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Kikuyus, Please Come (Here)
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nesta
#1 Posted : Wednesday, November 27, 2013 3:18:34 PM
Rank: Member

Joined: 12/17/2009
Posts: 121
Location: Nairobi
I've been thinking about education and I'm wondering:

Who came up with the Kikuyu alphabet?
d'oh!

Why is it that in Many countries - bantu, words are written like that....

For example,
Mugabe, is Mugabe
Moi is Moi,
Mbeki if Mbeki
Kabila is Kabila

BUT KIKUYU,

Kibaki is Kifaki/Kefake?
Baba/papa is fafa?
Kabogo is Kafogo?
Mucene is Moshene?
Shosho is cucu?

Who came up with the kikuyu alphabet? - it couldn't be the english? Could it have been developed by non-english?

Do you think Kikuyus will be okay with revising the alphabet?

Think Think Think

Thanks

Edited
On Christ Alone
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seppuku
#2 Posted : Wednesday, November 27, 2013 3:31:17 PM
Rank: Veteran

Joined: 5/11/2010
Posts: 918
nesta wrote:
I've been thinking about education and I'm wondering:

Who came up with the Kikuyu alphabet?
d'oh!

Why is it that in Many countries - bantu, words are written like that....

For example,
Mugabe, is Mugabe
Moi is Moi,
Mbeki if Mbeki
Kabila is Kabila

BUT KIKUYU,

Kibaki is Kifaki/Kefake?
Baba/papa is fafa?
Kabogo is Kafogo?
Mucene is Moshene?
Shosho is cucu?

Who came up with the kikuyu alphabet? - it couldn't be the english? Could it have been developed by non-english?

Do you think Kikuyus will be okay with revising the alphabet?

Think Think Think

Thanks


There is no such thing as Kikuyu alphabet, is there? They use A-Z just like many other peoples. The only thing I notice is that they sometimes accent their i's and u's with tildes to give them a different pronunciation. And pronunciation, I think, is what you are/should be asking about. Clarify if that is the case then we pick it up from there.
Learn first to treat your time as you would your money, then treat your money as you do your time.
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  | | Edit by user: Wednesday, November 27, 2013 3:41 PM | Reason: Not specified
Money Whisperer
#3 Posted : Wednesday, November 27, 2013 3:40:47 PM
Rank: Member

Joined: 8/7/2010
Posts: 728
Location: Wazuaville
Mugabe is Mukaave.
Not just Kikuyu
Zulu: Khumalo is KUmalo (not Khumalo)
Xhosa: Mbeki is Mbegi
Somali: Cabdi is Abdi (not Kabdi); Xassan is Hassan
"Money never sleeps"
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Lolest!
#4 Posted : Wednesday, November 27, 2013 3:45:38 PM
Rank: Elder

Joined: 3/18/2011
Posts: 12,069
Location: Kianjokoma
This is not a Kikuyu only problem!!

I was thinking about it when I noted the differences among different Bantu tribes brought about by Mzungu missionaries not coming up with uniform way of pronunciation.

Ky in Kikamba is 'ch' like chakula. Thus the name Kyalo etc.

Ki in Luganda is Chi. Thus Mr Kibuuka is read Chibuuka


This leads to mispronunciation of names. Pronunciation preceded writing. Mbugua pronounced as Mbugua is wrong. It is closer to Bow-gua. The M is silent!

The mzungu also thought i wise to exclude some letters from certain tribes. e.g Kikuyus don't have f though the f sound is normally used in their names.

We are grateful to the Brits for giving us the alphabet, but they messed us in the process.
Laughing out loudly smile Applause d'oh! Sad Drool Liar Shame on you Pray
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Money Whisperer
#5 Posted : Wednesday, November 27, 2013 4:07:51 PM
Rank: Member

Joined: 8/7/2010
Posts: 728
Location: Wazuaville
Lolest! wrote:
This is not a Kikuyu only problem!!

I was thinking about it when I noted the differences among different Bantu tribes brought about by Mzungu missionaries not coming up with uniform way of pronunciation.

Ky in Kikamba is 'ch' like chakula. Thus the name Kyalo etc.

Ki in Luganda is Chi. Thus Mr Kibuuka is read Chibuuka


This leads to mispronunciation of names. Pronunciation preceded writing. Mbugua pronounced as Mbugua is wrong. It is closer to Bow-gua. The M is silent!

The mzungu also thought i wise to exclude some letters from certain tribes. e.g Kikuyus don't have f though the f sound is normally used in their names.

