‘Cheers’ instead of ‘goodbye’ and other interesting words

Ah, this treacherous language called English...

So writes my fellow columnist in The Citizen every week. Abdi Sultani’s take is usually grammar. For some of us, English equals progress. This is because we were once colonised by Britain. And, like many other nations across the planet, we think that English is the only language worth learning. Part of it is true since this lingo is indeed the leading business, technological and commercial global communicator.

There is that angle and then the misguided “almost” ignorant interpretation of it. Ongoing for centuries. There was a time when Greek was the leader. Then French. And Spanish (It has been whispered soon it shall be Mandarin, aka Chinese. That should be fun!),

Whenever you read novels from the 18th century, for example, you stumble upon aristocrats using French idioms and sentences to add to their traditional Russian, English and German conversations just to sound “posh” and “learned” and oi! That S word.

SUPERIOR!

Just like it was around 60 years ago. A fluent Swahili speaker from the East African coast regarded as superior to someone from interior Tanganyika. Most of us munched, chewed and spit tribe lingos and speaking Swahili was like having rice with chicken and kachumbari on weekends. Otherwise ugali and muhogo mkavu (maize meal and dry cassava) during the week. Plus beans. Standard. Meat used to be sacrosanct and sacred. NYAMA JUMAPILI TU BAS!

Swahili was tops. Then Arabic words would be added to the Uswahili and Viswahili just to sound “better.” To this day you still hear us Swahili speakers addressing each other as ustaadh. Most of us do not even realise ustaadh means “teacher” or “professor”. And even, worse. Since Arabic has gender forms like German and Latin languages, you can actually call a learned woman ustaadha if she has high teaching credentials. Question. Have you ever heard Swahili speakers addressing (even jokingly) highly educated women as ustaadha? Sound as if ustaadh is the ultimate male title. Wrong, folks, wrong. The other one is sabalkher.

We sometimes greet each other with that Arabic word that good morning or good afternoon, greeting. I heard someone using it in the evening. Wrong. Then the addressed answered sabalkher. Ouch. Sabalkher is answered by sabalnoor or nur. And evenings is masalkher. Masalnoor. Like cars and ships and aeroplanes, languages have to be learned otherwise we crash!

Mmmh.

English is just a language. A tool of communication. Of course, every language carries customs, mannerisms, class and culture. Consequently, we misuse these forms of communication. Languages are tools for interacting. The more you know them, the more you will meet interesting people and do business and enjoy life. I should know. Travelling around the world, being multilingual (a gift we Africans are blessed with) really helps break barriers.

No wonder the late President John Magufuli could literally greet in most Tanzanian languages. He mastered the psychology of communication. Languages are tools. Whenever Magufuli did the Kichagga greeting, I was like woow! As he was originally a Sukuma.

Languages bring us closer.

That is how we should look at English. A language. Period. Saying that, however, there are two sides. The grammar that Abdi Sultani reminds and corrects then...jargons. Jargons are cultural, periodical and generational.

English is spoken differently in each country on earth. Also compared to England by natives. So you find different idioms and words.

This can be similar to how tourists use Swahili.

Whoever they bump into they might just holler: “Jambo!” It doesn’t matter the age. They do not know shikamoo. Marahaba. We don’t say jambo to each other. We say, “Hujambo?” In fact, technically, hujambo was used by males to greet females. It has a softer touch. We say, “Habari gani?” Or the informal, “Mambo?” Vipi? Salama? and so on.

Same way with English. First time I was in the UK I was surprised to hear “cheers” instead of “goodbye”. I had learnt “cheers” to toast drinks. Not as a farewell.

Then there are the neo-English words. The internet has created so many. Trollies. Tags. Search engines. Done. Follow. Words that highlight cyber communication. I laughed to tears when a 70-plus neighbour asked his son what type of engines were used to run computers. The son laughed and said, no, it is internet language! Foreign languages and cultures have equally contributed to English. Jamaicans like to say politricks instead of “politics”. This explains the hypocritical side of the system which Rastas call shistem. Swahili has a recent idiom, a jargon, unatisha!

Basically denotes being scared, however. It is like saying you are a star in London jargon. Not really a celebrity, but you just did something brilliant!