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Loanwords of Central Kenya Bantu Origin in Mijikenda (Draft)
Loanwords of Central Kenya Bantu Origin in Mijikenda (Draft)
ORIGIN IN MIJIKENDA
Martin Walsh
working draft, 21 July 2007
1
RAB thatha ‘roughness; a rough uneven surface’; iwe ra thatha (untranslated,
‘rough, uneven rock’) [KR]
= GIK ithaatha (5/6) ‘hard lava full of bubble holes; any heavy, hard, stone
used for burnishing spears; pumice-stone’; gĩthaatha (7/8) ‘hard, sponge-like
volcanic clinker’ [B]
2
GIR kathini kapala (?12/13) ‘Gnidia latifolia’, provides medicine for stomach
ache [M]
?= KAB -thĩna (v.) ‘to be tormented, to be troubled, to suffer; mũthĩni (1/2) ‘a
suffering one’ [A]; GIK -thĩna (v.) ‘to be poor, destitute; to be in distress,
trouble’; mũthĩni (1/2) ‘poor person’ [B].
Gnidia latifolia (Oliv.) Gilg. (family Thymeleaceae) is a shrub or small tree
found in wooded or bushed grassland, deciduous bushland, and semi-evergreen
bushland. The leaves and stem are poisonous, and the grass underneath these
plants avoided by livestock (Beentje 1994: 96). The toxicity of this plant may
provide a clue to the meaning of the GIR name: GIR kapala (12/13) is a name
(< PSA *mpala < CB –pádá [NH]) for the Suni, Neotragus moschatus (Costich
1977: 12). This suggests the literal translation ‘the plant that troubles the suni’.
3
GIR muthurithuri (3/4) ‘Phyllanthus aff. amarus’ [GS]; mthurithuri (3/4)
‘Abrus precatorius’, used as medicine for eye complaints and venereal disease
[M]; mturituri (3/4) ‘Abrus precatorius’ [Beentje 1994: 281]
?= KAB kĩthũi (7/8) ‘a cactus like tree, the sap is sticky and leaves a burning
sensation’ [A]; kithui (7/8) ‘Euphorbia bussei’ [Beentje 1994: 201]; MBE
kithuri (7/8) ~ ithuri (?9/10) ‘Euphorbia spp.’ [Riley and Brokensha 1988: 297];
thuuri (?9/10) ‘Rhynchosia minima’ [Riley and Brokensha 1988: 298]; GIK
gĩthũri (7/8) ~ mũthũri (3/4) ‘Euphorbia candelabrum’ [Gachathi 1989: 31,
121]
Phyllanthus spp. (family Euphorbiaceae) have other GIR and MK names, and
the first identification above should probably be treated with some caution.
According to Beentje, Abrus precatorius L. ssp. africana Verdc. (family
Papilionaceae) is a climber found in rocky bushland, bushed grassland,
woodland and secondary bushland. A leaf decoction is emetic and a root
decoction is used by the Boni to treat gonorrhoea (1994: 281). The distinctive
scarlet and black seeds are poisonous (Verdcourt and Trump 1969: 79-80).
Riley and Brokensha describe Rhynchosia minima (L.) DC. (also in the family
Papilionaceae) as a ‘creeper’ (1988: 298), and it is possible that the GIR term is
cognate with MBE thuuri. This seems more likely than a connection with the
widespread CKB term for Euphorbia spp.
4
According to Beentje, Dalbergia boehmii Taub. ssp. boehmii (family
Papilionaceae) is a deciduous shrub or tree found only in Kwale District, north
to Rabai (1994: 292). In Rabai the roots of *mudhandze are reported to have
been mixed with the wood of *mudhungu (Zanthoxylum chalybeum) and
pounded to produce a women’s perfume (see below).
5
?= GIK mũthima (3/4) ~ gĩthima (7/8) ‘small common annual plant
(Compositae sp.)’ [B]. The GIR name may include a fossilised class 5 prefix
(CKB ĩ-).
