I have started this forum as a source for beginners to learn the language of Kikuyu. As is current, the instructions will be in English with translations where necessary. It is not by any way authoritative and positive criticism is welcome.

It will be structured in the form of 'lessons', each building on the other. English terms such as 'verbs', 'tenses', 'nouns', etc will be avoided and explanations given in plain English.

Welcome.

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LESSON 1.

Learning Kikuyu is very easy. One has to note that Kikuyu is very similar to Kiswahili in structure, and if one knows Kiswahili, then Kikuyu looks very simple.

Kikuyu language structure relies on the VOWELS. If you know Kikuyu vowels, then you can construct any word.

Here are the vowels:

Aa Pronounced as in 'a' in art

Ee as in 'e' in ebb

Ii as in 'i' in it

Oo as in 'o' in option

Uu as in 'u' in ululation

Ĩĩ as in 'a' in ate

Ũũ as in 'o' in oat.

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Thanks for you effort to teach kikuyu. you are forced to do this because of those parents who refused to speak to their children in kikuyu "AT HOME" especially in the cities and those poor kids can't even communicate with their grandparents!! Sorry i had to get that off my chest. Someone said when you lose your language you lose your culture. I know the language but need resources to learn more about my people. Our parents showed us the white man's way but we are lost without our identity. WE WERE KIKUYUS LONG BEFORE WE BECAME KENYANS. By the way do you have to have a special keyboard to type the "i" as in ate? Thx.

LESSON 2.

In this lesson we will try to construct the basic Kikuyu sounds. You will note that, unlike in the English language, the total number of basic sounds in Kikuyu can be enumerated. For convenience's sake we will follow the alphabet.

Here are the first five sounds:

ca pronounced like the 'sa' in saturday

ce

ci

co

cu

cĩ

cũ

ba pronounced like in the 'fa' in father

be

bi

bo

bu

bĩ

bũ

ga pronounced like the 'ga' in agar

ge

gi

go

gu

gĩ

gũ

ha pronounced like the 'ha' in hat

he

hi

ho

hu

hĩ

hũ

ka pronounced like the 'ka in kaput.

Wamwari try ALT140 for î and alt 150 for û.

Wamax I admire you skill

LESSON 3.

By now, the pattern that is used to form ALL the sounds in Kikuyu language is apparent. That is a consonant preceeding a vowel. These are the ramaining basic sounds. Fill in the blanks.

ka pronounced like the 'ka in kaput.

ke, _, _, _, _, _.

ma pronounced like the 'ma' in mat.

_, Mi, _, _, _, _.

na pronounced like the 'na' in nag.

_, _, no, _, _, _.

ra pronounced like the 'ra' in rag.

_, _, _, ru, _, _.

ta pronounced like the 'ta' in tag.

_, _, _, _, tĩ, _.

wa pronounced like the 'wa' in wag.

_, _, _, _, _, wũ.

ya pronounced like the 'ya' in yam.

ya, _, _, _, _, _.

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LESSON 4A.

There are other unique sounds that are made by combining three letters, unlike the one described above. These utilise a vowel proceeded by 2 consonants.

Please note that these are single sounds, and the preceding consonant is never pronounced alone.

These are the sounds made by adding letter ‘n’:

nda pronounced like the ‘nda’ in kinda
nde, ndi, ndo, ndu, ndĩ, ndũ.

nga pronounced like the 'nga' in unga

nja pronounced like inte'ger'.

nya pronounced like Ke'nya'.

By adding letter ‘m’, we only get the following sounds:

mba pronounced like a'mber', but with no stress to m.

Similarly, there is only one group of sounds made by adding letter ‘t’.

tha pronounced like in mo'ther'.

There is also the sound 'ng'a', pronounced like in the 'ngar' in hangar.

ng'a, ng'e, ng'i, ng'o, ng'u, ng'ĩ, ng'ũ.

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LESSON 4B.

Unusual sounds.

There are sounds that we can consider as unusual in their usage. They do not fall under any of the above patterns and they do not have all the -a, -e, -i etc derivatives.

Some are actually abbreviations of their original words (a la cant vs can not). For example:

kwa, kwe etc (short for kũa)

mwa

rwa

gwa

twa.

Others have their origin in certain dialects, thus not universally spoken among Kikuyu speakers, for example:

cha, che, etc


While others are not really Kikuyu sounds, for example:

nwa

cwa.

However, their usage, though grammatically incorrect, is not unacceptable.

LESSON 5.

Forming Words.

