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chwani

noun

fifty Kenyan shillings.

Money vocabulary moves quickly; speakers may prefer another form by age or neighbourhood.

Origins

Chwani is a Sheng money word for fifty Kenyan shillings, with an unknown source.

  1. Miringo Patrick Muriira, A Complex Linguistic Code in the Kenyan Linguistic Scene: A Case Study for Sheng (University of Nairobi, 2016), 40.

    Attests chwani and chuani as fifty-shilling Sheng money vocabulary.

Examples

  1. Nilibaki na chwani tu.

    I was left with only fifty shillings.

  2. Hii ni chwani moja tu.

    This is only fifty shillings.

  3. Alituma chwani kwa fare.

    They sent fifty shillings for the fare.

  4. Nisaidie chwani ya airtime.

    Help me with fifty shillings for airtime.

  5. Chwani haitoshi kwa lunch.

    Fifty shillings is not enough for lunch.

  6. Nilipata chwani ground.

    I found fifty shillings on the ground.

  7. Weka chwani kwa fare.

    Put aside fifty shillings for the fare.

  8. Alidai chwani yake.

    They claimed their fifty shillings.

  9. Sina hata chwani leo.

    I do not even have fifty shillings today.

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