Agathisanthemum bojeri (family Rubiaceae) is a perennial branched herb or
shrub found in grassland, forest edges, bushland, open woodland, and as a weed
in cultivation, especially in coastal areas (Blundell 19xx: 150).
6
CORD (n.): *mudhao (3/4)
GIR mudhao (3/4) ‘band of a faggot’ [T], ‘ligature, cord’ [D]
No CKB cognates found.
7
GIR kivunyo (7/8) ‘comb’ [D]
RAB kimfugnio (7/8) ‘a comb made of wood’ [KR]
?= KAB -vũnya (v.) ‘to scratch or pinch with the finger-nails’ [A]; GIK -hũnya
(v.) ‘to scratch, claw’; hũnyo (10) ‘ragged ends; frayed edges as on a hide after
being pegged out’; or -hunya (v.) ‘to weed haphazardly’; -hunyũra (v.) ‘to make
the skin dry and rough; scrape free of hair; peel off (the layer of dry lamb-skin
on which the hair grows)’ [B]
8
= KAB kĩmbuva (7/8) ‘puff-adder’ [A]; GIK itahuha (5/6) ‘puff-adder’ [B]
The underlying root is seen in DAI –vuva (v.) ‘blow on, up’ [N]; KAB -vuva
(v.) ‘to blow a horn, blow on a fire’ [A]; GIK –huha (v.) ‘blow, blow upon’ [B]
9
running over its eyes, almost certainly the White-browed Robin Chat, Cossypha
heuglini’ [W]
E.DUR chußi ‘parrot, Red-winged Bush Lark’ [NN]
= KAB kyũvĩ (7/8) ‘a song sung by one person; a solo’ [A]
Cf. Bukusu enyekuße (9/10) ‘White-browed Robin Chat, Cossypha
heugleni’ [W]. Bukusu, one of the Luyia dialects, is a Lacustrine Bantu
language, suggesting that the name of the bird may have a longer genealogy
than the KAB form of what looks like the same root. The GIR expression for
loquaciousness (maneno ga chußi) parallels the common Swahili phrase
anaongea kama kasuku, ‘he talks like a parrot’ (and variants thereof), and a
similar E.DUR usage may have motivated the gloss ‘parrot’. Otherwise it
should be noted that the bird identifications in this source [NN] are generally
poor. The Red-winged Bush Lark, Mirafra collaris, is not noted as a song-bird,
but only has a ‘loud two-note whistle and a brief whistled song’ (Williams and
Arlott 1980: 256). The Red-winged Robin Chat, Cossypha heuglini, however, is
described as ‘one of the best avian singers in the world’ (Maclean 1988: 524).
Its dusk and dawn song comprises ‘a series of sustained flute-like whistles of
great beauty’ and it also often mimics other birds’ calls (Williams and Arlott
1980: 296): a bird both seductive and loquacious.
10
HUET’S BUSH SQUIRREL, PARAXERUS OCHRACEUS (n.): *kaßare (12/13)
GIR kavare (12/?) ‘squirrel, small kind’ [T]; ‘Bush Squirrel, Paraxerus
ochraceus’ [C]
RAB mfare (?9/10) ‘The name of a species of squirrel’ [KR]
= KAB mbae (9/10) ~ kaßale (12/13) ‘a tree squirrel; small squirrel’ [A]; GIK
kahare (12/13) ‘tree squirrel’ [B]
Paraxerus ochraceus, which Kingdon calls the Ochre Bush Squirrel, is widely
distributed in eastern East Africa. It is found in dry forests and thickets at
different altitudes; also in wooded riverine strips in very arid country (Kingdon
1997: 169-170). Costich recorded its presence and GIR name in Gedi Forest.
She recorded a different GIR name (kindi) for both the Red Bush Squirrel,
Paraxerus palliatus, and the Red-legged Sun Squirrel, Heliosciurus
rufobrachium, also found at Gedi (Costich 1977: 12).
