Hello 👋 I am an American of North/West/East African ancestry. And my East African Ancestry is mostly Luhya🎉🎉It has taken me 55 years to find my people 🥹🧬So Yes, I have joined, or Subscribed to your channel.🤗 I have so much to learn dear Sister! And I will spend up to the very last of my days reconnecting to the Diversity and Languages of our people. I am so grateful and proud 🥹 🙌🏼🙌🏽🙌🏾🙌🏿
@kerinkellynerdcorner, welcome long-lost kin. We are hiding out in the western region of Kenya. Very proud and culture rich people, the Luyha are. Same language with diverse accents just like in America
Hello Kerin, welcome aboard. Please excuse my late welcome. It’s good to have you here as part of us. It’s never to late to learn a new language and find your way home😊
Hi... I love what you're doing... Although these differences you're stressing on are found in all languages both local and foreign... I have lived and interacted with people across all the counties in Western Kenya and I never find these differences as big deal except for the Bukusus and Maragolis... In Busia for example except for the Samia, the others like Wanyala, Marachi, Wakhayo can comfortably communicate to people in Kakamega County: Banyala, Batsotso, Idakho, Isukha, Kabras, Kisa, Marama, Tachoni, Wanga...etc... The differences are expected. I have even seen them in Swahili, English and French...
Most Luhya subtribes dialects are similar, only pronunciation, intonation etc is different with exception of the Bukusu Language which is abit too native or distinct.
With an ambassador like you educating us, we now discover the words you hear Luyhas speak that sound so different are actually not that different. Words like Lira Liange in Marachi, in Maragoli we say Lita Liange. When you sound out "Lira" in Marachi I can detect a hidden "t" in there. That is where the maragoli's get the Lita. 'Zunguza' I think is universal in Vihiga and Kakamega subtribes (I stand corrected). Doreen, your channel is very necessary and very educational, especially words comparison. I have learned so much. By the way, the Maragoli say Umulina for friend, and 'Noho' for Or
You have educated me me for sure. I learn everyday. For instance, I didn't know the Maragoli say Lita liange like the samia and Nyala. Also the word Noho is common among the Wanga and other Luhyas of Kakamega. Through such videos, I'm surely learning what I didn't know.
On elusive luyia unity, I think it's because of their own confusion and has nothing to do with sub tribes. Kalenjins comprises of 8 sub tribes that don't understand each other, but they always have a common stand on issues. Kule Pwani mijikenda-9 subtribes na wameungana.Luyias are just their own enemies.Disunity normally starts at home:same family members but they don't see each other eye to eye anyways 😑 story for another day but luyia in general is a community!luyia nation exists.
Oooh this is so unfortunate that I completely forgot about the Masaba. I don’t know why most texts about Luhya subtribes forget the Masaba. I will surely include you in my next video. It wasn’t intentional
Thankyou for your research on luhya words. Now my question to you is this, according to you, who do you think qualifies to be called Luhya ? And also ,why do we have some words like Mwana spread to kikuyu Lingala, kamba ?
I hold the opinion that luyia people belong together and what unites luyias is the language notwithstanding their differences. Language difference is common:Like English, we have British, American, Canadian, and Australian versions of English, so the language unites all these English men. Examples in British what is called an apartment, becomes a flat in the USA.Totally different altogether. The foot path in the UK becomes pavement in the USA, the same scenario among the abaluyia:baba among abamarachi becomes tata among kina Haggai Isanya. The problem is that the luyia is nolonger taught in schools otherwise we would be understanding each other well.There's a saying"LUYIA IS RICH"this is because of these many vocabularies. Luyias shouldn't be borrowing vocabularies from luos because they have more than enough.
Sure thing! Luhya is indeed rich. And the fact that it's not taught in school must be the reason some of it's dialects don't understand each other. It can be tough trying to learn a language that nobody sat you down to teach you it's rules like we are taught English and Swahili in school. So we just speak what we found people speaking. Great obseravation.
Marama similar to kisa and wanga. My experience, marama is softer and slower. Wanga (my dialect) is kinda faster and rougher in pronunciation. My opinion.
