Umwana inyanya enyengu, an elegant way to say beautiful in Luhya

Vaida the hit song by Harry Richie made the phrase umwana inyanya, or as my cousin Ijaika in the village would say, umwanya inyanya enyengu Kenya famous. What does this flawless phrase means and how to best use it.

Do you want to impress your crush by complimenting her beauty using your Luhya language skills? Well, you are in good luck as Luhya is one of the most romantic Great Lakes Bantu African languages. With Luhya, you’ll never run out of sophisticated ways to express your affection. Each of the 18 dialects of Luhya language has tens of ways to appreciate beauty, and even more ways to when you consider ‘Luhyanized’ words from other languages; like in this phrase ‘umwana inyanaya’ which translates to a cherry beauty. A babe as flawless as a perfectly ripe tomato.

So, who’s a umwana inyanya enyengu?

Flawless glowing skin, just enough to want to tempt you to take a bite, but still holdback and chose to instead feel on her . She’s the type whose beauty peels away ages of evolution getting you back to that moment when man first saw a tomato and thought to himself: “I want that in my mouth.” It’s not just her delicate succulent features that captivate, but how soft but firm it looks. Few mortals, even with the tightest most regimented tomato skin routines, can come close to what Nyasaye gave her for free!