I have got some Kikuyu books and if there is someone into learning the grammatical aspects. I am here. Juts let me know

I have grammar books, dictionaries and some native speakers that are friends of mine and we work together. I am studying lots of different Bantu languages

I am working out a Gikuyu manual. I am sending you the table of contents. What do you want to start with? I want to know more about you, tell me something a bout yourself.

GĨGĨKŨYŨ GRAMMAR

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter 01-Introduction
Chapter 02-Gĩkũyũ Spelling and Pronunciation
Chapter 03-Greetings
Chapter 04-Verbs: The Infinitive
Chapter 05-Verbs: The Imperative
Chpater 06-Nominal Classes
Chapter 07-Nouns: The MŨ-/ A- Gender
Chapter 08-Subject Pronouns
Chapter 09-Verbs: The Stative Present
Chapter 10-Nouns: MŨ-/MĨ- Gender
Chapter 11-Verbs: The Present Imperfect
Chapter 12-Adjectives
Chapter 13-Nouns: The I-/MA- Gender
Chapter 14-Verbs: The Present Perfect
Chapter 15-The Demonstratives
Chapter 16-Nouns: KĨ-/CI-, I- Gender
Chapter 17-Verbs: The Verb KŨRĨ = to be
Chapter 18-Verbs: The Verb KŨRĨ NA = to have
Chapter 19-Adverbs
Chapter 20-Nouns: The n-/N- Gender
Chapter 21-Interrogative Words
Chapter 22-Numbers, Time
Chapter 23-verbs: The Present Consecutive
Chapter 24-Days, Months, Dates
Chapter 25-Verbs: The Present Progressive
Chapter 26-Nouns: The RŨ- Gender
Chapter 27-Prepositions and Conjuctions
Chapter 28-Possession
Chapter 29-Objective Infixes
Chapter 30-Verbs: The Current Past Completive
Chapter 31-Verbs: The Current Past Imperfect
Chapter 32-Nouns: The KA-/TŨ- Gender
Chapter 33-The Reflexive Infix
Chapter 34-Verbs: The Current Past Perfect
Chapter 35-Nominalizations
Chapter 36-Verbs: The near Past Completive
Chapter 37-Nouns: The Ũ- Gender
Chapter 38-Verbs: The Near Past Imperfect
Chapter 39-Verbs: Verbal Derivation
Chapter 40-Verbs: The Near Past Perfect
Chapter 41-Verbs: The Near Past Consecutive
Chapter 42-Verbs: The Remote Past Completive
Chapter 43-Verbs: The Remote Past Imperfect
Chapter 44-Nouns: The KŨ- Gender
Chapter 45-Verbs: The Remote Past Perfect
Chapter 46-Verbs: The Consecutive
Chapter 47-The General Relative
Chapter 48-The Formation of Nouns
Chapter 49-Verbs: The Current Future Stative
Chapter 50-Nouns: The HA- Gender
Chapter 51-Verbs: The Current Past Imperfect
Chapter 52-Focusing/ Clefting
Chapter 53-Verbs: The Near Future Stative
Chapter 54-Verbs: The Near Future Imperfect
Chapter 55-Yes/No Questions
Chapter 56-Verbs: The Near Fut-Consec/Subjunc
Chapter 57-Verbs: The Remote Future Stative
Chapter 58-Tag Questions
Chapter 59-Verbs: The Remote Future Imperfect
Chapter 60-Verbs: The Remote Fut-Consecutive/Subjunctive
Chapter 61-Sentence Types
Chapter 62-Verbs - Compound Tenses

There are more chapters coming

Mũriega

Nĩmwamũkirwo

Acually, I am not an Agĩkũyũ. I am a Brazilian teacher of languages who lives in the Northeast part of the country, but I have been dealing with Bantu languages for over fifteen years. Languages such as Chishona, Isizulu, Xhosa, Oshikwanyama, Setswana, Chitumbuka, Icibemba, Chinyanja, Chitonga, Twi, lingala, Luganda, Kirundi, Kinyarwanda, to say nothing of the European languages such as Spabish, French, German, English, Italian, Portuguese and many other which belong to the Asiatic branch.

