Parts of the Body – Ibice By’umubiri

Learning about the parts of the body is an important part of any language practice. It can help you describe identifying traits about others and communicate the location of an illness or injury.

Here’s a list of body part words in Kinyarwanda (notice some plurals in parentheses):

Umutwe – head

Umusatsi – hair

Isura – face

Ijisho (Amaso) – eye (eyes)

Ugutwi (Amatwi) – ear (ears)

Izuru – nose

Umunwa – mouth

Amenyo – teeth

Ururimi – tongue

Urutugu (Intugu) – shoulder (shoulders)

Umutima – heart

Igifu – stomach

Umugongo – back

Ukuboko (Amaboko) – arm (arms)

Ikiganza (Ibiganza) – hand (hands)

Urutoki (Intoki) – finger (fingers)

Ukuguru (Amaguru) – leg (legs)

Ivi (Amavi) – knee (knees)

Ikirenge (Ibirenge) – foot (feet)

Amano – toes

Try this exercise to practice putting body parts in order from head to toe, amahirwe masa (good luck)!

Children commonly memorize parts of the body using a catchy song with motions pointing to each part. Now watch the Kinyarwanda version of this song and try to recognize body part words you learned today!