A month ago, a group of elders from Kirinyaga County filed a petition at the constitutional court seeking to have Akirinyaga people registered as an independent tribe, and not as part of the Agikuyu community.

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The elders under Kenya Indigenous Languages Forum (KILF), claimed their language and culture were on the brink of extinction if they continued being dependent on the Gikuyu language.

There is no doubt that Gikirinyaga despite being a Gikuyu dialect, has so many unique traits that distinguish it from the 'mainstream' Kikuyu language.

This uniqueness can be well identified in its two linguistic divides, Ki-Ndia and Gigichugu. We focus on the latter that is widely spoken in the tea- growing areas of Kianyaga, Githure, Karumandi among others.

Here are some unique and salient features on found with Gigichugu dialect according to Gilbert Mwangi, a linguistic expert.

1.The language has no ‘ ch’ or ‘ ‘ sh’ sound but instead uses the equivalent of ‘ s’ sound. Thus a Gichugu speaker will say 'gisugu' and not 'gichugu'.

2. Lack of euphemisms

The speakers of this dialect are known not to embellish their language with 'unnecessary' polite words or phrases.Thus its possible to hear someone say 'ndathii kùmia' ( I am going to defaecate) which is unheard of among other Gikuyu dialects.

3. Curse words

There is that famous curse word 'kang'ura which is used by Gichugu speakers which othe Gikuyu speakers find offensive. To disguise its bluntness in Kiembu, its shortened to ‘ka!'