Doreen, I think we have more in common than we are different. You are cherry-picking and emphasizing the few words that differ among us. We definitely understand each other. Contradicting you a little, I think the more we talk to each other the more we understand each other. Like someone mentioned in the comments, the English language for example, has many variations, you just have to concentrate on what's being relayed. Like the commentor said, a flat in England is an apartment in North America. You catch up quickly. Take Americans for example, people in the northeast have a completely different accent from those in the Midwest and west. Those in the south, forget about it, you have to be around them for a little while before you can catch on. They sound like they are talking a different language, but it's English. Proximity- as a Maragolian, I don't have any issues understanding a Bunyore, Tiriki, Isukha, Idakho and other subtribes in Kakamega. I went to Musingu high school for about a year, where there was a good representation of all the subtribes. We all spoke Luyha at times and we understood each other with little to no issues. Listening to you talk, I don't think I would have trouble with the Marachi dialect either. They are practically the same words; we just sometimes write and pronounce them differently.
The moment you'll strike a 20 minutes conversation with a Bukusu gentleman without English/Swahili intervention then I'll take your position seriously. Hon. Mudavadi and Hon. Wetangula communicate with one another in English or Swahili not because it is so cool.
@@owinomakochieng828 Right off jump, ofcourse not. Mudavadi does not hang out with Bukusus, and Wetangula does not hang out with Maragolians. English/Swahili are languages of convenient. I can almost guarantee Mudavadi also speaks English/Swahili to other Maragolians. I went to school with Bukusus, it was difficult at jump, but after a while we communicated. They are Luyha languages, we just pronounce words alittle differently, eventually you catch on. It's not like when I hear Bukusus talk I could confuse them with Luos or even Kikuyus for that matter
@@washburn182 You may have a point. But, Kibukusu and Kimaragoli are very different and not just in pronunciation aka accent. I am fluent in Lubukusu and my better half is a Maragoli. I understand most Luhya dialects and know very well that linguistically, Bukusu and Maragoli are distant just the way they are distant geographically. Some decades ago, there was a football team called Abaluhya and another one called Maragoli in the Kenya national football league, for a reason.
Shared language(or even ancestry) is not a requirement to identify as an ethnic group. If people see themselves as belonging an ethnic group, that is enough. Luhya identity is a bit like Kenyan identity, but more organic, because most of them have shared culture, ancenstry, kinship, history, languages etc. Luhya languages can be divided into 3 or 4 groupings. Within each grouping the different dialects are highly intelligble. Dialects outside the group, are less intelligible, but still intelligible to a high degree. The groups roughly align with Busia(Marachi, Khayo Samia), Kakamega(Idaho, Isukha etc), Bungoma(Bukusu, Tachoni) and Vihiga. Maragoli are the outlier in terms of intelligibility with the other dialects. But they are Luhya, because the other Luhya are their closest relatives and they see themselves as Luhya.
Yes we luyias we so subdivided no wonder we second to kikuyu population wise but not united at all. It is so interesting even here in USA you’ll find us luyias meeting somewhere but we speak Swahili so as to understand each other. It is kinda embarrassing.
Good work, Nekesa but you need to do a little more research so that you speak with authority. For instance, it's important to know that there's a lingua Franca among the 17 dialects. I speak Oluwanga and it's understood across the board. The base Luhya is formed by about five of the dialects, namely, wanga, marama, shisa, tsotso, marachi. These 5 form almost 95% of the Luhya vocabulary. It's also important to note that Luhya dialects can be divided into about 3 major categories: Kakamega dialects are majorly intelligible, Lulogoli is modified Lwitakho, the vocabulary is similar but with different pronunciation, 2. Bukusu and navakholo luñyala form another category 3. Busia dialects Generally speaking all dialects are one language which should be understood in context. You can't know all words of any language but the meaning comes from the usage in a sentence
Your analysis is commendable indeed and very sensible. I would love to know exactly where people conduct such research because, from experience, some of these information is very limited in terms of where to look. That is why most of my videos, I present from my knowledge and the limited information I manage to stumble on. Tell me more.
