View source for Meru language

{{Short description|Bantu language spoken in Kenya}}
{{for|the language spoken in Tanzania and sometimes known as Meru|West Kilimanjaro language}}
{{Infobox language
|name=Meru
|nativename=''Kĩmĩĩrũ''
|states=[[Kenya]]
|region=[[Meru County]] and [[Tharaka Nithi County]]
|ethnicity=[[Meru people|Ameru]]
|speakers={{sigfig|1.980000|2}} million
|date=2019 census
|ref=e26
|familycolor=Niger-Congo
|fam2=[[Atlantic–Congo languages|Atlantic–Congo]]
|fam3=[[Volta-Congo]]
|fam4=[[Benue–Congo languages|Benue–Congo]]
|fam5=[[Bantoid languages|Bantoid]]
|fam6=[[Southern Bantoid languages|Southern Bantoid]]
|fam7=[[Bantu languages|Bantu]]
|fam8=[[Northeast Bantu]]
|fam9=Thagiicu
|fam10=North Thagiicu
|dia1=Igembe
|dia2=Igoji
|dia3=Imenti
|dia4=Miutini
|dia5=Nuclear Meru
|dia6=Tigania
|dia7=Tharaka
|dia8=Chuka
|dia9=Mwimbi-Muthambi
|lc1=mer |ld1=Meru
|glotto=meru1245
|glottoname=Meru
|glottorefname=Meru
|guthrie=E.53,531,54,541
}}

'''Meru''' is a [[Bantu language]] spoken by the [[Meru people]] (''Ameru'') who live on the Eastern and Northern slopes of [[Mount Kenya]] and on the Nyambene ranges. They settled in this area after centuries of [[Human migration|migration]] from the north.

The Meru people are a fairly homogeneous community and all share a common [[ancestry]]. They speak the same language, ''Kimeru'', with slight regional differences in accent and local words. The community comprises the following subdivisions, from the north to south:
*Igembe
*Tigania (Tiania) ([[culture]] close to neighbouring [[Cushitic]] and [[Nilotic]] communities)
*Imenti
*Tharaka (Saraka)
*Igoji
*Mwimbi–Muthambi
*Chuka (Gicuka)

As the Meru language is similar to its surrounding neighbors, the [[Kikuyu language|Kikuyu]] and [[Embu language|Embu]] could have possibly adopted parts of Meru.

==Sample phrases==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! English !! Kimeru
|-
| How are you || Muuga
|-
| Give me water || Nkundia rũũji/rũi
|-
| How are you doing? || Ũrĩ ümwega?
|-
| I am hungry || Ndĩna mpara
|-
| Help me || Nteithia/Ntethia
|-
| I am good || Ndĩ mwega
|-
| Are you a friend? || Wĩ mũcore?
|-
| Bye, be blessed || Tigwa bwega, tharimwa.
|-
| I love you || Inkwendete.
|-
| Come here || Ĩja aja/ Iyu aa
|-
| I will phone you || Ngakũringira thimũ
|-
|}I want a cassava||Ndũmia mũanga/mĩanga

==Dialects==
Kimeru has seven main mutually intelligible dialects. The dialects include Kiimenti widely used by the Imenti section of the Ameru, Tiania/gitiania used by the Tigania, kiigembe used by the Igembe, Kimwimbi used by the Mwïmbï, Kïmüthambï used by the Müthambï, Gicuka used by the Chuka and Kitharaka used by the Tharaka.

===Imenti dialect===

It is the commonly used dialect in Meru. The dialect acts as the lingua franca between all the nine subtribes of Meru. It is the official dialect used in the Kimeru Bible translations. It is commonly used in Nkubu, Timau, Kibirichia, Meru town and Ruiri areas of Meru County.

====Sample phrases====
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! English !! Imenti
|-
| How are you || Nĩatĩa ũrĩ? Muuga?
|-
| Give me water to drink || Nkundia rũũji
|-
| Home || Nja/Mũciĩ
|-
| Get out || Uma njaa/ome
|-
| Get Inside || Kũrũka/Tonya
|-
| Today || Naarua
|-
| Tomorrow || Rũüjü
|-
| Come here || Ĩja aja
|-
| I will phone you || Ngakũringira thimũ
|-
|}

===The Chuka, Muthambi and Mwimbi dialects===
{{Infobox language
|name = Chuka dialect
|familycolor = Niger-Congo
|iso3=cuh
|glotto=chuk1274
|glottoname=Chuka
|notice = none
}}
{{Infobox language
|name = Muthambi dialect
|familycolor = Niger-Congo
|iso3 = mws
|isoexception = 
|glotto = muth1242
|glottoname = Muthambi
|notice = none
}}
{{Infobox language
|name = Mwimbi dialect
|familycolor = Niger-Congo
|iso3 = mws
|isoexception = 
|glotto = mwim1242
|glottoname = Mwimbi
|notice = none
}}
The dialects are more related to Gikuyu and Meru proper, and are common in Igoji, Chogoria and Chuka regions of Meru County and Tharaka Nithi County.

