The Kenyan community is quite diverse, with more than forty-four tribes in the entire nation.
If you traverse the hills and plains that is this beautiful country, you will find that a few tribes share words that have completely different meanings.
The two tribes I sampled are Kalenjin and Luo.
These tribes are both Nilotic speakers, with Kalenjins being highland and the Luo river lake Nilotes. You could expect some similarity in their languages but that’s not how it is.
From my interaction with our Luo brothers, there are two words that particularly struck me.
These are:
Otuch
The much-acclaimed song Bank Otuch by Luo Dollar must be a song that aroused the same kind of euphoria in the music scene since Unbwogable by Gidigidi Maji Maji. Bank Otuch also made me curious to know what ‘bank otuch’ meant. I found out it meant that ‘benki imetoboka.’ Now otuch in my Kalenjin dialect means ‘cover it.’ It is often used to implore someone to conceal a bad thing or a thing that should not be seen by strangers.
Ongewach
I had a crush who was a Luo. A few interactions with Luo friends, in a bid to impress her, got me knowing a few words, one of them their greetings. I hope they did not play me a cruel joke by telling me it was ‘nang’o.’ I promptly texted her and the response baffled me. She replied ‘ongewach.’ Now this word means ‘let’s yell.’ It is often used when one is in distress and the only way of seeking help is by making noise.
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