HEHE WHAT YOU DONT KNOW IS ALSO THE KIKUYUS SPEAK DIFFRENT LANGUAGES WITHIN THEMSLEVES.THE KIKUYU IN KIAMBU IS DIFFRENT FROM THE KIKUYU IN NYERI, EMBU, KIRINYAGA ETC.EVEN THE KAMBAS LUO KALENJIN MIJIKENDA ETC. THE WAY THEY DONT KNOW THE INNER LINGUISTIC DYNAMIC AMONG LUHYAS IS THE SAME WAY WE DONT KNOW ABOUT THEM AND THINK THAT THEY SPEAK ONE LANGUAGE.;UHYA LANGUAGES ARE SIMILAR BUT WITH DIFFERENT PRONUNCIATIONS. AMACHI, AMATSI, MURWE MUTWE
Hello 👋 I am an American of North/West/East African ancestry. And my East African Ancestry is mostly Luhya🎉🎉It has taken me 55 years to find my people 🥹🧬So Yes, I have joined, or Subscribed to your channel.🤗 I have so much to learn dear Sister! And I will spend up to the very last of my days reconnecting to the Diversity and Languages of our people. I am so grateful and proud 🥹 🙌🏼🙌🏽🙌🏾🙌🏿
@kerinkellynerdcorner, welcome long-lost kin. We are hiding out in the western region of Kenya. Very proud and culture rich people, the Luyha are. Same language with diverse accents just like in America
Hello Kerin, welcome aboard. Please excuse my late welcome. It’s good to have you here as part of us. It’s never to late to learn a new language and find your way home😊
There are not 17 there are either 18 or 21
Hi... I love what you're doing... Although these differences you're stressing on are found in all languages both local and foreign... I have lived and interacted with people across all the counties in Western Kenya and I never find these differences as big deal except for the Bukusus and Maragolis... In Busia for example except for the Samia, the others like Wanyala, Marachi, Wakhayo can comfortably communicate to people in Kakamega County: Banyala, Batsotso, Idakho, Isukha, Kabras, Kisa, Marama, Tachoni, Wanga...etc... The differences are expected. I have even seen them in Swahili, English and French...
Congrats nekesa....sakwa from busia 🇰🇪 Kenya
Thank you Sakwa
Also Ovendi is a greeting
Most Luhya subtribes dialects are similar, only pronunciation, intonation etc is different with exception of the Bukusu Language which is abit too native or distinct.
Maragoli also sounds distant from the rest. Closer to Kiganda
And bukura
With an ambassador like you educating us, we now discover the words you hear Luyhas speak that sound so different are actually not that different. Words like Lira Liange in Marachi, in Maragoli we say Lita Liange. When you sound out "Lira" in Marachi I can detect a hidden "t" in there. That is where the maragoli's get the Lita. 'Zunguza' I think is universal in Vihiga and Kakamega subtribes (I stand corrected). Doreen, your channel is very necessary and very educational, especially words comparison. I have learned so much. By the way, the Maragoli say Umulina for friend, and 'Noho' for Or
You have educated me me for sure. I learn everyday. For instance, I didn't know the Maragoli say Lita liange like the samia and Nyala. Also the word Noho is common among the Wanga and other Luhyas of Kakamega. Through such videos, I'm surely learning what I didn't know.
IN LULOGOLI R IS T..MURWE MUTWE, LIRA LITA
@@kimsaarunga989 same to samia
@@kimsaarunga989 . Just like in my language Samia.
On elusive luyia unity, I think it's because of their own confusion and has nothing to do with sub tribes. Kalenjins comprises of 8 sub tribes that don't understand each other, but they always have a common stand on issues.
Kule Pwani mijikenda-9 subtribes na wameungana.Luyias are just their own enemies.Disunity normally starts at home:same family members but they don't see each other eye to eye anyways 😑 story for another day but luyia in general is a community!luyia nation exists.
Hapo pa confusion ndo nimekwama. Kuna kaukweli mahali.
Get the point Acha makasiriko😂
What about the Bamasaba 😭😭 you didn’t mention us 😢
My point exactly 😢
Oooh this is so unfortunate that I completely forgot about the Masaba. I don’t know why most texts about Luhya subtribes forget the Masaba. I will surely include you in my next video. It wasn’t intentional
Thankyou for your research on luhya words. Now my question to you is this, according to you, who do you think qualifies to be called Luhya ? And also ,why do we have some words like Mwana spread to kikuyu Lingala, kamba ?
