Monday, 24 August 2009

Connecting People in Kiswahili

I got one new K-series phone on Saturday. A friend calls the cheap phones the K-series because almost every network has a ka- before the name they christen the cheapie. There is the Kabiriti from MTN (some ZTE-made phone) ka-tikitiki or something from UTL, and my new ka-tochi (some Nokia so called juu iko na torch).

I was trying to do away with their suggested spellings when typing out SMSs but couldn’t figure out how in a short time. I thought choosing Kiswahili as my language may be a good way to get rid of the suggestions. Not really, but I’m more surprised by how much more Kiswahili the programmers know that I don’t. Stuff like Kihesabu Ujumbe (bado sijajua nini hii), Rajisi ya Simu (call log), kikokotoo (must be calculator from the picture) mifumo, mipangilio ya kitufe cha kucha....kulia, safisha (clear) na kadhalika. Kwa sasa, nataka kurejesha mpangilio wa kiwandani for a while but alama ya siri ina makosa.

Meanwhile, from Kahenya, ati this is what an Equity Bank ATM reads in Gikuyu.

8 comments:

KR said...

"mipangilio ya kitufe cha kucha"

Ati what?

The Black Mamba said...

I checked my Nokia phone and it has Kiswahili language. Amazing!

PKW said...

KR: I guess they consulted the TZians. My colleague from Zim who worked there told me that they teach Science and Maths in Kiswahili (e.g. alama ya kujumulisha for + etc). No wonder they invent new words for new technologies (k.m. mtandandao, barua pepe n.k.) while we don't.

Ssembonge, I tell ya.

pesa tu said...

@PKW:You ought to turn off the T9 editor.Thats what sending u suggestions as you type.

PKW said...

Pesa tu: Asante off to do it!

Cee said...

Hahaha, have you tried Facebook Kiswahili....man the words you will learn. I definitely love the fact that Kiswahili is becoming a recognized language....but it's hard for a Nairobian to understand...but I will stick to it till the end. Kiswahili for life

Ms.Gina said...

I am American, but learning Kiswahili. I have Facebook in Kiswahili and I have added Kiswahili words to my phone, so the T9 will recognize when I start typing them. I am glad Nokia has Kiswahili on their phone. Wish I could get one, may be out of my price range. If you want to do t9, it will say something like "Cannot spell" then give you the option to spell the word.

Ms.Gina said...

Continued... Once you save the word once, it will do it forever (unless the phone dies) Worth the trouble to enter it once. Then you can keep t9 on and live abundantly!