Embu (Kiembu) Alphabet

Unicode's CLDR, the data that teaches phones and computers each language, lists the Kiembu alphabet as the 26 letters a to z with two more: ĩ placed right after i and ũ right after u. With capitals that makes 56 characters, all in the symbol grid above. The language calls itself Kĩembu, with the prefix Kĩ- that names languages, just as English is Kĩthungu and French Kĩfaransa in the CLDR Kiembu locale.

Not every letter carries the same weight. Native Kiembu words lean on a core of vowels and consonants such as a, e, i, ĩ, o, u, ũ, k, m, n, r, t, th, w and y, as in the CLDR number words ikũmi (ten), mũgwanja (seven) and kenda (nine). Letters like f, l, p, s and z mostly appear in borrowed names, which is why the locale's own word list has Kĩpolandi (Polish), Kĩrusi (Russian), Kĩhispania (Spanish) and Kĩvietinamu (Vietnamese). Q and x are kept only for foreign names and are not used in Kiembu words.

Ĩ ĩ and Ũ ũ: the two tilde vowels of Kiembu

In Kiembu the tilde is not an accent on top of i and u: it makes separate vowels, so i and ĩ, u and ũ, are as different as e and o. This is the spelling shared by the languages of the Mount Kenya region. In the closely related Gĩkũyũ, ĩ sounds close to the e of English say and ũ close to the o of go, while plain i and u keep the sounds of see and moon. Unlike the tilde in Portuguese ã or õ, it says nothing about the nose.

Dropping the tilde changes or blurs the word, yet it is often the first thing lost on a phone, where "kiembu" is quicker to type than Kĩembu. Careful writing keeps it, as the CLDR month names do: Mweri wa kathatũ (March, "the third month"), Mweri wa mũgwanja (July, "the seventh month"), Mweri wa ikũmi na ũmwe (November, "the eleventh month"). Tone is part of the spoken language but is not written in everyday spelling.

How to type ĩ and ũ, Kenyan quotes and the shilling

The four letters are U+0128 Ĩ, U+0129 ĩ, U+0168 Ũ and U+0169 ũ. In Microsoft Word on Windows type the code and press Alt+X: 0129 Alt+X gives ĩ, 0169 Alt+X gives ũ, 0128 and 0168 the capitals; elsewhere use Character Map or copy them from this page. On a Mac add the ABC Extended input source, then press Option+N followed by i or u. On Linux the Compose key followed by ~ and the letter works. In HTML write ĩ, ũ, Ĩ and Ũ. On a phone, long-press i or u if your keyboard offers the tilde forms, or add a Gĩkũyũ keyboard if your phone offers one, since that language uses both letters.

For curly quotes on Windows hold Alt and type 0147 for “, 0148 for ”, 0145 for ‘ and 0146 for ’ on the number pad; on a Mac Option+[ gives “, Option+Shift+[ gives ” and Option+] and Option+Shift+] give the single quotes. The Kenyan shilling has no Unicode sign of its own. CLDR names it Shilingi ya Kenya in Kiembu and writes amounts as Ksh1,000.00, with a comma between thousands and a full stop for decimals.

Where the Embu language is spoken

Kiembu is the Bantu language of the Embu people (Aembu) of Embu County in central Kenya, on the south-eastern slopes of Mount Kenya 🏔️, around Embu town, the county capital. CLDR estimates roughly 870,000 speakers, all in Kenya. Most also speak Swahili and English, the country's national and official languages. Kimbeere, spoken in the drier lowlands of Mbeere in the south of the county, is so close to Kiembu that it is often treated as one of its dialects.

Embu people are not Kikuyu, but the two are close neighbours and their languages are close relatives in the group of Bantu languages around Mount Kenya, together with Meru, Chuka, Tharaka and, a little further away, Kamba. That is why they share ĩ and ũ and so many words: Sunday is Kiumia and Thursday Aramithi in both. Kikuyu, Meru, Kamba and Swahili each have a letters collection of their own, and Kenya has one for the flag, the shilling and the country's emoji.