Meeting People, Part 3: Addressing People

Addressing People
Vyeo vya watu
There are two forms of addressing women, different in the level of formality. The word bibi is more informal than bi, and can be used by anyone to refer to their grandmother, and by a husband to refer to his wife. The general term bwana is used for addressing men both in formal and informal situations.
Mr/Sir	Bwana		Bwa-na
Mrs/Madam	Bi		Be
Ms/Miss	Bibi		Bee-bee
When addressing an older person or an authority figure, the usual exchange of greetings is:
Respectful greetings	Shikamoo		Shee-ka-moh
Thank you for your respectful greetings. (an older person to a younger person)	Marahaba		Ma-ra-ha-ba
Thank you for your respectful greetings. (a younger person to an older person)	Asante		a-san-tay
It's common to address people by their likely position within a family. you can call an elder man 'grandfather', a middle-aged man 'father', and a youthful man 'brother'. In addition, parents are often addressed as the mother or father of one of their children (not necessarily the first born), rather than using the parent's own name, eg mama Amina (Amina's mother), baba Flora (Flora's father).
Auntie (any elder woman)	Shangazi		Shan-ga-zee
Brother	Kaka		Ka-ka
Father	Baba		Ba-ba
Grandmother	Bibi		Bee-bee
Grandfather	Babu		Ba-boo
Mother	Mama		Ma-ma
Respected elder	Mzee		m-zay
Sister	Dada		Da-da
Sibling/friend	Ndugu		n-doo-goo
Uncle (any elder man)	Mjomba		m-johm-ba
Hello Stranger
The usual greeting for tourists who are presumed not to understand the language is jambo (hello). There are two possible responses – both mean “hello” too, but while jambo indicates that the speaker would rather use English, sijambo means that he or she is willing to try a little Swahili.
How are you? (to one person)		Hujambo?	Hoo-jam-boh
How are all of you?		Hamjambo?	Ham-jam-boh
I’m fine		Sijambo	Si-jam-boh
We’re fine		Hatujambo	Ha-too-jam-boh