ROAR; GROWL (v.): *-ruruma (see under THE PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT AND
ITS PRODUCTS)
11
GIR kidhembe (7/8) ‘honey box, cask’ [T], ‘honey barrel’ [D]; -piga kidhembe
(v.) ‘to sound an alarm’ [D]
RAB kithembe (7/8) [not defined] [KR]
W.DUR kirembe (7/8) ‘honey barrel, with a skin at either end; filled and sent as
a gift to a bride’s father’ [W]
E.DUR chirembe (7/8) ‘buffalo horn, instrument used to sound alarm’ [NN]
= KAB kĩthembe (7/8) ‘a large native drum used at the dances by women; a
receptacle for honey in the village’ [A]
The original meaning of this term, ‘drum’, appears to have developed in two
directions: > ‘honey drum’, and > ‘musical instrument’.
12
N.DIG -phana (v.) ‘to brand; to make marks on an animal to indicate
ownership’ [MNNZ]
= KAB –vana (v.) ‘to mark; to brand cattle or goats by cutting the ears’ [A]
13
GIR ndewa (9/10) ‘ox; eunuch’; kadewa (12/13) (diminutive); dewa ~ ridewa
(5/6) (augmentative) [KR]; ndewa (9/10) ‘bullock, castrated ox’; ndewa ya
ng’ombe (9/10) ‘ox’ [T]
W.DUR ndewa wa ng’ombe (9/10) ‘ox, castrated bull’; ndewa wa mbuzi (9/10)
‘castrated goat’ [W]
E.DUR ndewa (9/10) ‘castrated bull’ [NN]
N.DIG ndewa (9/10) ‘castrated bull’ [MNNZ]
= KAB ndewa (9/10) ‘ox; steer; sterile man’ [A]; ndewa ya ng’ombe (9/10) ‘ox’
[M]; GIK ndegwa (9/10) ‘bull, ox’ [B]. Cf. Pare njekwa-na (9/10) ‘steer’ [N]
14
GIK harika (9/10) ‘she-goat which has not borne a kid’ [B]. Cf. Pare mbarika
(9/10) ‘young she-goat’.
15
KAM kithuma (7/8) ‘half of the hide of a cow cut into an oval shape, used to
carry loads in, and to lie on when travelling’ [KR]
= KAB kĩthuma (7/8) ‘the hide of any large animal’ [A]; GIK gĩthuma (7/8)
‘piece of leather or bark placed under a grindstone to catch flour as it is ground;
piece of hide used as a mattress by old men; war shield, large shield, large skin
back-flap; small leather apron hung by Masai below a ram’s belly to prevent it
from serving sheep’ [B]
16
SHAKE (THE BODY); CHURN (MILK AND CREAM) (v.): *-dhingidhya
GIR –dhingidhya (v.) ‘to shake the body in dancing, jazz’; ‘to shake, churn
gently when butter is coming’ [D]
KAM –thingiria (v.) ‘to shake, churn – used only of milk and cream, when
making butter. Put into a calabash and shaken’ [KR]
E.DUR –ringirya (v.) ‘to shake (old term), to churn’ [NN]
= KAB –thingitha (v.) ‘to shake’ [A]; GIK –thingithia (v.trans.), -thingitha (v.)
‘to tremble, shake, quiver, quake’ [B]
The semantic development here is transparent: ‘to shake’ > ‘to churn’. The only
MK nominal derivative recorded, GIR kidhingidhyo, refers to shaking of the
body in fever (see under THE BODY AND ITS FUNCTIONS). At least one
dialect, however, KAM, appears to have restricted use of the verb to its
secondary meaning.
17
The semantic development suggested by this etymology is ‘to move, e.g.
harvested grain’ > ‘(temporary) place moved to’ > ‘post for lodging harvested
grain’.
