Embu, also known as Kîembu, is a Bantu language of

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

. It is spoken by the Embu people, also known as the Aembu (sg. Muembu). Speakers of the Embu language can also be found in neighboring

districts A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...

counties A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

and in the diaspora. The language is closely related to the

Kikuyu Kikuyu or Gikuyu (Gĩkũyũ) mostly refers to an ethnic group in Kenya or its associated language. It may also refer to: *Kikuyu people, a majority ethnic group in Kenya * Kikuyu language, the language of Kikuyu people *Kikuyu, Kenya, a town in Cen ...

and Kimeru languages.

Dialects

Embu has two known dialects; Mbeere (Mbere, Kimbeere) and Embu proper. Native Embu speakers can also tell apart a speaker from areas close to

Mount Kenya Mount Kenya (Meru people, Meru: ''Kĩrĩmaara,'' Kikuyu people, Kikuyu: ''Kĩrĩnyaga'', Kamba language, Kamba: ''Ki nyaa'', Embu language, Embu: ''Kĩ nyaga'') is an extinct volcano in Kenya and the Highest mountain peaks of Africa, second-highe ...

, because they speak with a slight dialect locally called Kiruguru (Kirũgũrũ).

Sample Translations

Sample translations of words from English to Kiembu. Note: Accented characters or diacritical mark are not shown in the following two tables.

Sample Phrases

References

Northeast Bantu languages Languages of Kenya {{Bantu-lang-stub