kamba and kikuyu languages
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r L
8351H66
CORNELLUNIVERSITY
LIBRARY
FROM
The ^state of L.L.^eamai
JAN 8.1 1007 II ff
HAY ii Liiminfti
APirsir
Cornell University Library
PL 8351.H66
Vocabularies of the Kamba and Kikuyu Ian
3 1924 026 919 815
The original of this book is in
the Cornell University Library.
There are no known copyright restrictions in
the United States on the use of the text.
http://www.archive.org/details/cu31 92402691 981
5
VOCABULARIES
OF THE
KAMBA AND KIKUYULANGUAGES
SonDon: C. J. CLAY and SONS,
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS WAREHOUSE,AVE MARIA LANE.
50, WELLINGTON STREET.
SLeipjis : F. A. BROCKHAUS.
jMn Sotit: THE MACMILLAN COMPANY,aBombas anto (Mcutta: MACMILLAN AND CO., Ltd.
[All Eights reserved]
VOCABULARIESOF THE
KAMBA AND KIKUYULANGUAGES
OF
EAST AFRICA
BY
HILDEGARDE HINDE(Mrs Sidney L. Hinde)
AUTHOR OF A MASAI GRAMMAR
CAMBRIDGEAT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS
1904
(•OK,
UN I VI UMi V
Camimige/ '
FEINTED ET J. AND u. F. CLAY,
AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS.
PEEFACE.
It is not necessary to append even grammatical notes to
the following vocabularies. Both the Kamba and Kikuyu
languages belong to the Bantu group and their construction
is precisely similar to that of Swahili, that is, all grammatical
inflexion takes place at the beginning of the word.
The object in publishing a Swahili vocabulary parallel
with the Kamba and Kikuyu is to emphasise the intimate
relationship between the three languages.
Swahili has become the trade language of East Africa
:
it is spoken at Zanzibar and all along the coast of both
British and German East Africa, and the coast traders,
travelling inland, have carried it into the interior. It is
therefore highly improbable that an attempt to learn any of
the native languages would be made without first mastering
the rudiments of Swahili.
In both the Kamba and Kikuyu languages the nouns
are divided into a number of classes (being distinguished
by the first syllable), and all adjectives, pronouns and
numerals are brought into relation with these nouns by
corresponding changes of their first syllables. There is no
class denominative of sex, though in each language there is
a class which denotes animate objects. There is no article,
definite or indefinite.
VI PREFACE.
The Kamba vocabulary is in two dialects, the Ulu which
is used from Machakos to the coast, and the Nganyawa,
spoken in part of the Kitui District.
I have given the dialect in Kikuyu (that spoken in
Jogowini) with which I am personally acquainted, though
in the Kenya Province there are, to my knowledge, two other
dialects and these again differ from the dialects in the
neighbourhood of Nairobi.
It is interesting to note that the Akikuyu of the southern
part of the Kenya Province and the Akamba of the adjoin-
ing Kitui District readily understand each other.
Swahili itself has distinct local differences, not alone
in the pronunciation, but in the variation of words in the
Zanzibar, Mombasa and Lamu dialects, though all are easily
understood if one dialect be well known. In the Swahili
of the following vocabulary the Zanzibar dialect has been
employed, since it is the most widely known. All the verbs
in the Swahili vocabulary, and most of those in the other
two vocabularies, are given in the Infinitive Mood ; this is
represented by the prefix ku ; but in Kamba, and sometimes
in Kikuyu, it not infrequently becomes gu. In the Swahili
vocabulary the plural of each noun has been given.
The usual rules for the formation of the plural in both
Kamba and Kikuyu are as follows :
1. Nouns (representing animate objects) beginning with
mu form their plurals in a : as mwka= woman, aka = women.
The Swahili people, or TPa-Swahili, have made the term
ilfkamba (the individual), Ifakamba (the plural), Jikikuyu
PREFACE. vii
(the individual), TTakikuyu (the plural); the native forms
are Muka.rn.ba, (sing.), -4kamba (plural), Jfwkikuyu (sing.),
-4kikuyu (plural).
2. Nouns beginning with mu (not representing animate
objects) change the mu into mi in the plural : as muti = tree,
miti = trees.
3. Nouns beginning with i change the i to ma in the
plural : as t'higa = stone, mahiga = stones.
4. Nouns beginning with ki change the ki to i in the
plural : as faxatu = sandal, iratu = sandals.
5. Invariable nouns are those beginning with an n : as
wyumba = house, nyumba = houses.