18
METAL-WORKING AND ITS PRODUCTS
19
FLAT METAL BRACELET (OF BRASS) (n.): *kidanga (7/8)
GIR kidanga (7/8) ‘flat brass bracelet’ [T]
RAB kidanga (7/8) ‘a bracelet, of flat workmanship’ [KR]
= KAB kĩtanga ~ kĩtang’a (7/8) ‘a bracelet’ [A]; kĩtanga kya kw’oko
‘bracelet’ [M]; GIK ndanga ‘a kind of bracelet’; matanga (6) ~ itanga (8) ‘brass
spirals worn suspended from ears by a woman who has had a child
circumcised.’ [B]
20
to pasture’; -umagara (v.) ‘to leave home, village, by the entrance path, gate; go
outside home or village, start on a journey from home’ [B].
The stem-initial /r/ in this item is anomalous, as is retention of the older CKB
causative extension.
21
= KAB kyathĩ (7/8) ‘an appointed time; a gathering’; -atha (v.) ‘to promise; to
point out’ [A]; GIK gĩathĩ (7/8) ‘appointment, prearranged meeting; any
gathering together of people for social purposes, at a market, feast, etc.’; -atha
gĩathĩ (v. +) ‘to make an appointment’; -atha (v.) ‘to command, order, rule,
discipline, control’ [B]
See also the preceding item.
22
fail to make a deal’ [D]; -henda dhora (v.) ‘to trade’ [T]; mwenye madhora (1/2)
‘merchant, trader’ [T]; munena-dhora (1/2) ‘go-between’ [T]; kunena dhora (?)
‘the go-between in a deal’ [D].
RAB thora ~ rora (5/6), uthora (14) ‘bargain, commerce, trade’ [KR]; -piga
thora (v.) ‘to strike a bargain’ [KR]
= DAI –doja (v.) ‘to buy’ [Da], -doja ~ -døja (v.) ‘bargain’, ‘buy’ [N]; KAB
thooa (9/10) ‘price, value’; -thooa (v.) ‘to buy’ [A]; GIK thogora (5/6) ‘price,
terms of exchange’; thogorano ‘bargaining, business, deal, transaction’;
-thogora (v.) ‘barter, bargain for; carry through, purchase, sale; buy’;
-thogoranĩra (v.) ‘to bargain for’ [B]. Cf. Pare –dhora ~ -zora (v.), also –zogora
(v.) ‘to bargain’; Taita –zogora (v.) ‘to bargain’.
MK has only borrowed this CKB root in nominal form, not the verb as seen in
DAI –doja. None of the MK compound verbs or nouns used with this nominal
form are CKB loans, and can therefore be assumed to have been innovated by
MK.
23
= KAB ĩandũ (5/6) ‘a dun; a bill’ [A]; GIK irandũ (5/6) ~ mũrandũ (3/4)
‘demand for payment; (in pl.) debts owing by somebody’ [B]. Cf. LPK rando
(5/6) ‘debt’.
24
name ‘Masaka’ given by Krapf in an earlier work (1860: 400) is irregular and
probably mistranscribed (it is not otherwise recorded). The name ‘Maraka’,
recorded by Hollis in the SMK area (1900: 277), however, shows regular
replacement of */dh/ with /r/. Krapf and Rebmann also give Wamataka as a
name in the Jomvu dialect of Swahili for the Laa (1887: 282), the name given to
aboriginal hunters primarily in NMK traditions. There are good grounds for
supposing that the Laa ~ Lawa were the predecessors or ancestors of the modern
Waata, before they began speaking an Oromo dialect. It can be assumed that the
ethnonym amadhaka was subsequently retained for the Waata and Waata
assimilated to the MK. This name is, however, no longer heard: MK speakers
now generally refer to the Waata as alangulo (NMK) or aryangulo (SMK), and
to different groups of assimilated Waata among the SMK as adegere and avuna
(see Walsh 1990 and 1992/93).