We are grateful to the Brits for giving us the alphabet, but they messed us in the process.


A UG buddy of mine used to call Kibera Chibera then laugh loudly because in Luganda chibero is thigh so he would tell me "I'm going to chibero" when going to land.

The f in Kikuyu is not pronounced like the normal F. You place your lips as if to say B (a bilabial plosive) but allow air to flow through as you do with fricatives such as f hence baba not fafa. I still remember my Linguistics 101 class makofi kwangu Applause Applause
"Money never sleeps"
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Lolest!
#6 Posted : Wednesday, November 27, 2013 4:16:52 PM
Rank: Elder

Joined: 3/18/2011
Posts: 12,069
Location: Kianjokoma
Money Whisperer wrote:

The f in Kikuyu is not pronounced like the normal F. You place your lips as if to say B (a bilabial plosive) but allow air to flow through as you do with fricatives such as f hence baba not fafa. I still remember my Linguistics 101 class makofi kwangu Applause Applause

I dont get it. Kikuyus write baba but then read it as 'fafa'
Laughing out loudly smile Applause d'oh! Sad Drool Liar Shame on you Pray
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seppuku
#7 Posted : Wednesday, November 27, 2013 4:27:00 PM
Rank: Veteran

Joined: 5/11/2010
Posts: 918
@Lolest!, I agree with @Money Whisperer. The proper Kikuyu pronunciation of baba isn't exactly fafa. It's closer to bhabha.
Learn first to treat your time as you would your money, then treat your money as you do your time.
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seppuku
#8 Posted : Wednesday, November 27, 2013 4:28:33 PM
Rank: Veteran

Joined: 5/11/2010
Posts: 918
seppuku wrote:
@Lolest!, I agree with @Money Whisperer. The proper Kikuyu pronunciation of baba isn't exactly fafa. It's closer to bhabha.


This is lost even on most Kikuyu speakers though.
Learn first to treat your time as you would your money, then treat your money as you do your time.
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The Clown
#9 Posted : Wednesday, November 27, 2013 4:30:06 PM
Rank: Member

Joined: 8/24/2013
Posts: 185
Location: Diaspora
I decided to post on this thread when I saw @seppuku parading his ignorance in public.

FYI there IS a Gikuyu alphabet. Just as there are English, French, Mandarin, Maragoli and Nandi ones.

I am one of those who studied in a native tongue in primary school so I happen to know a little about the language.

The language is Gikuyu. Non-Gikuyus will call it Kikuyu and that's due to the influence of Swahili.

An alphabet is about phonetics, reading and writing so you can't pick one one aspect and disregard the others.

Gikuyu alphabet has 21 letters (no f,l,p,q and x). There are also accents which modify the pronunciations of vowels such as 'i', 'o' and 'u'. Because I'm typing from an office keyboard ya wazungu I can't show you the accents here. But I have enabled them on my home computer.

To answer the OP, the 'f' in 'Kifaki' and 'fafa' is represented by the letter 'b' in writing.

'B' appearing alone is always pronounced as 'f'.

The 'b' sound in mboco (beans) is written as 'mb'. In fact, some Gikuyus wazees from Murang'a and Nyeri pronounce the 'm' in 'mb' like mburi, mbembe etc.

In short, Gikuyu differs from Swahili in that the pronunciation of the words is not literal. I believe the same is true of English, French and many other languages. That is just how they developed.

I do not think Gikuyus will be OK revising the alphabet as it will mean having to reprint all written material such as bibles, books and such.
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Mtublack
#10 Posted : Wednesday, November 27, 2013 4:32:44 PM
Rank: Member

Joined: 11/18/2009
Posts: 175
Lolest! wrote:
Money Whisperer wrote:

The f in Kikuyu is not pronounced like the normal F. You place your lips as if to say B (a bilabial plosive) but allow air to flow through as you do with fricatives such as f hence baba not fafa. I still remember my Linguistics 101 class makofi kwangu Applause Applause

I dont get it. Kikuyus write baba but then read it as 'fafa'

what came first the sounds or the alphabets na hakuna kikuyu its gikuyu(language) and Agikuyu( tribe or community) so don't know where kikuyus came from

if you did your Gikuyu lessons well you know there is no F,L Q, S,V X and Z in the written language blame it on the people who introduced the written language
Some you win some you lose
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  | | Edit by user: Wednesday, November 27, 2013 4:36 PM | Reason: Not specified
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