I think mwana spreads across because Luhya, Kamba, Kikuyu. and Lingala belong to the Bantu group.
I hold the opinion that luyia people belong together and what unites luyias is the language notwithstanding their differences.
Language difference is common:Like English, we have British, American, Canadian, and Australian versions of English, so the language unites all these English men.
Examples in British what is called an apartment, becomes a flat in the USA.Totally different altogether. The foot path in the UK becomes pavement in the USA, the same scenario among the abaluyia:baba among abamarachi becomes tata among kina Haggai Isanya.
The problem is that the luyia is nolonger taught in schools otherwise we would be understanding each other well.There's a saying"LUYIA IS RICH"this is because of these many vocabularies. Luyias shouldn't be borrowing vocabularies from luos because they have more than enough.
Sure thing! Luhya is indeed rich. And the fact that it's not taught in school must be the reason some of it's dialects don't understand each other. It can be tough trying to learn a language that nobody sat you down to teach you it's rules like we are taught English and Swahili in school. So we just speak what we found people speaking. Great obseravation.
What about karie?
Marama similar to kisa and wanga. My experience, marama is softer and slower. Wanga (my dialect) is kinda faster and rougher in pronunciation. My opinion.
Doreen, I think we have more in common than we are different. You are cherry-picking and emphasizing the few words that differ among us. We definitely understand each other. Contradicting you a little, I think the more we talk to each other the more we understand each other. Like someone mentioned in the comments, the English language for example, has many variations, you just have to concentrate on what's being relayed. Like the commentor said, a flat in England is an apartment in North America. You catch up quickly. Take Americans for example, people in the northeast have a completely different accent from those in the Midwest and west. Those in the south, forget about it, you have to be around them for a little while before you can catch on. They sound like they are talking a different language, but it's English. Proximity- as a Maragolian, I don't have any issues understanding a Bunyore, Tiriki, Isukha, Idakho and other subtribes in Kakamega. I went to Musingu high school for about a year, where there was a good representation of all the subtribes. We all spoke Luyha at times and we understood each other with little to no issues. Listening to you talk, I don't think I would have trouble with the Marachi dialect either. They are practically the same words; we just sometimes write and pronounce them differently.
The moment you'll strike a 20 minutes conversation with a Bukusu gentleman without English/Swahili intervention then I'll take your position seriously. Hon. Mudavadi and Hon. Wetangula communicate with one another in English or Swahili not because it is so cool.
@@owinomakochieng828 Right off jump, ofcourse not. Mudavadi does not hang out with Bukusus, and Wetangula does not hang out with Maragolians. English/Swahili are languages of convenient. I can almost guarantee Mudavadi also speaks English/Swahili to other Maragolians. I went to school with Bukusus, it was difficult at jump, but after a while we communicated. They are Luyha languages, we just pronounce words alittle differently, eventually you catch on. It's not like when I hear Bukusus talk I could confuse them with Luos or even Kikuyus for that matter
@@washburn182 You may have a point. But, Kibukusu and Kimaragoli are very different and not just in pronunciation aka accent. I am fluent in Lubukusu and my better half is a Maragoli. I understand most Luhya dialects and know very well that linguistically, Bukusu and Maragoli are distant just the way they are distant geographically. Some decades ago, there was a football team called Abaluhya and another one called Maragoli in the Kenya national football league, for a reason.
Nyore chifwa.
Iam a luhya from vihiga iam a maragoli thank you for the insght
Would you like to do Luhyia and Chichewa of Malawi?
Hi Cleopatra, pardon my late response to your comment. Oh yes! I would love to do Luhya and Chichewa of Malawi. That would be so much fun.
Hey! You've not mentioned the fact that there are Basamia in Uganda with same dialects 😂
Sure thing, there are Samias in Uganda. In fact some call them Luhyas. Hehe
In Maragoli we say mulina(mrina.