25
CAPTIVE (n.): *mutaßwa ~ *mutaßwi (1/2)
GIR mutawwa ~ mutawwi (1/2) ‘captive in war’ [T]; mutavwa (1/2)
‘captive’ [D]
A nominal derived from *-taßwa, the passive form of the verb *-taßa (see
above). Cf. GIK mũndũ mũtahe (1/2) ‘captive’ [B].
26
GIR adhimwi (1/2) ‘the vanquished’ [T]
Evidently a nominal derivative of the passive form (*-dhimwa) of the verb
-dhima (see above): = CKB –thima ‘to measure’.
27
GIR munguma is presumably a derived form of nguma, itself originally derived
from the verb –kuma (see the preceding entry).
28
?= KAB mũthũo (3/4) ‘hatred’ < -thũa (v.) ‘to scratch a person; to hate a
person’ [A]; GIK thũ (9/10) ‘enemy, adversary’; ũthũ (14) ‘enmity, hatred;
state of feud, animosity’ < -thũa (v.) ‘to scratch (body with nails); burnish (with
hard stone); rub; put edge on spear, sword. etc. after forging; hunt for’ [B]
29
SUSPECT; WATCH CLOSELY (v.): *-elelia
RAB –elelia (v.) ‘to keep an eye upon, watch one’s conduct; suspect’ [KR]
= KAB -elela (v.) ‘to measure, as a patch or a door, etc.’ < -ela (v.) ‘to measure
food etc.; to go toward a place’ [A]; GIK –ĩgereria (v.) ‘to test oneself’ < -gera
(v.) ‘to count, measure, reckon’ [B]
/l/ < */r/ suggests that this may be a relatively recent loan from KAB. Cf. RAB
–era nyuni (v.) from the same underlying verb root.
30
GIR m’maidha (1/2) ‘adversary, esp. in war’ [T]; mumaidha (1/2) ‘enemy,
nastily disposed person’ [D]
= KAB mũmaitha (1/2) ‘an enemy’ [A]; GIK mũmaitha (1/2) ‘a Maasai; an
enemy; a valiant strong man’; maitha (2) ‘old name for Maasai; hostile people,
enemies; strangers, strange people, pygmies’ [B]
Cf. Jomvu dialect of SWA mumaitha ~ mumeitha (1/2) ‘robber’ [KR]: possibly
a mistaken attribution.
31
?= GIK -thũmbũya (v.) ‘to toss a spear, club, in the air with a spinning motion
while dancing’ [B]
32
= KAB -thũna (v.) ‘to form a raised scar, either on a person or a tree’ [A]; GIK
-thũna (v.) ‘to be blotchy; (of wounds) swell up with pus; form kelloid’;
-thũnũka (v.) ‘(of blotch) disappear’; ‘to protrude; be, become naughty,
depraved, vicious’ [B]
33
FOREHEAD (n.): *kidhangu (7/8)
GIR kidhangu (7/8) ‘bump, forehead’ [T], ‘brow, forehead’ [D]; kidangu (7/8)
‘forehead’ [H]
KAU chirangu (7/8) ‘forehead’ [?]
CHO chirangu (7/8) ‘forehead’ [H]
RAB kithangu ~ kirangu (7/8) ‘forehead; lock’ [KR]
W.DUR kirangu (7/8) ‘forehead’ [W]
E.DUR chirangu (7/8) ‘face (old word)’ [NN]
N.DIG chirangu (7/8) ‘forehead’ [W]; chilangu (7/8) ‘forehead’; chirangbwi
cha uso (7/8) ‘forehead’ [MNNZ]
S.DIG chiraŋmgbwi (7/8) ‘forehead’ [H]
= DAI kidangu ~ kidangu ~ kidango (7/8) ‘face’ [N]
Cf. also Chaga kisangu ~ kishangu ‘face’, a loan via Pare/Gweno according to
Nurse.