6. Nouns beginning with lea or ki form their plurals in
twa or shi : as kana, = child, twana, or sAt'ana = children;
&i'ara = finger, sAiara = fingers.
The chief difference between Kamba and Kikuyu lies in
the absence of the letter R 1 in the former (this is owing to
the lisp common to all Akamba, probably on account of their
filed teeth) and the frequency of the aspirate in the latter.
In both languages K and G, B and V, Th and 8 or Z, and
in Kikuyu R and L, are practically interchangeable. The
Kikuyu accent is much broader and stronger; but, as will
be seen, many of the words are almost, and others are quite
similar in the two languages. Great care has been taken to
give the pure native rendering to all the words, and none of
the Swahili words which have been incorporated into the
1 Occasionally I have been obliged to use double r to represent a certain
guttural sound.
a 5
Vlll PREFACE.
languages have been included. Much confusion is caused
by the compilers of vocabularies interpolating foreign words
where a native language has no equivalent, and thereby
rendering it almost impossible to estimate correctly the
philological construction of the language. Both Kamba and
Kikuvu are very primitive languages and are entirely with-
out many of the most simple words.
The conjugation of one verb and a few common phrases
are appended, as they show at a glance the similarity of the
construction of the three languages.
HILDEGARDE HINDE.
Fort Hall,
British East Africa,
September, 1902.
THE ALPHABET.
The vowels are pronounced as in Italian and the con-
sonants as in English.
There are in addition the modifications 6 and ii.
The spelling used is phonetic.
The accent almost invariably falls on the penultimate.
Where an accent is particularly marked I have used the'
long accent sign - and very occasionally the short accent ^.
B and V, G and K, Th and S or Z, and in Kikuyu R and
L, are interchangeable.
The sound of RR is very marked and should be pro-
nounced with a distinct burr.
A as u. in father
B as in but
Ch „ church. Italian c before i and
D „ does
E as a in dare
F as in fill
G „ gate, never soft as in generous
H „ hit
I as ee in svieet
J as in jumpK „ halendar
L „ lost
M ,, . must
THE ALPHABET.
N as in
VERBS.
All regular verbs in Swahili end in a, though verbs
derived from the Arabic may end in e, i, or u.
In the Kamba and Kikuyu languages nearly all verbs
end in a ; a few end iu i or e, and a very few in o or u.
In all three languages there are negative as well as
affirmative conjunctions, the tenses and persons being distin-
guished by prefixes.
Xll VBEBS.
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VERBS.
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XVI VERBS.
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VOCABULARY
S. G.
VOCABULARY.
English Swahili
abdomen
VOCABULARY.
4
VOCABULARY.
English Swahili
barrel
8
10
VOCABULARY. 11
Kamba Kikuyu
Uln dialect
12 VOCABULARY.
English Sivahili
camel
14 VOCABULARY.
English Swahili
clay
16
18
English
VOCABULARY.
Swahili
dawnday
„ after to-morrow
daylight
deaf
dear (price)
debt
defend (v.)
deny (v.)
descend (v.)
destroy (v.)
devil
dew
diarrhoea
dic-dic
die (v.)
difficult
dig (v.)
dirt
dirty
disembowel (v.)
disobey (v.)
ditch
divide (v.)
do you hear ?
dog
donkey
door
dove
draw (v.)
„ water
dream (v.)
drink (v.)
drinking vessel (cow-horn)
drive away (v.)
drum
„ (small)
alfajiri, kucha
siku
keshu kutwa
mchanakiziwi, pi. viziwi
ghali
deni
kulinda
kukana
kuteremka
kuharibu
shetani, pi. mashetani
umandetumbo la. kuhara
paa
kufa
-gumu
kuchimba
t'aka
chafu, taka taka
kutumbuakuasi
handaki
kugawanya
unasikia ?
mbwapunda
mlango, pi. milango
hua
kuvuta
kuteka maji
kuota
kunwa
kufukuza
ngoma
20
English
VOCABULARY.
Swahili
drunk (to be)
dry (get)
duck
dumbdung (cow's)
dust
duyker (antelope)
kulewa
kukaoka, kavu
bata, pi. mabata
bubu, pi. mabubumavi
vumbi, pi. mavumbi
dondoro
eagle
22
24
26
English
VOCABULARY.
