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- Topic: Swahili >
- "Mambo"
43 Comments
In the area of Tanzania where I live, mambo is a very informal greeting used by younger people or with people you know well. Jambo is more formal, can be used by everyone and is the more acceptable greeting. You would never say mambo to someone older than you or someone you do not know.
I also got that feeling that there were quite a lot of slang words in this course? I really would never use mambo except to my drinking buddies
https://www.duolingo.com/skill/sw/Greetings-1
Some Tanzanians use the greeting Jambo when greeting foreigners. In most cases Jambo is considered to be a touristic greeting. Generally foreigners are associated with tourists and for that matter this greeting is commonly used with foreigners.
When I lived in Kenya, "mambo" was best described to me as translating to: "What's up?" This brings the understanding that it's an informal greeting generally used amongst peers or the younger generations. The response "poa" meaning "cool" would then be similar to the English response of "not much".
Cool as in 'good' or 'swell' or 'nice' like in English we would say "that's cool" as a form of positive expression; not cool as in temperature
I tend to agree, when I lived in Tanzania I was taught the transliteration was 'business'
being picky.. you mean translation.. transliteration is using one script to make the sounds of another language.. eg romanji, hanupinyin, etc
I am sure "How are things?" should also be considered a correct English translation?
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My Kenyan friend had never heard of Mambo being used as a greeting before. When talking to her in Kiswahili, she laughed when I said it. She says that it only means things and would never be used as a greeting. Is this a regional thing?
That depends on the register "mambo" is meant to be. "Hello" is a more formal register than "hi", so it might not be the most appropriate translation.
Mambo can be used for " any issues?" and the reply should be "Hakuna Mambo" which is "no issues"
So that would mean "hakuna" is a negation like "no" or "none" if The Lion King's translation of "hakuna matata" is the least bit accurate.
I would use sijambo though... but one always follows it by lakini... my cow died, my grandmother has had kittens...etc :)
Mambo is either official business, or slang... people would look at you a bit strange I think... normally you would use hujambo, with the reply sijambo (no matters)
Yes, but usually (as is taught) it doesn't stand alone: "Habari za nyumbani?" f.e.
I have never heard this expression before. I learned some traditional KiSwahili conversation before going to Tanzania 12 years ago and the local people told me I had extremely good grammar and pronunciation. I was trying this as a refresher, but I feel like this Swahili is Kenyan or slang and not as proper. Not sure I want to continue unless these words are common and acceptable in Tanzania.
It's youth language - I'd use it with some friends as a kid in TZ (which also is 12 or more years ago). Sure, slang and Kenyan expressions are included, but this is a good start - it still is in beta, so there are mistakes. Also keep in mind that language changes and twelve years are quite long. Kind regards,
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In Argentina we use the word "Mambo" as a slang for problems/issues (more specifically personal issues). I don't think it's a mere coincidence though I searched the internet and I didn't find any answers.
