habari
noun
news; information; how things are.
In greetings, the question is about news or state, not a literal English “hello.”
Origins
Habari is the Swahili word for news, information, or how things are. It entered from Arabic خَبَر (ḵabar), and is also used in greetings to ask how someone is doing.
Sergio Baldi, Dictionary of Arabic Loanwords in the Languages of Central and East Africa (Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2021), entry 762, 86.
Traces habari to Arabic خَبَر (ḵabar) and documents the Swahili senses of news and report.
A. C. Madan, Swahili-English Dictionary (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1903), 88.
Records Habari / Khabari as news, report, and greeting vocabulary, marked as Arabic.
Examples
Habari za asubuhi?
How is your morning?
Nimesikia habari njema.
I have heard good news.
Habari hii imetoka redioni.
This news came from the radio.
Una habari gani leo?
What news do you have today?
Habari za kazi?
How is work?
Tunasubiri habari kutoka hospitali.
We are waiting for news from the hospital.
Habari mbaya ilienea haraka.
The bad news spread quickly.
Nipe habari ukifika.
Give me news when you arrive.
Habari za familia yako?
How is your family?