====Sample phrases====
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! English !! Chuka/Muthambi/Mwimbi
|-
| How are you || Muuga
|-
| Give me water to drink || nkundia rũnjĩ/rüjÏ
|-
| Home || Mũcii
|-
| Get out || Uma nja
|-
| Get Inside || Kũrũka/Tonya/Thungira
|-
| Today || Ũmũnthi
|-
| Tomorrow || Rũjũ/Rũũ
|-
| Come here || Üka/Njü aa
|-
| I will phone you || Ngakũringira/Ngakubũrira thimũ
|-
|}

===Tigania and Igembe dialects===
{{Infobox language
|name = Tigania dialect
|familycolor = Niger-Congo
|iso3 = 
|isoexception = 
|glotto = tiga1244
|glottoname = Tigania
|notice = none
}}
{{Infobox language
|name = Igembe dialect
|familycolor = Niger-Congo
|iso3 = 
|isoexception = 
|glotto = igem1238
|glottoname = Igembe
|notice = none
}}
The dialects are mostly spoken in Miraa or Khat growing areas of Muthara, Karama, Kangeta, Maua, Laare and Mutuati in Meru County.

====Sample phrases====
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! English !! TIgania/Igembe
|-
| How are you || Muua
|-
| Give me water to drink || Nkundia Rũĩ
|-
| Home || Mucie/Mucii
|-
| Get out || Tũra
|-
| Get Inside || Unkuma
|-
| Today || Ruarii
|-
| Tomorrow || Rũũ/Rũyũ
|-
| Come here || Ĩya haa/iyu haa
|-
| I will phone you || Ngakũringira thimũ
|-
|}

===Tharaka dialect===
{{Infobox language
|name = Tharaka dialect
|familycolor = Niger-Congo
|iso3 = thk
|glotto = thar1283
|glottoname = Tharaka
|notice = none
}}
The dialect is more closely related to the Kamba and Tigania dialects. It is most common in Tharaka areas of Tharaka Nithi County.

====Sample phrases====
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! English !! Tharaka
|-
| How are you || Muuga
|-
| Give me water to drink || Nkundia rũũyĩ
|-
| Home || Mũciĩ
|-
| Get out || Uma nja
|-
| Get Inside || Thũngĩra
|-
| Today || Ĩmunthĩ
|-
| Tomorrow || Rũũ
|-
| Come here || Ncũ aga
|-
| I will phone you || Ngakũringĩra thimũ
|-
|}

== Phonology ==

=== Consonants ===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+Consonants of the ImentI, Igoji, Mwimbi, Muthambi & Tharaka dialects<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Erastus |first=Fridah Kanana |title=Meru Dialects: The Linguistic Evidence |publisher=Kenyatta University, Kenya |year=2011 |location=In Nordic Journal of African Studies 20(4) |pages=300–327}}</ref>
!
![[Labial consonant|Labial]]
![[Dental consonant|Dental]]
![[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
![[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
![[Velar consonant|Velar]]
|-
![[Stop consonant|Stop]]
|p&emsp;b
|
|t&emsp;d
|c&emsp;ɟ
|k&emsp;ɡ
|-
![[Fricative consonant|Fricative]]
|(β)
|ð
|
|ʝ
|(ɣ)
|-
![[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
|m
|
|n
|ɲ
|ŋ
|-
![[Trill consonant|Trill]]
|
|
|r
|
|
|-
![[Approximant consonant|Approximant]]
|w
|
|
|j
|
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+Consonants of the Chuka dialect<ref name=":0" />
!
![[Labial consonant|Labial]]
![[Dental consonant|Dental]]
![[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
![[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
![[Velar consonant|Velar]]
|-
![[Stop consonant|Stop]]
|b
|
|t&emsp;d
|c&emsp;ɟ
|k&emsp;ɡ
|-
![[Fricative consonant|Fricative]]
|(β)
|ð
|
|
|(ɣ)
|-
![[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
|m
|
|n
|ɲ
|ŋ
|-
![[Trill consonant|Trill]]
|
|
|r
|
|
|-
![[Approximant consonant|Approximant]]
|w
|
|
|j
|
|}
Prenasalized sounds may also occur in word-medial and word-initial positions.

Fricatives [β, ɣ] occur mostly as allophones of stops /b, d/ in intervocalic positions. 

/d/ may also be heard as [ɾ] in intervocalic positions.