34
= KAB ĩtheka (5/6) ‘laughter’ < -theka (v.) ‘to laugh’ [A]; GIK mũtheko (3/4)
‘laughter, laughing’, magego ma mũtheko ‘front teeth, incisors’ < -theka (v.)
‘laugh, laugh at, smile’ [B]
35
The first of these meanings, for which no CKB correlates have been found,
appears to be unconnected to the second, which does have a transparent CKB
etymology [== KAB kĩthingo (7/8); GIK gĩthingo (7/8): see under BEE-
KEEPING]
SHAKE (THE BODY); CHURN (MILK AND CREAM) (v.) [see under LIVESTOCK-
KEEPING]
36
= KAB –thingitha (v.) ‘to shake’ [A]; GIK –thingithia (v.trans.), -thingitha (v.)
‘to tremble, shake, quiver, quake’ [B]
Derived from the verb –dhingidhya (> -ringirya) in its primary sense of ‘to
shake the body’ (see under LIVESTOCK-KEEPING).
37
SEEK CAREFULLY AND FIND WITH DIFFICULTY (v.): *-dhea-dhea
GIR –dhea-dhea (v.) ‘to seek carefully and find with difficulty, e.g. one here
and there’ [D]
= KAB -thea (v.) ‘to seek; to torment a person with no reason for doing so; to
bloom; to hunt for the best amongst a number of anything’ [A]
38
DRAGGING (NOISE OF) (n.): *mukururyo (3/4)
GIR mukururyo (3/4) ‘dragging, noise of dragging’ [T]
= KAB -kulula (v.) ‘to make a straight line, as on a gourd before cutting it’ [A];
GIK -kururia (v.) ‘to drag, draw along the ground; make lines in the ground’ <
-kurura (v.) ‘to draw a line; scratch a line, circle, on the ground, draw a
diagram’; gĩkururio (7/8) ‘a dragging away’; mũkururio (3/4) ‘long strip of
land, boundary line of clan land’; mũkurura ~ mũkururo (3/4) ‘scratch, score,
line, band of colour, stripe’ [B]
Cf. SWA mkururo (3/4) ‘a following, i.e. of people’.
LANGUAGE USE
39
GIR –dhera (v.) ‘to preserve (old root)’ [T]
RAB –therua (v.) (undefined) [KR]
?= KAB -thea (v.) ‘to be clean; to be pure; to be holy’ [A]; GIK -thera (v.) ‘to
be bright, shine, sparkle; be clean, transparent, pure, innocent; be wise’ [B]
A possible sematic derivation is ‘be bright’ > ‘be in good condition (clean)’ >
‘keep in good condition (preserve)’. See also the following items.
40
INFORM, EXPLAIN (v.): *-dhangadzya
GIR dhangadzya (v.) ‘to give information, explain’ [D]
No CKB cognates found.
Possibly from the same root as the following item.
41
be light in weight; be thin, light in texture; be easy to perform; (of a problem) be
easy to solve’ [B]
A nominal from the same root as the preceding item.
42
N.DIG –voya (v.) ‘to ask for, beg’ [H]; -voya (v.) ‘to request, to ask, to pray’;
-voya-voya (v.) ‘to be in the habit of begging’; -voyera (v.) ‘to pary for, to ask
for’ [MNNZ]
S.DIG –voya (v.) ‘to ask for, beg’ [H]
= DAI –vøya (v.) ‘ask for, pray to’ [N]; KAB –voya (v.) ‘to beg; to pray’ [A];
GIK –hoya (v.) ‘to ask for, beg, pray’; -hoera (v.) ‘pray for, at’ [B]
The CKB series suggests that the expected MK initial consonant should be /ß/ >
/mv/. However, Taylor’s notation of the GIR consonant and other records of
initial /v/ imply a different underlying form, perhaps */vw/, i.e. *-vwoya.