I am ready to teach you the details of Gĩkũyũ grammar. Since you are already an expert, you know about the the spelling and pronunciation. I think we will start from the chapter THE INFINITIVE on, right?

By the way, I have never been to Kenya or any other African country but I am planning on visiting some countries by 2010 during the Worls Soccer Cup.

Is it true that it is criminalized to speak Gĩkũy at schools?

Frist lessons is coming

I will start with the first lessons later on because now I am at aschool, and my time is reallt short. I have to coordinate a pedagogical meeting with other teachers.

I just want you to read this article about LANGUAGE PRESERVATION

Language Preservation

Languages are an essential part of the cultural diversity of our planet. Languages and dialects are not only expressions of the human culture and the human mind, they are also the means by which we communicate with others and seek ways of explaining the world we live in. At the same time, languages are a very vulnerable part of our cultural heritage.

Language and Identity

The preservation and promotion of linguistic diversity is important for the society as a whole and for the individual. Language is an essential part of what defines a culture or civilization. The identity of an individual person is defined by its social affiliation. The language used in his social environment, transmitted to him by social and linguistic interactions, forms his linguistic identity. Linguistic identity means the identification with a language and its speakers as well as the identification with linguistic varieties such as dialects or sociolects and their speakers. The social scientist George Herbert Mead (1863-1931) developed the relevant theoretical background by saying that people do not live only in a natural, but also in a symbolic environment. According to Mead, language is the most complicated symbol that one can acquire. This lead Mead to the conclusion that the genesis and the basis of identity, thinking and -consequently- language are of a societal nature.

Language in Danger

A language is considered as being endangered when it is not any longer learned by the children or at least by a large part of the children of a community. Then, the language is not any longer transferred by the elderly to the younger generation, and it will eventually disappear with the death of its last speakers.

Even though a language has child speakers, it can become endangered when parts or individuals of a given speech community are transplanted into communities that use another language.

Annexation, resettlement, and other political or military acts can have immediate linguistic effects. People may become refugees, and have to learn the language of their now homes. After a succesful military invasion, the indigenous population may have to learn the invader's language.

Learning another language may be the only means of obtaining access to knowledge. This factor led to the universal use of Latin in the Middle Ages, and today motivates the international use of English.

Very large numbers of people have migrated to find work and to improve their standard of living. This factor alone accounts for most of the linguistic diversity of the USA, and an increasing proportion of the bilingualism in present-day Europe.

The ongoing destruction of environment, habitats and living space can well be followed by the extinction of languages, e.g. through mining, oil drilling, excessive tree felling, damming of rivers, warfare, etc. These actions lead to the relocation of the speakers of the local languages and end often enough with the disappearance of their linguistic and cultural individuality.

In bilingual or multilingual settings, the phenomenon of acculturation applies when the use of a dominant majority language is associated with social, cultural, political or economical advantages. In this case, parents of children in the "weaker" culture may encourage their children (and themselves) to use the language of the stronger culture rather than their own language. Soon enough, the young generation would loose the interest in the mother tongue and would not any longer speak the original language.

Finally, political decisions on language issues may have a huge impact on preservation or disappearance of linguistic diversity in a society. A language policy can serve as a political instrument, designated either to build an integrated (or assimilated) monolingual society or to promote the co-existence of multiculturality and multilinguism what would enrich all engaged parties. A closer look at the language policies of some nations reveals a trend towards a single language, whereas the activities of South Africa and the Member States of the European Union promote the wealth and enrichment of linguistic diversity.

Switching between languages, the alternative use of a foreign language or bilingualism must not be confused with the natural process of language change. This theory tells that, through daily use in interaction among its speakers, a language develops and re-news itself. The evolution may even result in the death of a language.
Bosko

MARIA

Luganda never has the R sound starting a word; it only appears following the letters e and i within a word. The L sound, conversely, cannot follow these sounds. Thus the word “railway” gets its R and its L substituted, giving “Leerwe”, often heard from Luganda speakers.