=== Vowels ===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
!
![[Front vowel|Front]]
![[Central vowel|Central]]
![[Back vowel|Back]]
|- align="center"
![[Close vowel|Close]]
|i iː
|
|u uː
|- align="center"
![[Close-mid vowel|Close-mid]]
|e eː
|
|o oː
|-
![[Open-mid vowel|Open-mid]]
|ɛ ɛː
|
|ɔ ɔː
|- align="center"
![[Open vowel|Open]]
|
|a aː
|
|}

==Alphabet==
Kimeru is written in a Latin alphabet. It does not use the letters ''f  p  q  s  v  x  z'', and adds the letters ''ĩ'' and ''ũ''.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.ameru.co.ke/writing-kimeru/|title=5 Steps to get you Writing Kimeru like a Njuri Ncheke Editor - The Ameru|date=2017-11-08|work=The Ameru|access-date=2018-04-30|language=en-GB}}</ref>
The Kimeru alphabet is:
{|class=wikitable style=text-align:center
|-
|bgcolor="#EFEFEF" colspan="20" | '''[[Capital letters|Majuscule forms]]''' (also called '''uppercase''' or '''capital letters''')
|-
|A ||B ||C ||D ||E ||G ||H ||I ||Ĩ ||J ||K ||M ||N ||O ||R ||T ||U ||Ũ ||W ||Y
|-
|bgcolor="#EFEFEF" colspan="20" | '''[[Lower case|Minuscule forms]]''' (also called '''lowercase''' or '''small letters''')
|-
|a ||b ||c ||d ||e ||g ||h ||i ||ĩ ||j ||k ||m ||n ||o ||r ||t ||u ||ũ ||w ||y
|}
<u>'''Noun Classes'''</u>

Kimeru has sixteen noun classes as tabulated below. the classes are grammatical and represent how words fit into sentences. Of the noun classes, classes 1, 3, 4, 9 and ten are irregular while the rest are regular. This implies that verbal, adjectival and conjunction concords are not the same.

Example class 1 verses class 2. class 1- Muntũ ũjũ mũraja auma Nairobi. class 2- Antũ baba baraja bauma Nairobi.

Class 1-This tall person has come from Nairobi. Class 2. These tall people have come from Nairobi. In class 1 demonstrative 'this' is ũjũ, with ũ as its concord. The adjective -raja has mũ as its concord and the verb uma has a as its concord hence 'auma'. On the other hand in class two each of the above cases have ba as a concord. The difference is only in ũjũ and baba as demonstratives is that all strong classes use double concords as demonstratives.
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Noun class
!Exam
!This/These
!Adjectival
!Verbal
|-
!1- '''Müũ''
!Mũkũrũ
!Ũjũ
!Mũ-raja
!A-kwija
|-
!2-Ba
!Akũrũ
!Baba
!Ba-raja
!Ba-kwija
|-
!3-Mũ
!Mũti
!ũũ/ũjũ
!Mũ-raja
!ũ-kũgwa
|-
|4-Mĩ
|Mĩtĩ
|ĩjĩ/ĩno
|Mĩ- raja
|ĩ- kũgwa
|-
|5- Ri
|Riitho
|Rĩrĩ
|Rĩ-nene
|Rĩ-kwona
|-
|6- Ma
|Meetho
|Jaja/Mama
|Ma-nene
|Ma-kwona
|-
|7-Kĩ
|Kĩara
|Gĩkĩ
|Kĩ-nene
|Gĩ-kworonta
|-
|8-Bĩ
|Bĩara
|Bĩbi
|Bï-nene
|Bï-kworonta
|-
|9-Ng'
|Ng'ombe
|Ïjï/Ïno
|Ï-nene
|Ï-güküra
|-
|10-Ng'
|Ng'ombe
|Ijï/Ino
|I-nene
|I-güküra
|-
|11-Rü
|Rüreme
|Rürü
|Rü-raja
|Rü-gücuna
|-
|10- Ng'
|Ndeme
|Ijï/Ino
|I- ndaja
|I-gücuna
|-
|12-Ka
|Kana
|Gaka
|Ka-nini
|Ga-gükena
|-
|13-Tü
|Twana
|Tütü
|Tü-nini
|Tü-gükena
|-
|14- Bü
|Ücürü
|Bübü
|Bü-rüru
|Bü-küthira
|-
|15-Kü
|Kügürü
|Gükü
|Gü-künene
|Gü-gükinya
|-
|16-A
|Antü
|Aja/aa
|A-nene
|A-kürïmwa
|}
Kimeru follows Dahl's law thus a "K" syllable cannot follow a "K' syllable.

== In Media and Popular Culture ==
A Kenyan musical group known as High Pitch Band Afrika based in [[Meru County]]  has done a cover of the [[Luis Fonsi]]'s popular hit single [[Despacito]] in Kimeru language. The Kimeru cover was uploaded on YouTube on July 10, 2017, and has generated over 500,000 views since then.

In Media the Kimeru language is used as the primary broadcast language of several Radio and TV stations in Kenya. Some include: Meru Fm, Muuga Fm, Weru Fm, Weru TV, Baite TV, Thiiri Fm among many others.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://mer.kasahorow.org/app/d Meru dictionary]
*[https://archive.today/20130415164614/http://www.panafril10n.org/wikidoc/pmwiki.php/PanAfrLoc/Meru PanAfrican L10n page on Meru]
*[http://www.bluegecko.org/kenya/tribes/meru/history.htm "page on Meru History]

{{Languages of Kenya}}
{{Narrow Bantu languages (Zones E–H)}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meru language}}
[[Category:Meru| ]]
[[Category:Northeast Bantu languages]]
[[Category:Languages of Kenya]]