98 km away
The youth vernacular of urban Kenya, especially Nairobi. A code-mixed register drawing on Swahili, English, and various Kenyan languages.
Kikuyu
Also known as: Gikuyu, Gĩkũyũ
A Bantu language and the largest indigenous language of Kenya, spoken across the central highlands around Mount Kenya. Around 8 million speakers.
Shareable facts
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Frequently asked questions
What language is Kikuyu?
Kikuyu is a dialect of the Kikuyu language.
Where is Kikuyu spoken?
Kikuyu is primarily spoken in Kenya.
Which region is Kikuyu associated with?
Kikuyu is part of the East & Southern Africa region on DialectAtlas.
Is Kikuyu known by other names?
Yes — Kikuyu is also referred to as Gikuyu, Gĩkũyũ.
Nearby dialects
See on the atlas →126 km away
A Bantu language of south-eastern Kenya, closely related to Kikuyu. Around 4 million speakers across Machakos, Kitui, and Makueni counties.
140 km away
A Nilotic language spoken by the Maasai people across southern Kenya and northern Tanzania. Closely related to Samburu and Camus within the Maa cluster.
246 km away
A Western Nilotic language of the Luo people of western Kenya around Lake Victoria. Related to Acholi and to the Dinka and Nuer of South Sudan.
432 km away
A click-language isolate spoken by the Hadza hunter-gatherers around Lake Eyasi in northern Tanzania. Fewer than 1,000 speakers; no demonstrated genetic relationship to any other language.
493 km away
A Bantu language of central Uganda, the most-spoken Ugandan Bantu language and the historical court language of the Buganda kingdom. Widely used as a lingua franca in Kampala.