Shared language(or even ancestry) is not a requirement to identify as an ethnic group. If people see themselves as belonging an ethnic group, that is enough. Luhya identity is a bit like Kenyan identity, but more organic, because most of them have shared culture, ancenstry, kinship, history, languages etc.
Luhya languages can be divided into 3 or 4 groupings. Within each grouping the different dialects are highly intelligble. Dialects outside the group, are less intelligible, but still intelligible to a high degree. The groups roughly align with Busia(Marachi, Khayo Samia), Kakamega(Idaho, Isukha etc), Bungoma(Bukusu, Tachoni) and Vihiga.
Maragoli are the outlier in terms of intelligibility with the other dialects. But they are Luhya, because the other Luhya are their closest relatives and they see themselves as Luhya.
Great analysis
All languages including English and Kiswahili have dialects some of which are very unintegible. Only standardisation can bridge the gup.
In maragoli name is rita
Banyore vegetable is chifwa
Chifwa. Wow! So it's not far from tsifwa. In fact they're almost similar
I'm waiting for the time when AI will understand all these differences
Nomba, kose, namwe
Mayi kechile
Bhatirichi we speak Lutirich
You're a real Omutirichi indeed
In maragoli up is mwikulu
The nyala is oche, written ojie
I mean for salamu
This is enlightening. I didn't the spelling differs from pronunciation. Thank you!
Daytime in Maragoli is mbasu
Ekhafu not ekafu
Kumubano bukusu tachoni esilotwa
You forgot Abanyala- they say oche
Ooh yes! Abanyala. Oche! Oli Omnyala?
Representing the batura 🥰🥰
Batura in the house. Yaaaay Nakimo!
What about karie?
My honest opinion, marachi is hybrid of wanga and khayo.
Omuluhya mwene ... Omshisa, namwiru ebhmasee are the pure Luhyas. Just like the Kalenjins, Mijikendas and the rest. we are many but one.
Uli omshisa?
We are indeed many but one.
@@luhyalanguageandculture Orio.
Yes we luyias we so subdivided no wonder we second to kikuyu population wise but not united at all. It is so interesting even here in USA you’ll find us luyias meeting somewhere but we speak Swahili so as to understand each other. It is kinda embarrassing.
I am Samia and I find Samia and Luhya are the almost the same😂
Bukusu owefwe
Good work, Nekesa but you need to do a little more research so that you speak with authority.
For instance, it's important to know that there's a lingua Franca among the 17 dialects.
I speak Oluwanga and it's understood across the board. The base Luhya is formed by about five of the dialects, namely, wanga, marama, shisa, tsotso, marachi. These 5 form almost 95% of the Luhya vocabulary.
It's also important to note that Luhya dialects can be divided into about 3 major categories: Kakamega dialects are majorly intelligible, Lulogoli is modified Lwitakho, the vocabulary is similar but with different pronunciation, 2. Bukusu and navakholo luñyala form another category 3. Busia dialects
Generally speaking all dialects are one language which should be understood in context. You can't know all words of any language but the meaning comes from the usage in a sentence
Your analysis is commendable indeed and very sensible. I would love to know exactly where people conduct such research because, from experience, some of these information is very limited in terms of where to look. That is why most of my videos, I present from my knowledge and the limited information I manage to stumble on. Tell me more.
Baby find for me a beautiful wife from luhya community
Luhya is not very different
HEHE WHAT YOU DONT KNOW IS ALSO THE KIKUYUS SPEAK DIFFRENT LANGUAGES WITHIN THEMSLEVES.THE KIKUYU IN KIAMBU IS DIFFRENT FROM THE KIKUYU IN NYERI, EMBU, KIRINYAGA ETC.EVEN THE KAMBAS LUO KALENJIN MIJIKENDA ETC.
THE WAY THEY DONT KNOW THE INNER LINGUISTIC DYNAMIC AMONG LUHYAS IS THE SAME WAY WE DONT KNOW ABOUT THEM AND THINK THAT THEY SPEAK ONE LANGUAGE.;UHYA LANGUAGES ARE SIMILAR BUT WITH DIFFERENT PRONUNCIATIONS. AMACHI, AMATSI, MURWE MUTWE