The initial r is dysphonic to the Luganda speaker but is perfectly natural to the speaker of Runyankole and Rukiga, which have few instances of the “L” sound. Additionally, the letter s in Runyankole and Rukiga is more often than not combined with h to give a “sh” sound.

EIHANGA EIHANGA ,accoding to what I know about Luganda, Runyankore and Runyoro, means: "our country" in Runyankore and "country, nation" in Chiga. EGWANGA, in Luganda, means "nation".

Bosko

Chapter 3 The Infinitive

The main characteristic of the Gĩkũyũ verb is its agglutinative aspect. In order to be functional, to be conjugated and be part of the sentence, we must attach to it a certain number of affixes: prefixes, infixes and suffixes, according to the situation. All these affixes possess a precise position and function.

THE INFINITIVE
In English, the infinitive is shown by the word TO placed before the verb.
In Gĩkũyũ, the infinitive is marked by the prefix KŨ- attached to the verb stem. When the verb stem starts with T, TH, C, K or vowels, the prefix KŨ-, is changed INTO GŨ-

Gĩkũyũ..........English
Gũĩka..............To do
Gũtinda............To stay waiting
Gũtinia............To cut
Gũtwara............To take sth to some place
Kũenda.............To love, to like
Kũgũra.............To buy
Kũhaana............To be alike
Kũhaica............To climb
Kũhara.............To brush
Kũhika.............To be married
Kũhota.............To be able
Kũhumba............To dress
Kũnywa.............To drink
Kũrĩkia............To finish, to decisive
Kũruta wĩra........To work
Gũkinya............To arrive, to reach
Gũtongoria.........To lead
Gũũka..............To come
Kũgeithia..........To greet
Kũhitha............To hide
Gũtarĩria..........To explain
Gũkua..............To die
Gũthoma............To read, to study
Gũkuua.............To carry
Gũtheka............To cook
Kũnina.............To finish
Kũrĩa..............To eat
Kũruga.............To cook
Kũrutana...........To educate, to teach


THE NEGATIVE INFINITIVE :

Kwaga means not to, failure to, not have to.

Kwaga gũthoma............not to read
Kwaga gwĩka..............not to do
Kwaga gũcokia kĩũria.....not to answer
Kwaga gũcoka.............not to come back
Kwaga kũrĩa..............not to eat
Kwaga gũkua..............not to die

Gũcokia kĩũria means to answer a question

“A people without a language is a people without a culture”

Maria

Bosko is my nickname, and it is very common in this part o Brazil. It also takes part in a proper name JOÃO BOSKO, but mine is just a nickname. My full name is FRANCISCO JOSÉ DA SILVA

The infinitive of the verb TO GO is GŨTHIĨ

According to John Mugane in his Paradigmatic Gĩkũyũ Grammar, one of the verbs TO BE in Gĩkũyũ is “KORWO” wich is used as TAM(Tense Aspect Marker), I mean in compound tenses.

Example:

Ndĩrakorwo ndaarĩa marigũ
I have already eaten bananas

Ũrakorwo waarĩa marigũ
You have already eaten bananas

Arakorwo aarĩa marigũ
He has already eaten bananas

Tũrakorwo twaarĩa marĩgũ
We have already eaten bananas

Mũrakorwo mwaarĩa marigũ
They have already eaten bananas.

There is another words that stands for the verb “TO BE” which is the copulative, KŨRĨ.