43
like a spoilt child, used of both children and grown people’ [A]; GIK -thaitha
(v.) ‘to implore, beg for mercy, beseech, persuade’ [B]
The following two entries (dhedhejo, udhedheji) are nominal forms of the same
root.
[APPROACH (v.) separate entry?] Cf. *-sengera ~ *-sengerera (v.) ‘to approach’, an
independent (earlier) borrowing from the same CKB root.
N.DIG -sengera (v.) ‘to approach, to close to’; -sengeza (v.) ‘to bring something
near’ [MNNZ]
= KAB -thengea (v.) ‘to draw near; to approach’; -thengelela (v.) ‘to draw near
to’; -thengelelya (v.) ‘to cause to draw near’ [A]; GIK -thengera (v.) ‘to make
away, move aside; avoid’; -thengerera (v.) ‘to draw near (to), approach,
cautiously, stalk up to’ < -thenga (v.) ‘to move aside, move, shift, give way, get
out of the way’ [B]
44
?= KAB -atha (v.) ‘to promise; to point out’ [A]; GIK –atha (v.) ‘to command,
order, rule; discipline, control’ [B]
45
Cf. Pare –ririkana (v.); also Taita and Langi. DUR –lilikana (v.) ‘think’ [NN]
is evidently a more recent loan from KAB. See also the following item.
ENTERTAINMENT
46
E.DUR ngui (1/2) ‘song composer, poet’ [NN]
N.DIG ngui (?/6) ‘vocalist’ [MNNZ]
= KAB ngũi (?9/10) ‘leader in song; a person who intimidates others by naming
them in song, sometimes good and sometimes evil being sung of them’ [A];
GIK ngũi (9/10) ~ mũkũi (1/2) ‘soloist, leader in a dance whose function is to
sing the recitative to which the other dancers respond in chorus’ [B]
47
RAB mbari (9/10) ‘kindred’; kibari (7/8) [diminutive] [KR]
?DUR mbari (9/10) ‘clan’ [H]
E.DUR mbari (9/10) ‘clan, relatives’ [NN]
N.DIG mbari (9/10) ‘clan’ [H]; mbari (9/10) ‘clan on father’s side’ [MNNZ]
= KAB mbaĩ (9/10) ‘race; species; clan; nation; family’ [A]; GIK mbarĩ (9/10)
‘side; family group, sub-clan, exogamous group’ [B]
Cf. SWA mbari (9/10) ‘clan’.
48
OLD AGE, EXPERIENCE, ADVICE (n.): *utumia (14)
GIR utumia (14) ‘advice, experience of the aged, old age’ [T]
N.DIG utumiya (14) ‘old age’ [A]
= KAB ũtumĩa, pl. motumĩa (14/6) ‘old age; Kikamba heathen rites and
practices’; mũtumĩa (1/2) ‘an old man; an elder’ [A]; mũtumia (1/2) ‘elder’ [M];
GIK mũtumia ~ mũtimia (1/2) ‘married woman’ [B]
From the same root as the preceding item.
49
women married before performance of necessary preliminary ceremonies) be
ceremonially purified; perform sacrificial ceremony for a young wife who
remains barren; perform sacrificial lustration ceremony for an ailing child or
one’s family’; ‘to bribe; influence, pervert, the actions, judgements, of
somebody by gifts or other inducements’; -hakira (v.) (applicative) [B]
It is possible that the two senses of this item seen in GIK were originally
semantically related, and that the second sense was (is) figurative.
BAND OF PEOPLE (n.) (see under NECK ORNAMENT (OF COPPER CHAIN
STITCHED ON LEATHER))
50
AGE-SETS AND INITIATION RITUALS
51
circumstance that, after the kuthura, a man ceases to make contributions to the
govu.’ [KR]
= DAI –dura (v.) ‘to choose’ [N]; GIK -thuura (v.) ‘to choose, pick out, select,
elect; sort out; investigate, discuss, unravel an affair’; mũthuuri (1/2) ‘elder,
married man with children or of an age to have children, councillor’ [B]
The semantic development would be ‘appoint’ > ‘be appointed (as a gohu /
goßu)’. RAB –thura ~ -dura ~ -rura, ‘to be able’, may represent a further
extension of meaning (see under WARFARE AND CONFLICT).
