Gĩkũyũ
Kikuyu
Atlantic-Congo (Bantu)
Kikuyu (Gĩkũyũ) is the most widely spoken Bantu language in Kenya, native to the Mount Kenya region and the central highlands. The Agĩkũyũ are the largest ethnic group in Kenya. Kikuyu has a 7-vowel system (with ATR contrast) and uses tilde diacritics on ĩ and ũ to mark non-ATR variants — an orthographic convention also used in Embu and Meru. Played a central role in the Mau Mau independence struggle (1952-60); Jomo Kenyatta, Kenya's first president, was a Kikuyu speaker. Latin script with characteristic tilde-marked vowels.
Where it is spoken
20 core words in Kikuyu
Water
maaĩ
/maːi/
Fire
mwaki
/mwaki/
Sun
rĩũa
/ɾiwa/
Moon
mweri
/mweɾi/
Mother
maitũ
/maitu/
Father
baba
/baba/
Eat
kũrĩa
/kuɾia/
Drink
kũnyua
/kuɲua/
Love
wendo
/wendo/
Heart
ngoro
/ŋɡoɾo/
Tree
mũtĩ
/muti/
House
nyũmba
/ɲumba/
Dog
ngui
/ŋɡui/
Cat
nyaũ
/ɲau/
Hand
guoko
/ɡuoko/
Eye
riitho
/riːθo/
Hello
wĩmwega
/wimweɡa/
Thank you
nĩ wega
/ni weɡa/
One
ĩmwe
/imwe/
Good
wega
/weɡa/
Words compared
Compared with related Atlantic-Congo (Bantu) languages
| Meaning | Kikuyu | Embu | Meru | Kamba | Shambala | Asu | Nyaturu |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water | maaĩ /maːi/ | mai /mai/ | rũũjĩ /ɾuːdʒi/ | kĩw'ũ /kiwu/ | mazi /mazi/ | mende /mende/ | maazi /maːzi/ |
| Fire | mwaki /mwaki/ | mwaki /mwaki/ | mwaki /mwaki/ | mwaki /mwaki/ | moto /moto/ | mshika /mʃika/ | moto /moto/ |
| Sun | rĩũa /ɾiwa/ | rĩũa /ɾiua/ | rĩũa /ɾiua/ | syũa /sjua/ | zuwa /zuwa/ | nyu /ɲu/ | nzua /nzua/ |
| Moon | mweri /mweɾi/ | mweri /mweɾi/ | mweri /mweɾi/ | mwei /mwei/ | mwezi /mwezi/ | mwezi /mwezi/ | umweri /umweɾi/ |
| Mother | maitũ /maitu/ | mami /mami/ | mami /mami/ | mwaitũ /mwaitu/ | mama /mama/ | mama /mama/ | mama /mama/ |
| Father | baba /baba/ | baba /baba/ | baba /baba/ | asa /asa/ | baba /baba/ | baba /baba/ | tata /tata/ |
| Eat | kũrĩa /kuɾia/ | kũrĩa /kuɾia/ | kũrĩa /kuɾia/ | kũya /kuja/ | kuya /kuja/ | kurya /kuɾja/ | kuria /kuɾia/ |
| Drink | kũnyua /kuɲua/ | kũnyua /kuɲua/ | kũnyũa /kuɲua/ | kũnywa /kuɲwa/ | kunywa /kuɲwa/ | kunwa /kunwa/ | kunywa /kuɲwa/ |
| Love | wendo /wendo/ | wendo /wendo/ | wendo /wendo/ | wendo /wendo/ | kwenda /kwenda/ | lumba /lumba/ | butogwa /butoɡwa/ |
| Heart | ngoro /ŋɡoɾo/ | ngoro /ŋɡoɾo/ | ngoro /ŋɡoɾo/ | ngoo /ŋɡoː/ | mwoyo /mwojo/ | ngiti /ŋɡiti/ | umutima /umutima/ |
| Tree | mũtĩ /muti/ | mũtĩ /muti/ | mũtĩ /muti/ | mũtĩ /muti/ | mti /mti/ | mti /mti/ | umuti /umuti/ |
| House | nyũmba /ɲumba/ | nyũmba /ɲumba/ | nyomba /ɲomba/ | nyũmba /ɲumba/ | nyumba /ɲumba/ | nyumba /ɲumba/ | nyumba /ɲumba/ |
| Dog | ngui /ŋɡui/ | ngui /ŋɡui/ | ngiti /ŋɡiti/ | ngitĩ /ŋɡiti/ | mbwa /mbwa/ | mbwa /mbwa/ | imbwa /imbwa/ |
| Cat | nyaũ /ɲau/ | nyau /ɲau/ | nyau /ɲau/ | mbaka /mbaka/ | paka /paka/ | paka /paka/ | paka /paka/ |
| Hand | guoko /ɡuoko/ | guoko /ɡuoko/ | njara /ndʒaɾa/ | kw'oko /kwoko/ | ukono /ukono/ | mkono /mkono/ | ukuboko /ukuboko/ |
| Eye | riitho /riːθo/ | riitho /ɾiːθo/ | rĩĩthwa /ɾiːθwa/ | ĩtho /iθo/ | izo /izo/ | jicho /dʒitʃo/ | iriiso /iɾiːso/ |
| Hello | wĩmwega /wimweɡa/ | mwega /mweɡa/ | mwega /mweɡa/ | mwĩaĩle /mwiaile/ | nashukuru /naʃukuɾu/ | shiloi /ʃiloi/ | mbukire /mbukiɾe/ |
| Thank you | nĩ wega /ni weɡa/ | nĩ baba /ni baba/ | nĩ baba /ni baba/ | nĩ vinya /ni viɲa/ | asante /asante/ | mwasanga /mwasaŋɡa/ | ahsante /ahsante/ |
| One | ĩmwe /imwe/ | ĩmwe /imwe/ | ĩmwe /imwe/ | ĩmwe /imwe/ | imo /imo/ | imwe /imwe/ | umwe /umwe/ |
| Good | wega /weɡa/ | mwega /mweɡa/ | mwega /mweɡa/ | museo /museo/ | hedi /hedi/ | mwamba /mwamba/ | kihi /kihi/ |
Part of LangMap — a linguistic visualization project. This is a static, crawlable summary; the interactive maps offer pronunciation audio, filters, and a globe view.