My website, for whatever ludicrous reason, comes up as the #1 Google Search result for Kisambaa.
Since I am now considered the authoritative source on Kisambaa, I should explain a bit about it: it is the native language of the Sambaa people in Tanzania, who live east of Arusha and just across the border from Kenya. How are you?
in the afternoon is onga mshi,
and the correct response is tiwedi
. I do not know the formalities for morning, nighttime, thanks, or farewells. In fact, I know practically nothing about Kisambaa.
I found a website called Ethnologue Report which says 664,000 Sambaa people exist. I would take that website's information with a grain of salt, however: its entry on Swahili suggests that Kiswahili only has 540,000 mother-tongue speakers, while in reality Zanzibar alone accounts for 1,000,000 Swahili people and I expect a significant subset of the younger population of Dar es Salaam (population 3,000,000) also speaks Kiswahili better than any other language.
Factoid: most native Kisambaa speakers know Kiswahili as a second language.
Factoid Number Two: Since I am writing English, I should really be writing Sambaa
instead of Kisambaa
(for the same reason I would write French
instead of Français
); but if I had done that to begin with my website never would have been the #1 search result.
Comments
I googled kisambaa, and wasambaa just to see what would come up. I found your page hilarious. I am the son of an msambaa man and an enlgish woman, I grew up in the Usamabara mtns, the homeland of the wasambaa and speak kisambaa, swahili, and english. I am considering putting together a history and webpage both in book form and web form of the shambala people, known in swahili as wasambaa. I thought I would add a few phrases for you on your page. 'ha'onga mshi' or in short 'onga mshi' is for afternoon, but 'tiwedi' is plural meaning 'we' are fine. Singular would be 'niwedi'. 'Ha'onga mahondo' or in short 'onga mahondo' is good morning, and again this would be replied to in singular 'I am fine = niwedi' or plural 'we are fine = tiwedi'. It is important protocol that after being asked either of these at the correct time, you then respong, 'how about you' by saying 'hangi ze iwe'. This completes the 'official' greeting. After this one can than continue the conversation.
Other phrases include:
Mghosi-homey, lol
Ishe-father
nine-mother (these are pronounced 'nee neh' and 'ish eh'
ngwana-child
nguzu-quickly
zua-sun
Many words are similar to swahili words as the swahili language is a combination of bantu phrases and arab/persian/indian words. The shambaa, people, otherwise known as the wasamabaa included a Kingdom that stretched from the usambara mountains and onto pemba Island of the coast of modern day Tanzania. Naturally the arab sultans took control of pemba several hundred years ago, and the germans took over the Usambara territory when they beambe colonialists there. It was the German intention to build the capital of their colony in the Usambara mountains as it was a moderate climate with good natural resources. One can still see old german architectural houses in the mountains, with some very bavarian stone houses being overgrown in certain parts of the forrests. Most of the early written history was written by German missionaries in German. I have read a few translated books, but hope to go to Germany and dig in some archives - will need a translator though.
Wow, Philip, thank you for all the information!
The Usambara mountains are indeed gorgeous. I would love to see your web page when it is online.
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