Having looked at all the possible sounds that can be spoken in the Kikuyu language, we can now start forming words. This is the easiest part in learning Kikuyu language, as one just needs to cobble up the sounds together. However, there are certain rules that need to be observed.

1. A word can be formed of a single sound or multiple sounds.

2. A word can begin with a consonant or vowel, but IT ALWAYS ENDS WITH A VOWEL.

3. A vowel is a sound by its own right.

4. No consonant can make a sound.

Here are some examples:

A vowel and a vowel:

a-i (No)

A vowel and a sound:

a-ca (No)

A sound and a sound:

hi-ti (hyena)

Unusual sounds:

nguacĩ (sweet potato)

Short forms:

gĩkwa (yam).

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LESSON 6.

Pronounciation.

The Kikuyu language, unlike English or even Swahili, is a tonal language. This means that a word may be spelt the same but have different meaning, depending on which sound you stress. A word may even have only one meaning, but the meaning is made alive by the intonation, or the meaning may be lost if the incorrect intonation is applied.

Lets look at one example:

i-ri-a

This word may have any of the following meanings:

Milk: if you stress the last sound.

Lake: if you stress the middle sound.

Those: if you stress the initial sound.

This is unlike the English language where, even if the word has different meanings, it is always pronounced the same.

This is the most difficult part when one wants to learn Kikuyu. One has to listen to the laguage being spoke and to speak the language. It is not the aim of this thread to teach intonation, but we are working on audio aids that will be posted as the lessons unfold.

Thank you very much. I'm a Chinese student who is working on the Kikuyu language, and I really admire your instructions, especially they are clear and easy to understand.
I hope that in the near future you may post something about the Kikuyu tone, I'm really interested in it.

LESSON 7A.

Building a vocabulary.

Let us now try to learn as many words as we can. We will devide these words into several groups. There is no better place to start than with words that are everywhere. That people have pronounced ever since they knew a Kikuyu person. This will give us a clear understanding before we come to complex words.

Common names of people:

Ka-ma-u

Wa-nji-rũ

Kĩ-ma-ni

Ng'a-ng'a

Wa-i-the-re-ro

Wa-ngũ-i

Kĩ-ba-kĩ

Ngũ-nji-ri

Kĩ-a-ri-ĩ

How about the names of Kikuyu places?

Mũ-ra-ng'a

Kĩ-a-mbu-u

Gĩ-thũ-ngũ-ri

Ga-tũ-ndũ

Nyĩ-rĩ

Nya-hu-ru-ru

Kĩ-na-rĩ

Kĩ-e-ni

Kĩ-ga-njo

Mũ-kũ-rũ-e wa Nya-ga-tha-nga

LESSON 7B.

Let us continue building our vocabulary.

Names of items found in the house:

metha (table)

gĩtĩ (seat)

mũiko (ugali spatula)

mũaki (fire)

thani (plate)

ũrĩrĩ (bed)

itara (firewood rack)

gĩkombe (cup)

ndigithũ (gourd)

kĩihũri (laddle)

mambarita (roof)

Names of common foods:

gĩtheri (mixture of maize, beans)

mũkimo (gĩtheri mashed with potatoes and greens)

ngima (ugali)

nyama (meat)

thubu (broth or soup)

nyeni (kale)

mũcere (rice)

gĩtoero (stew)

cũrũ (gruel)

mũratina (traditional Kikuyu alcoholic brew)

Names of relatives:

baba (father)

mami OR maitũ (mother)

kahĩĩ (boy)

kairĩtu (girl)

kana (child)

mama (uncle)

tata (auntie)

guka (grandfather)

cũcũ (grandmother)

mũriũ (son)

mũarĩ (daughter)

mũthuri (husband)

mũtumia (wife)

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Wamax, congratulations. This is indeed a fine a idea.

LESSON 7C.

Domestic animals:

ngamĩra (camel)
nyau (cat)
ngui (dog)
mbũri (sheep)
thenge (goat)
ng'ombe (cow)
ndigiri (donkey)
ngũkũ (hen)
ngũrũe (pig)
mbata (goose)

Wild animals:

mũrũthi (lion)
ngarĩ (leopard)
hiti (hyena)
njogu (elephant)
thiya (antelope)
njũi (wolf OR jackal)
kanyũtũ (cheetah)
ndũiga (giraffe)
ngĩrĩ (warthog)
njege (porcupine)

Birds:

nyaga (ostrich)
ngoru (vulture)
rũĩgĩ OR hũngũ (hawk)
thonjo (weaver bird)
mũhau (crane)
thũriũ (Quelea quelea)
ndundu (owl)
kĩihũ (kite)
ngũare (pheasant)
igogo (crow)