[note] February 20, 2009

Greeting is an essential part of Tanzanian daily life.
Even when you’re talking to a stranger, it is culturally important to properly greet, asking his/her well-being and how the day is going. Consequently Kiswahili language contains numerous ways to greet a person and it seems like there are uncountable variations in them.

1. –jambo
A very common phrase and probably the most famous one in regions elsewhere in the world. It’s equivalent of hello or how are you, but there’re so many ways to say hello/how’re you in Kiswahili anyways so to anyone who’s native or fond of Kiswahili, collect me if I’m wrong.
Locals know that this word is well-known in the other parts of the world, so they’d most likely say “Jambo!” when they see you, but the grammatically proper usage is to put prefixes in front depending on various contexts.
Example: “Hu-jambo” would be hello to you or asking if you’ve got any matter. (jambo in Kiswahili translates to matter or affair) The proper way of answering back is “Si-jambo” or I’ve got no matter. “Ham-jambo” is the plural, asking if you all have any matter. The answer to it would be “Hatu-jambo” (we’ve got no matter). Other variations are “Ha-jambo” (in case of he/she, third person singular) and “Hawa-jambo” (in case of they, a particular group of people).

2. Habari-
Habari = news. We can combine habari and numerous words to ask the well-being of a person, work, the day or pretty much anything.
Example: “Habari gani?” (Literal translation is “what kind of news?” It means more like “how are things with you?”)
“Habari yako?” (How are you?)
“Habari za leo?” (How is the (your) day?)
“Habari za kazi?” (How’s the work?)
“Habari za asubuhi / mchana / jioni / usiku?” (How’re things in the morning / afternoon / evening / night?)
The answer to these questions is almost always “nzuri” (good) or other variations such as “safi” and “poa” (Both implies to mean something like good or cool). You could also put “sana” (very), “kabiasa” (completely/absolutely) or some others after these words.
It is not common for someone to say otherwise such as “mbaya” (bad) in daily conversations even if he/she is having a bad day. If you use of “mbaya” everyone would assume that you’ve got a lethal disease hence you’re dying or one of your family members or friends is in critical condition or has recently diseased. So it is a courtesy to respond “nzuri” to your company even if things in your life aren’t going so well.
My Kiswahili teacher back in Dar said that even a severely injured person in a hospital would respond something along the line of “nzuri” if you ask him/her how he/she’s doing. I’m not sure if he was exaggerating or not.

3. Mambo (What’s up)
“Mambo” is the plural form of “jambo”. My Kiswahili teacher back in Japan wasn’t really keen on us using mambo, but it’s widely used nowadays in casual conversations.
This can be combined with other words such as;
“Mambo vipi”. Vipi = which. Mambo vipi would be which matter or loosely translates to what’s up.
“Mambo mazuri” = Good things/affairs. The translation would be something like “things are going good for you right?” assuring the well-being of your company.
Consequently the derivatives of these would be;
“Hali vipi” (hali = condition), yet another “what’s up” and “Vipi hali” (a reversed version) or simply, “Vipi”.
The answers would be “poa”, “safi” or numerous other phrases which I’m yet to fully master.

4. Shikamoo/Marahaba
This is one of the indications of how elders are well-respected in Tanzanian or Kiswahili society.
Younger person would greet an elder with “shikamoo” (literally “I hold your feet.”) and the elder would answer back “marahaba”.
Apparently there’s no clear boarder line of at what age the “shikamoo” should be used. My Kiswahili teacher in Dar again told us that it should be used for people of your parents’ age, but it’s very hard to tell someone’s age from their appearance. I’ve been reminded occasionally to greet a person in this way when I thought I didn’t need to. It’s not a problem at all if I’m the one saying “shikamoo” but it’s really awkward when little kids greet me with “shikamoo”. I always hesitate to answer “marahaba” back at them. I don’t think I’m old enough to be “shikamoo-ed”.