ENGLISH – GIKUYU – KISWAHILI DICTIONARY by Prof Samuel Mwitũria Maina PhD, IDr, OGW

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ENGLISH – GĨKŨYŨ– KISWAHILI DICTIONARY

PREFACE

Kikuyu, also called Gĩkũyũ or Agĩkũyũ, are a Bantu-speaking people who live in the highland area of south-central Kenya, near Mount Kenya. To them, the word Gĩkũyũ has three meanings;

• Gĩkũyũ the name of the ethnic group,
• Gĩkũyũ the language they speak
• Gĩkũyũ the name of the patriarch who initiated the group.

When they talk about the whole community, they use “Gĩkũyũ”. For one person they use Mũgikũyũ and Agĩkũyũ” for many people. The British colonialists changed “Gĩkũyũ” to “Kikuyu,” and now, when people write in English, they mostly use “Kikuyu.”

There is variations among them though based only on locality. In history, the Gikuyu have migrated north and south from the original centre in Mũrang’a. From these emerged the northern Gikuyu of Nyĩrĩ and the southern Gĩkũyũ of Kĩambu.

For the purpose of this dictionary, I chose to use the dialect of the original Gĩkũyũof Mũrang’a as much as possible. Therefore, whereas the Nothern Gĩkũyũuse “chi” for pronounciation, the original Gĩkũyũuse “ci” even though the meaning is the same.

This collection of word meanings was made in Nairobi by the author, a native of Mũrang’a County between 2011 and 2024 while stationed at the University of Nairobi, College of Architecture and Engineering, Faculty of Architecture, Design and Deveolpment (ADD), when the writer was a Professor of Industrial Design Specialising in Anthropometrics and Ergonomics.

The country of Gĩkũyũ is one of the most fertile and healthy districts of Kenya, East Africa. It is situated in the north-western portion of the country, and is practically on the Equator. The Uganda Railway, from about 460 to 500 Kilometers, runs through the south-western portion of the country, and forms almost the boundary of the same. The Mũrang’a County, over which this language is spoken, with few modifications, stretches away in a north-easterly direction from the railway until it embraces in its folds that great landmark, Mount Kenya (native name, Kĩrĩnyaga). The altitude of the country varies from 4000 feet to the 18,000 feet. The climate is one of the pleasantest and healthiest in the country. It varies from moderate tropical heat to the cold perpetual snow. Ingeneral, Gikuyu country is naturally air conditioned. Its normal temperature ranges between 18°C at the lowest and 24°C as the highest throughout the year.

The people occupying this highly-favoured country are estimated to be 1,056,640 (2019 census). They constitute one of the hardiest, Industrious, religious, intreprenuarial and most muscular races in Kenya. The district lends itself to the cultivation of foreign and indigenous crops.This English – Gĩkũyũ – Kiswahili vocabulary is sent out tentatively in the earnest hope that it will not only be of help to these in their dealings with the inhabitants of the rest of the country, but also, and more especially, towards being content and reference book for the Content Based Curriculum (CBC) just introduced in Kenya.

It will also form the backbone of favoured languages for business and communication in the African continent. It is worth noting that in February 2022, the African Union Assembly on its 35th Ordinary Session adopted the Assembly Decision/AU/Dec796 (XXXIV) to make Kiswahili a working language of the African Union and a language of wider communication in Africa.

Prof Samuel Mwitũria Maina PhD, IDr, OGW

Nairobi, 2024