Learn about some Swahili-English false friends
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Intro |
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| Michael: What are some loanwords in Swahili? |
| Gertrude: And what are some words that sound similar in other languages? |
| Michael: At SwahiliPod101.com, we hear these questions often. Imagine the following scenario: Milcah Mugo and Ahmed Taleb are having a conversation after work, when Ahmed hears a familiar word. |
| "I need to take my medicine.” |
| Milcah Mugo: Nahitaji kukunywa dawa yangu. |
| Dialogue |
| Milcah Mugo: Nahitaji kukunywa dawa yangu. |
| Ahmed Taleb: Dawa? |
| Michael: Once more with the English translation. |
| Milcah Mugo: Nahitaji kukunywa dawa yangu. |
| Michael: "I have to take my medicine.’" |
| Ahmed Taleb: Dawa? |
| Michael: "Medicine?" |
Lesson focus |
| Michael: Swahili is also known as the African lingua franca. Not only because it’s spoken by around 100 million people in different East African countries, but also because it changed over the years under the influence of visitors from all around the world. In this lesson, we will have a look at Loanwords, or |
| Gertrude: maneno ya mkopo, |
| Michael: which originated from other languages and became an integral part of the Swahili language. |
| Michael: Let’s take a closer look at the dialogue. |
| Do you remember how Milcah Mugo says, "I have to take my medicine?" |
| Milcah Mugo: Nahitaji kukunywa dawa yangu. |
| Michael: Now, let us take a look at our second sentence. |
| Do you remember how Ahmed Taleb answers "Medicine?" |
| Gertrude Lee: Dawa? |
| Michael: Ahmed is confused because he hears a word that sounds very familiar. The word |
| Gertrude: dawa |
| Michael: means ‘medicine’ and it is a word borrowed from Arabic, which is why it sounds so familiar to Ahmed. The majority of loanwords in swahili come from Arabic or |
| Gertrude: Kiarabu |
| Michael: due to the geographical proximity between countries using Swahili and countries using the Arabic language. |
| Some other examples of Arabic loanwords are |
| Gertrude: bahari |
| Michael: meaning “ocean;” let’s have a look at a sentence using the word: |
| Gertrude: bahari ni bluu sana leo |
| Michael: meaning “the ocean is so blue today.” The next Arabic loanword is |
| Gertrude: dunia |
| Michael: meaning “the earth,” such as in the sentence, |
| Gertrude: Dunia ni sayari ya tatu kutoka jua. |
| Michael: meaning “Earth is the third planet from the sun.” Our last word borrowed from Arabic is |
| Gertrude: asali |
| Michael: meaning “honey,” and can be used in a sentence as follows: |
| Gertrude: Napenda kunywa chai na asali. |
| Michael: meaning “I like to drink tea with honey.” |
| However, even though most loanwords come from Arabic, English has also left a huge footprint on the Swahili language. This is no surprise since English has become one of the most widely spoken languages in the world. |
| Let’s have a look at some examples. Imagine you’re going to a restaurant in Tanzania, and you choose a familiar sounding word from the menu, |
| Gertrude: soseji, |
| Michael: meaning “sausage.” But a sausage alone will probably make you thirsty, so it’s better to order a |
| Gertrude: bia |
| Michael: or “beer” with it. After you finish your meal, you’ll need to ask for a |
| Gertrude: bili, |
| Michael: meaning “bill.” |
| Or imagine that you caught a cold; in Tanzania, you’d seek help from a |
| Gertrude: daktari, |
| Michael: meaning “physician, doctor.” |
| There are many more English loanwords in Swahili, such as |
| Gertrude: oveni |
| Michael: meaning “oven,” and can be used in a sentence as follows: |
| Gertrude: Pizza inahitaji kuoka dakika 10 kwenye oveni |
| Michael: meaning “the pizza has to bake for 10 minutes in the oven.” The next English loanword is |
| Gertrude: taulo |
| Michael: meaning “towel,” such as in the sentence |
| Gertrude: Nilisahau kuleta taulo changu |
| Michael: or “I forgot to bring my towel.” The last loanword from English is |
| Gertrude: familia |
| Michael: meaning “family,” and sounds in a sentence as follows: |
| Gertrude: naipenda familia yangu |
| Michael: meaning “I love my family.” The roots are clearly recognizable, right? |
| [Summary] |
| Michael: In this lesson, we learned that Swahili has many loanwords mainly from Arabic and English. Speaking one or both of these languages will surely help your learning process since recognizing and remembering the Swahili vocabulary will be a bit easier for you. |
| Expansion |
| Michael: There are words in Swahili that aren’t recognized as loanwords per se but can be found in other languages with the same, or different meanings. Let’s have a look at some examples. The first is |
| Gertrude: tatu. |
| Michael: For English speakers, it might sound like the word “tattoo,” but, in Swahili, it’s just the word for the number “three.” However, “tattoo” is a loanword from English and sounds very similar in Swahili, |
| Gertrude: tatoo. |
| Michael: Try to be cautious and understand the right meaning from the context. |
| Our next word is |
| Gertrude: dada. |
| Michael: If you think about an art period in the early 20th century, or a cute way to call your “dad,” I have to disappoint you. In Swahili, |
| Gertrude: dada |
| Michael: refers to a different family member. Can you guess which one? It means “sister!” |
| Now, this next family word is going to sound familiar to Arabic speakers. The word |
| Gertrude: baba |
| Michael: means ‘father’ in Swahili and Arabic. However, in Polish and other Slavic languages, it is a slightly offensive word for “old lady.” In some other languages, it also means “baby”—truly an intergenerational word! |
| Okay, our next false friend is unlikely to trip you up in conversation, but it might if you are eavesdropping at a coffee shop and not catching all the words. If you hear someone use the word |
| Gertrude: kila, |
| Michael: you can rest assured that they are not talking about a killer, but about everyone else! This word means ‘every’ and you might hear it in a sentence like this: |
| Gertrude: Kila mtu anakuja usiku wa leo. |
| Michael: ‘Everyone is coming tonight’. In Swahili, the word for ‘killer’ is |
| Gertrude: muuaji. |
| Michael: not at all the same! Now, if your Swahili friend invites you over to their house and suggests you sit on the |
| Gertrude: kiti, |
| Michael: don’t be alarmed! This word has nothing to do with cats; instead, it means ‘chair’, so you can safely sit down. |
| Cultural Insight |
| This is not really a loanword, but an important thing to know if you are in Kenya. Talking to locals, you will often hear people mix a lot of English and Swahili words together. One of the words you’ll often hear is the word |
| Gertrude: otherwise. |
| Michael: While in English this word describes circumstances different from the present ones, most Kenyans use this word to ask their friends how they have been, and what they have to say. |
| So let’s imagine that two Kenyan friends meet and start a conversation. |
| At some point in the conversation, one of these friends would probably ask, |
| Gertrude: Otherwise, niambie umekuwa aje? |
| Michael: which translates to “Otherwise, tell me, how have you been?” |
| The “otherwise” seems to be unnecessary from an English speaker’s perspective; however, in Kenya, it’s a common way to ask about someone’s well being. |
| While this word is mostly used by Kenyan people, you might hear it in South Africa too. |
Outro |
| Michael: Do you have any more questions? We’re here to answer them! |
| Gertrude: Baadaye! |
| Michael: See you soon! |
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