already late and greets Grace with a good morning. Grace corrects him and informs him that the proper greeting is |
| Gertrude: habari ya adhuhuri |
| Antoni: which means "Good afternoon." Here, Grace uses another version of "Good afternoon," and uses the word, |
| Gertrude: adhuhuri |
| Antoni: This word literally means "midday" or "noontime." It can be used as an alternative to |
| Gertrude: mchana |
| Antoni: which means "daytime." |
| [Summary] |
| Antoni: In this lesson, we learned that Swahili, similar to English, has three time-related greetings, which are |
| Gertrude: Habari za asubuhi |
| Antoni: "Good morning," |
| Gertrude: Habari za mchana |
| Antoni: or "Good afternoon," |
| Gertrude: Habari za jioni |
| Antoni: and "Good evening." |
| Expansion/Contrast (Optional) |
| Antoni: Besides the three time-sensitive greetings we’ve discussed, there are other ways you can greet someone in Swahili. The most common way is by saying, |
| Gertrude: Jambo |
| Antoni: which means "How are you?" This literally means "matter" or "thing." A variant of this greeting is |
| Gertrude: Hujambo |
| Antoni: which is a contraction of the words |
| Gertrude: huna |
| Antoni: which means "to have" and, |
| Gertrude: jambo |
| Antoni: It literally means "Do you have anything?" However, as a greeting, it could mean a simple "Hello" or "How are you?" Another common way to greet someone in Swahili is by saying, |
| Gertrude: U hali gani? |
| Antoni: which literally means "What’s the situation?" There are also less formal ways to greet someone in Swahili. Among the youth, a common greeting would be |
| Gertrude: Mambo |
| Antoni: which means "What’s up?" Another one is |
| Gertrude: Sema |
| Antoni: which literally means "Speak." |
| Cultural Insight/Expansion (Optional) |
| Antoni: Politeness plays a huge role in Swahili greetings. When greeting a superior or someone much older, Swahili speakers would say, |
| Gertrude: Shikamoo |
| Antoni: This is a shortening of the expression, |
| Gertrude: shika miguu ya |
| Antoni: which means "to fall at one’s feet," to which the superior would respond with |
| Gertrude: Marahaba |
| Antoni: an expression derived from a term that refers to the act of graciously receiving or welcoming something. |
Outro |
| Antoni: Do you have any more questions? We’re here to answer them! |
| Gertrude: Nitakuona hivi karibuni! |
| Antoni: See you soon! |
| Credits: Gertrude (Swahili, Kenya), Antoni (English, synthetic voice) |
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