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156). The latter, renamed as L.latisiliqua (L.) Gillis, is a cultivated shrub or tree
which has gone wild on the coast (Beentje 1994: 275), and there seems to be no
doubt that this is the tree referred to. Glover et al. report: ‘A decoction of the
roots is taken as a remedy for chest pains. It is also used for magical purposes.
The roots are burnt and the ash is called “kago”; when the ash is rubbed into
cuts on the hands and face to protect them’ (1969: 156).
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ancestors, sometimes to God (the commonest cause being removal or avoidance
of ritual pollution’ < -gongona (v.) ‘to sacrifice’ [B]
OMENS
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GIR –thenja (v.) ‘in observing birds, seeking an omen, the Giriama word –
thenja is more frequently used’ [KR]
?= KAB -thengea (v.) ‘to draw near; to approach’ [A]; GIK -thenga (v.) ‘to
move aside, move, shift, give way, get out of the way’; -thengera (v.) ‘to make
way, move aside; avoid’ [B]
A possible semantic development is ‘to avoid’ > ‘to approach’ > ‘to observe
birds to seek an omen’. Otherwise this may be a mistranscription of or
otherwise related to GIR –dheja (v.) ‘to meet with a good omen, prosper, be
lucky’ (see below).
OMEN, BAD OMEN (AT THE START OF A JOURNEY) (n.): *mudhana (3/4)
GIR mudhana ~ m’dhana (3/4) ‘obstacle, something unexpected that prevents a
man from taking a journey, etc., as he had proposed doing, as the sight of
katsumbakazi’; -keta mudhana ~ -pata mudhana (v.) ‘to be prevented from
doing anything one was intending to do’; -ketezha mudhana (v.) ‘to prevent
from doing anything one was intending to do’ [T]; mudhana (3/4) ‘omen, met
with on a journey’; ‘old name for mugiryama, “Ni mwana mudhana mwenye, ni
wa mbalazi na podzo”, boast of being a pure blooded Giryama’ [D]
RAB muthana, pl. mithana (3/4) ‘omen, generally an ill omen’; ‘luck’: ‘The
word principally refers to the first meeting with an odd number of persons,
when setting out on a journey, though it also includes the omen obtained by
observing birds’ [KR]
E.DUR murana (3/4) ‘omen’, e.g. murana ui ‘bad omen’, murana udzo ‘good
omen’ [NN]
= KAB mũthaana (3/4) ‘an evil omen; a superstition, as a certain bird singing,
or as when one starts out on an important errand, if the eldest child is a male,
and he meets a female, this is a bad omen, and vice versa. Or, if going to divine
[consult a medicine man] for a male child, and he meets a female, he returns to
his village, and vice versa’; -thaanwa nĩ mũtĩ (v. +) ‘to be hurt by a stick
springing up in the path and hitting one’ [A]
Cf. SWA mdhana (3/4) ‘bad luck, a bad omen, anything which brings bad luck
or misfortune’.
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spread, suppurate; grow big, fat; (of plants sending out shoots) spread; (of a
herd) increase in size’; –thegea ~ -thagaya (v.) ‘(of livestock) increase,
multiply, have large offspring; (of fire) burn up, spread’; also -thera (v.) ‘to be
bright, shine, sparkle; be clean, transparent, pure, innocent; be wise’ [B]
The most likely semantic development is ‘to prosper’ > ‘to be lucky’ > ‘to meet
with a good omen’. An alternative is ‘to purify’ > ‘to be lucky (avoid pollution)
< ‘to meet with a good omen’.
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