Present Tense
Affirmative Form

Ndĩrĩ mũrutani I am a teacher
Ũrĩ mũrutani You are a teacher
Nĩ mũrutani He is a teacher
Tũrĩ arutani We are teachers
Mũrĩ arutani You are teachers
Marĩ arutani They are teachers

Present Tense
Negative Form

Ndirĩ mũrutani I am not a teacher
Ndũrĩ mũrutani You are a teacher
Ti mũrutani He is not a teacher
Tũtirĩ arutani We are not teachers
Mũtirĩ arutani You are not teachers
Matirĩ arutani They are not teachers

The infinitive of the verb TO GO is GŨTHIĨ

According to John Mugane in his Paradigmatic Gĩkũyũ Grammar, one of the verbs TO BE in Gĩkũyũ is “KORWO” wich is used as TAM(Tense Aspect Marker), I mean in compound tenses.

Example:

Ndĩrakorwo ndaarĩa marigũ
I have already eaten bananas

Ũrakorwo waarĩa marigũ
You have already eaten bananas

Arakorwo aarĩa marigũ
He has already eaten bananas

Tũrakorwo twaarĩa marĩgũ
We have already eaten bananas

Mũrakorwo mwaarĩa marigũ
They have already eaten bananas.

There is another words that stands for the verb “TO BE” which is the copulative, KŨRĨ.

Present Tense
Affirmative Form

Ndĩrĩ mũrutani I am a teacher
Ũrĩ mũrutani You are a teacher
Nĩ mũrutani He is a teacher
Tũrĩ arutani We are teachers
Mũrĩ arutani You are teachers
Marĩ arutani They are teachers

Present Tense
Negative Form

Ndirĩ mũrutani I am not a teacher
Ndũrĩ mũrutani You are a teacher
Ti mũrutani He is not a teacher
Tũtirĩ arutani We are not teachers
Mũtirĩ arutani You are not teachers
Matirĩ arutani They are not teachers

Beste shame

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Moderator1,

Beste,flooding is not allowed.Leave Maria alone.
You are pushing it.Let this be the last time I'm telling you this.
A good person does not keep beating the other while they are down.You are giving others a bad name.

there was no other way to get her attention much quicker. i didn't flood i just left messages for her.

it important she be responsible for what she spew out of her mouth. i just wanted her to be responsible and accountable.

we should have an 'unatakikana upesi module", at kyuk'S DOT COM.

sasa juu naona mumewatetea hao wazungu and their cohorts i don't know what to say next.

those wazungus should also watch their mouth. usa are election riggers and iraqis murderers and should shut their mouth especially considering the fact that they can't back up what they saying.

somebody credible unlike usa should open their mouth.

B

quote:

Originally posted by Beste:
there was no other way to get her attention much quicker. i didn't flood i just left messages for her.

it important she be responsible for what she spew out of her mouth. i just wanted her to be responsible and accountable.

we should have an 'unatakikana upesi module", at kyuk'S DOT COM.

sasa juu naona mumewatetea hao wazungu and their cohorts i don't know what to say next.

those wazungus should also watch their mouth. usa are election riggers and iraqis murderers and should shut their mouth especially considering the fact that they can't back up what they saying.

somebody credible unlike usa should open their mouth.

BESTE KENYAN MEDIA IS THE ONE THAT BEGAN TALKING ABOUT RIGGING. PLEASE DONT BLAME THE MZUNGU KIBAKI HAS TO BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE. THA LAST TIME I CHECKED, KTN,KBC,STV AND SKY WERE KENYAN MEDIA. IF WESTERN MEDIA IS TO BLAME, THEN WHY DID KIBAKI STOP LOCAL BROADCASTING OF EVENTS? YOU SEEM TO BE VERY IRRATIONAL. WE HAVE TO BE ACCOUNTABLE FOR ACTIONS AND NOT BLAME OTHERS

Mkenya, Halisi,

today's world zombie society, was/is stil being created using the mainstream media.

the media is american, uk,etc biggest weapon. its not their nuclear bombs.

bbc,cnn,times magazine,etc are all propaganda channels.

today kneel down and thanks your God that today's and future people have internet access and that usa or any other nation must never be ceded control or ownership of the internet.
print and analogue media will die out soon. digital media imefika na itatawala milele na milele.

