LEGACIES OF PORTUGUESE RULE IN KENYA

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Although the Portuguese era in what is now Kenya & Tanzania ended long ago in 1698 and although their rule never extended more than a few miles from the coast, there are many existing reminders of that period.
The two best known reminders of Portuguese rule is Fort Jesus at Mombasa and the Vasco da Gama Pillar at Malindi. However nearly all Kenyans and Tanzanians live with on a daily basis is in our languages because a lot of words entered Swahili from Portuguese and thereafter were adopted across most of our other languages.

Because of the circular way that languages sometimes evolve and borrow from each other, the Portuguese origin of some of the following words may require some study and could arguably be open to debate. However the list is quite long and here are a few examples of words we used daily that entered Swahili from Portuguese.

1. Pesa (money - pesa)
2. Meza (table - mesa)
3. Dama (board game - dama)
4. Sabuni (soap - Sabonete)
5. Mpira (ball - esfera)
6. Manazi (pineapple - Ananas)
7. Karatasi (paper - cartas)
8. Kalamu (pen - calamo)
9. Bendera (Flag - bandeira)
10.Faranga (chick - frangao)
11. Mvinyo (alcoholic drink - vinho)
12. Beramu (banner - beirame)
 
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