Original Story Published by: Ismail Akwei for Face2Face Africa | (Above) Photo Credit: Afro Tourism
(Above) African women singing Christmas songs.
Africa is blessed with over a thousand major languages spoken by millions of people in the continent’s 54 countries. Some languages are mutually intelligible as they share similar words and cross national boundaries due to inter-marriages and similar geographical location.
Christmas is not an African festival but it was adopted into many cultures after the European invasion by former colonial masters Portugal, the Netherlands and Britain who imposed the Christian religion on the traditional people.
December 25 is marked as the birthday of Jesus Christ by Christians and it comes with the greeting Merry Christmas. The greeting has been Africanized and here are 25 ways of saying Merry Christmas in Africa as documented by whychristmas.com.
1. Afrikaans (South Africa, Namibia) – Geseënde Kersfees
2. Akan (Ghana, Ivory Coast, Benin) – Afishapa
3. Amharic (Ethiopia) – Melikam Gena! (መልካም ገና!)
4. Ashanti/Asante/Asante Twi (Ghana) – afehyia pa
5. Chewa (Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe) – Moni Wa Chikondwelero Cha Kristmasi
6. Dagbani (Ghana) – Ni ti Burunya Chou
7. Edo (Nigeria) – Iselogbe
8. Ewe (Ghana, Togo) – Blunya na wo
9. Fula/Fulani (Niger, Nigeria, Benin, Cameroon, Chad, Sudan, Togo, Guinea, Sierra Leone) – Jabbama be salla Kirismati
10. Hausa (Niger, Nigeria, Ghana, Benin, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Togo) – barka dà Kirsìmatì
11. Ibibio (Nigeria) – Idara ukapade isua
12. Igbo/Igo (Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea) – E keresimesi Oma
13. Kinyarwanda (Rwanda, Uganda, DR Congo) – Noheli nziza
14. Lingala (DR Congo, Rep Congo, Central African Republic, Angola) – Mbotama Malamu
15. Luganda (Uganda) – Seku Kulu
16. Ndebele (Zimbabwe, South Africa) – Izilokotho Ezihle Zamaholdeni
17. Shona (Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Botswana) – Muve neKisimusi
18. Soga/Lasoga (Uganda) – Mwisuka Sekukulu
19. Somali (Somalia, Djibouti) – Kirismas Wacan
20. Sotho (Lesotho, South Africa) – Le be le keresemese e monate
21. Swahili (Tanzania, Kenya, DR Congo, Uganda) – Krismasi Njema / Heri ya Krismasi
22. Tigrinya (Ethiopia and Eritreia) – Ruhus Beal Lidet
23. Xhosa/isiXhosa (South Africa, Zimbabwe, Lesotho) – Krismesi emnandi
24. Yoruba (Nigeria, Benin) – E ku odun, e ku iye’dun
25. Zulu (South Africa, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland) – UKhisimusi omuhle
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