| Meru | |
| Nativename: | Kĩmĩĩrũ |
| States: | Kenya |
| Region: | Meru County and Tharaka Nithi County |
| Ethnicity: | Ameru |
| Speakers: | million |
| Date: | 2019 census |
| Ref: | e26 |
| Familycolor: | Niger-Congo |
| Fam2: | Atlantic–Congo |
| Fam3: | Volta-Congo |
| Fam4: | Benue–Congo |
| Fam5: | Bantoid |
| Fam6: | Southern Bantoid |
| Fam7: | 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 migration from the north.
The Meru people are a fairly homogeneous community and all share a common ancestry. They speak the same language, Kimeru, but there are some slight regional differences, in accent and local words. The community comprises the following subdivisions, from the north to south:
As the Meru language is similar to its surrounding neighbors, the Kikuyu and Embu could have possibly adopted parts of Meru.
| 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 |
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.
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.
| 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 |
| Chuka dialect | |
| Familycolor: | Niger-Congo |
| Iso3: | cuh |
| Glotto: | chuk1274 |
| Glottoname: | Chuka |
| Notice: | none |
| Muthambi dialect | |
| Familycolor: | Niger-Congo |
| Iso3: | mws |
| Glotto: | muth1242 |
| Glottoname: | Muthambi |
| Notice: | none |
| Mwimbi dialect | |
| Familycolor: | Niger-Congo |
| Iso3: | mws |
| 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.
| 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 dialect | |
| Familycolor: | Niger-Congo |
| Glotto: | tiga1244 |
| Glottoname: | Tigania |
| Notice: | none |
| Igembe dialect | |
| Familycolor: | Niger-Congo |
| 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.
| 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 | |
| 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.
| 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 |
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.[1] The Kimeru alphabet is:
| 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 | |
| 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 | |
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- Muntü üjü müraja auma Nairobi. class 2- Antü 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 üjü, with ü as its concord. The adjective -raja has mü 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 üjü and baba as demonstratives is that all strong classes use double concords as demonstratives.
| 1- Mü | Mükürü | Üjü | Mü-raja | A-kwija | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2-Ba | Akürü | Baba | Ba-raja | Ba-kwija | |
| 3-Mü | Müti | üü/üjü | Mü-raja | ü-kügwa | |
| 4-Mï | Mïtï | ïjï/ïno | Mï- raja | ï- kügwa | |
| 5- Ri | Riitho | Rïrï | Rï-nene | Rï-kwona | |
| 6- Ma | Meetho | Jaja/Mama | Ma-nene | Ma-kwona | |
| 7-Kï | Kïara | Gïkï | Kï-nene | Gï-kworonta | |
| 8-Bï | Bïara | Bïbi | 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 |
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.