truly, truly, there is a is a magnificient loving God. now that the demon know THE internet will free humans from their zombie or un-informed(mental slave) state he imposed on world humans using mainly the world mainstream media, he's next move and final option is to chip you. jichunge sana.

its always been advisable to take with a pinch of salt news from the mainstream media.

also do you know the saying that goes "the pen is mightier than the sword".

remember arabs conquered our east african coastline and forcefully converted us to islam using the SWORD?

you should fear the mainstream media with all your heart, if you know the great evils, its already done to you and the entire humanity. the mainstream media is humanity enemy number one for centuries now up to the present moment.

remember rwanda genocide was perpetuated using the media especially rwanda's own local media?

all indication is, that kenya has been already invaded by those tribalist media,e.g. tribalist radio stations like the one that precipated and faned rwanda and burundi genocide.

President Kibaki is very wise and realy care for kenya to have taken that precaution he has taken with the media.

the police and intelligent units should should start recording all those ethnic, based website, radios, biased TV broadcasting material even international ones for evidence incase of law transgration or for future evidence and reference.

infact from long ago i use to hear rumours that, the kalenjin and luos vernacular radio stations amongst others were fanning out tribal hate meterials to their communities.

coastal people have always hated mainland people remember the reference, "watu wa bara", this same remark goes up to tanzania, zanzibari's ujiskia mauwa more than the non islanders. this problem stems from the day's of arab evil and brutal conquer of east african coastline. this conquer explain the walalo's and coastal people pigmation, and hair texture amongst others.

islam brainwashed them centuries ago.

so it should not take rocket science to explain the recent post election genocide, why they happened where they happened,e.g. kisumu, eldoret, mombasa and the culprit/s responsible.

one thing you must know is that its the same group of odm supporters made up of tribal gangs/army that are commiting the genocide.

the groups are hiding in kenya slams, that why it only the slams people protesting? does odinga have support only in those few slams? odm rented for it armies in the slam since its cheaper and more strategic for its evil plan. i know understand that complains of landlord refusing accomadation to certain tribes because this has never happened before?

the reason these tribalist murderous gangs have killed, burned, and looted their residence-remember they pretend to come from the same slams they looting, is to find accomadation, and hiding for this army. that why they murdered and exilled the real kibera residents. the police should questions the real residents of slams about this people. whether they are old residents of those slams.

i remember odinga asking the whole of nyanza to descend in kibira during election period. these are the kibera protesters and private army murdering other kenyans.

they should be taken care of.

that gang from kibera look imported to me.

remember those ethnic killings during moi era? some non-masai people would dress as masai and attack kenyans in molo and narok even outside kenya parliament.

its look like ntimana's tribalist, private army has been activated. it has already killed in narok. it should be destroyed once and for all, these private tribal armies are being ferried around using even lorries. i think some are stationed in their respective tribal areas where odm pentagon members hail from, e.g kisumu, mombasa, riftvalley and kakamega.

these odm leaders like balala ruto,odinga, ntimana and odinga should first quel the the genocide in their constituencies being commited by their odm supporters? what kind of a leader who brings wanton death and destruction to his constituency and doesn't seem to care?

this is all the evidence one need to know that these corupt power hungry evil politicians have no place in kenya ruling structure.

kibaki cannot work with odm leaders since they don't have clean hands. remember because of zero tolerence to coruption, kibaki will work only with clean hands?

those odm leaders coruption charges should be processed asp. that can also do good to kenya courts now attacked intergrity and competence.

its only the opposition which will be made of corupt people. shame on them.

the kenyans are a clever lot that why they voted the way they voted. let see who will laugh the longest. the voters or corupt politician. voter anawajua hawa watu na amewaonyesa na atawamaliza. that why odm leaders know their time is up, thus why its killing the voters for voting against it. this fact explain odm ongoing genocide on kenyans. it want to survive by killing its enemies namely the voters who are innocent kenyans exercising their democratic right. odm ishindwe.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Beste,