toka
verb
to come from; to go out; to leave.
Use unatoka wapi to ask where someone is from.
Origins
The word’s earlier history is still under review.
Sources3
Charles Sacleux, Grammaire des dialectes Swahilis (Paris: Procure des PP. du Saint-Esprit, 1909), PDF page 166.
Uses natoka huko for coming from there. Historical evidence; not a survey of current Kenyan speech.
A. C. Madan, Swahili-English Dictionary (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1903), PDF page 402.
Explains leaving a town and coming from a place, including toka mjini. Historical evidence; not a survey of current Kenyan speech.
University of Kansas Open Language Resource Center, University of Kansas Kiswahili Glossary (University of Kansas Open Language Resource Center), toka glossary rows.
Gives coming from and exiting as meanings of -toka.
Examples
Unatoka wapi?
Where are you from?
Ninatoka Kenya.
I’m from Kenya.
Rafiki yangu anatoka Mombasa.
My friend is from Mombasa.
Ninatoka kazini sasa.
I’m leaving work now.
Tulitoka nyumbani mapema.
We left home early.
Alitoka kwenye duka.
They came out of the shop.
Umetoka wapi?
Where have you come from?
Tutoke hapa.
Let’s leave here.
Basi linatoka Nairobi.
The bus comes from Nairobi.
