What "Noma" And "Noma Sana" Mean In YouTube Discussion Threads Of Kenyan Music

Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post provides information about and examples of the Sheng word "noma" and the phrase "noma sana". 

The content of this post is presented for linguistics and cultural purposes.

All copyright remains with their owners.

Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.

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PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S NOTE
This post's target audience is people throughout the world (like me) who don't speak or understand Sheng and Swahili but who repeatedly come across the phrase "noma sana" in discussion threads of contemporary Kenyan and/or Tanzanian music.

I gathered information about the meaning of "noma sana" from various online sources.

Additions and corrections are very welcome.

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INFORMATION ABOUT SHENG
From https://journals.openedition.org/eastafrica/340#:~:text=1Sheng%2C%20popularly%20defined%20as,%2C%20Luyha%2C%20Dholuo%20and%20Kikamba.
Evolution of Sheng during the Last DecadeAurélia Ferrari, 2014
"Introduction

Sheng, popularly defined as an acronym for “Swahili-English slang” (Mazrui, 1995), emerged in the 1960s in the multicultural environment of Nairobi. It is an urban language which combines mainly Kiswahili and English but also other Kenyan languages such as Kikuyu, Luyha, Dholuo and Kikamba. Sheng is characterized by an important linguistic flexibility. It does not have an official status even if it is widely spoken, especially by the youth. Originally used as a vehicular language between people from different regions, it is becoming a vernacular language, some people born in the 1980s or later having Sheng as their first language. Sheng is not a unique linguistic phenomenon in Africa. In the last fifty years, urbanization and globalization have prompted the emergence of new urban linguistic codes. Such codes are based on multilingual speech and characterized by unstable vocabulary. Many of these varieties derived from a criminal slang to a youth code. Despite constant devaluation by educationalists, traditionalists, language planners and the elites, those youth languages have expanded and transformed into urban varieties that feature highly in popular culture and the media. This is the case for Nouchi (a mixed code made of French and local languages spoken in Abidjan), Tsotsitaal/Isicamtho (Johannesburg), Hindubill (in Kinshasa, mainly made of Lingala and French), and others."...

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WHAT  "NOMA" AND "NOMA SANA" MEAN
These excerpts are given in no particular order and are numbered for referencing purposes only.

Excerpt #1
From https://nihivyo.com/words/4

"noma

Meaning - presence of danger, difficult, something very awesome

English - danger, awesome, great, difficult

Synonyms - diambo, kali

Use - Hii shida ni noma,(difficult) Nguo zake ni noma (awesome, great) Omosh ni mnoma kucheza ball (great)

Posted on: 2019-10-08"

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Excerpt #2
From https://www.sheng.co.ke/kamusi/index.php?word_id=896

"Noma- (Verb) [ Noh-mah ]

Meaning : Tough, Trouble, Good

Use : Pablo ni mnoma futa = Paul is good in soccer

Period: Unknown

Synonyms: Otero, Champee, Kiblanda, Ngori, Genje, Poa, ,

 Area of origin : Unknown"

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Excerpt #3
From https://www.sheng.co.ke/kamusi/index.php?word_id=3377#:~:text=Etymology%3A,a%20sheng%20word%20meaning%20'CHAOS'

 "Leta noma- (Verb) [ Le-ta-no-ma ]

Meaning : Cause chaos

Use : Leta noma uchapwe = cause chaos and you will be beaten

Period: Mid 90's

Related to: Zusha,Tafash,

Synonyms: Leta ngori, Zua noma, Leta genje, Mezesha,

Leta noma

- Area of origin : Unknown

Etymology:

Derived from the swahili and sheng words 'LETA' is a swahili word meaning 'BRING' while 'NOMA' is a sheng word meaning 'CHAOS' "

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SELECTED COMMENTS FROM TWO YOUTUBE DISCUSSION THREADS
These comments are given with a citation for their their Kenyan YouTube sources. Some 

supplemental information may also be included after these comments. I've given the Google translate results from Swahili to English although I don't have much faith that these results are always correct.

All of these comments were published in 2020. These examples are given in no particular order. Numbers are added for referencing purposes only.

Comments From Source #1
FEMI ONE X MEJJA - UTAWEZANA (OFFICIAL VIDEO), Femi One, April 1, 2020

1. Dennis Joe 
"noma"

**

2.  Isaac bling anman

"😂😂😂😂nomaa Sanaa🇨🇩"
-snip-
"CD"= abbreviation for Democratic Republic of the Congo

Elongating written words by adding vowels is one way of intensifying that word.

**

3. ALVIN INDIRE

"Noma Sana imeweza kabisa"
-snip-
Google translate from Swahili to English: "imeweza kabisa"= "completely managed"

-snip-
My guess is that "completely managed" here means something similar to the African American Vernacular English phrase "on point"

**
4. qlasic love
"I week still number one trending 👏👏👏👏

Noma sana"

**
5.  Vicky Mbwambo

"Oiiiiii man noma sana

Me nitawezana femi"
-snip-
Google translate from Swahili to English gives this result for "Me nitawezana" = I will be able to".

**
6.  Mery Njau

"Noma sana watching  from tz  🇹🇿🇹🇿  🎶🎵🎼🎧  utawezana & i love kenya so much"
-snip-
"Tz" = Tanzania
-snip-
Google translate from Swahili to English for "utawezana"= "You will be able to".
Does this mean that the commenter can understand the words spoken in this track? 

**
Comments From Source #2
From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYXMJ-u7jSg

Japesa X Khaligraph Jones - Nyakalaga /Prod. BUKU! (Official Music Video)

JAPESA, August 4, 2020

1.  Titus Otieno

"NOMA SANA!"

**
2. Emmanuel Otieno

"Dholuo flowing ...noma sana"
-snip-
from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dholuo#:~:text=The%20Dholuo%20dialect%20(pronounced%20%5Bd%CC%AA%C3%B3l%C3%BA%C3%B4,and%20areas%20to%20the%20south.

"The Dholuo dialect (pronounced [d̪ólúô][3]) or Nilotic Kavirondo, is a dialect of the Luo group of Nilotic languages, spoken by about 4.2 million Luo people of Kenya and Tanzania,[4] who occupy parts of the eastern shore of Lake Victoria and areas to the south. It is used for broadcasts on KBC (Kenya Broadcasting Corporation, formerly the Voice of Kenya)."...
-snip-
The Kenyan rappers Japesa and Khaligraph Jones are both Luos. 

**
3. Miston Champe
"Noma tena sana👑"
-snip-
Google translate from Swahili to English: "tena sana" = "again very"
I think the entire comment means something like  "Again, this is really awesome." 

**
4. Vindee Bazenga Dadii
"Nomaaaaaa💯💯💯💯💯ja kisumo owadwa💯💯💯👊👊👊"
-snip-
Google translate from Swahil to English gives no results for "ja kisumo owadwa".

**
5. TQLA MWAU
"sielewi but flow ni noma noma"

-snip-

https://glosbe.com/sw/en/sielewi [Swahil-English dictionary] = “I don't understand

"ni" = Swahili to English: "is"

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