Swahili
forbid (v.)
ford
forehead
forest
forget (v.)
forty
four
fourteen
four times
friend
frog
frown
fruit
full
furnace
kugombeza
kivuko, pi. vivuko
paji la uso
mwitukusahau
arobaini
'nne
kumi na 'nne
mara 'nne
rafiki, pi. marafiki
nyangimrovi
kunja uso
tunda, pi. matundakujaa
kalibu
gain
game (alive)
„ (meat)
game trap
garden
garter (leather)
gather (v.)
gentle
get (v.)
get ahead
get into
get out
get out of the wayget (to a place)
get up
ghost
giddy
giraffe
girl
give (v.)
faiyda
mawindo
nyamamtego ya nyamashamba, pi. mashamba
kusanya
-anana
kupata
kutangulia
kuingia
kutoka
similla
kufika
kuondoka
kivuli, pi. vivuli
levyalevya
twiga
kijana, pi. vijana
kupa, kutoa
28
so VOCABULARY.
English Swahili
growl (v.)
32
34
English
VOCABULARY.
Swahili
inherit
insect
inside
iron
ivory
kurithi
mdudu, pi. wadudu
ndani
chumapembe, alaka
jackal
jigger
journey
jump (v.;
juniper
just
bweha
funza
msafara, safari
kuruka
sawa sawa
keep (v.)
kick (v.)
kidney
kill (v.)
kingfisher
kiss (v.)
kite
knee
kneehollow
kneel (v.)
knife
knobkerry
knock (v.)
know (v.)
knuckles
kudu (greater)
„ (lesser)
K
kuweka, kucheleza
kupiga teke
figo, nso
kuua, kuchinja (food)
kubusu
ruwewe
gote, pi. magote, ondo, pi. maondo
kupiga magote
kisu, pi. visu
rungu
kugonga, kugota
kujua
barabanda
shambi
36 VOCABULARY.
English Swahili
lame
38 VOCABULARY.
English Swahili
log
long
» aS°
look (v.)
loose (v.)
lose (v.)
lung
gogo, pi. magogo
-refu
zamani
kutazama
kufungua, kuregea
kupotea
pafu, pumu
Mmad
40 VOCABULARY.
English Swahili
menstruation
VOCABULARY. 41
Vlu dialect
gukamma
neumetiebu
ndzee
ntheo
mweikiliko
maiitu
kiima
kinge
ichakua
Kamba
42 VOCABULARY.
English Swahili
N
nail (finger)
44
English
VOCABULARY.
Swahili
obey (v.)
40
48 VOCABULARY.
English Swahili
presently
50 VOCABULARY.
English Swahili
refuse (v.)
52
54
56
English
VOCABULARY.
Swahili
stand (v.) kusimama
star nyota
stay (v.) kukaa
steal (v.) kuiba, kujepa
steam mvuke
stick fimbo
„ (tire) pekessu, ulindi
stick (forked for drying meat) mbano
sticks (small) ufito, pi. fito
still nyamaza, -anana
stomach tumbo
stone jrwe, pi. mawestoop (v.) kuinama
strangle (v.) kunyonga, kusonga
stripe mfuo, pi. mifuo ; utepe, pi. tepe
stroke (v.) kupapasa
strong nguvu, hodari
stumble (v.) kujikwaa
stump shina, pi. masbina
suck (v.) kuuyonya
suckle (v.) kunyonyesha
suffice (v.) kutosha
sugar cane mua, pi. miwasun jua
sunrise kucba jua
sunset mangaribi
sure kujua sana
surround (v.) kuzunguka
swallow (v.) kumezaswear (v.) kuapa, kutukana
sweat jasho, hari
sweep (v.) kufagia
sweet -tamu
swell (v.) kufura, kuvimbaswim (v.) kuogolea
swing (v.) kubembeshasword upanga, pi. panga
58 VOCABULARY.
English Swahili
tail
60 VOCABULARY.
English Swahili
this
VOCABULARY. 61
62 VOCABULARY.
English Swahili
trunk (of elephant)
VOCABULARY. 63
KambaUlu dialect
kwelli
gusisia, ella
kualliula
keeli
ngwele
Nganyawa dialect
ngwau
kuchichia
kuallula
kuthurrlukana
nguu
ekumi na ile
miongoele
miongoele na imwe
maille
mabatha
ile
yana ile
Kikuyu
Jogovrini dialect
kiromo
niegawega, neguo
arriawega
kugegerriria
kugarora
kusiororuka
ngfirru
ikumi na igiri
mirongoiri
mirongoiri na imwekeeri
inahatha
igiri
igana igiri
u
64 VOCABULARY.
English Swahili
virgin bikiri, kizinda
voice
vulture
vulva
sauti
tumbuzi, pi. matumbuzi
kuma
wwait (v.)
66 VOCABULARY.
English Swahili
•whiskers
68
English
VOCABULARY.
Swahili
yam
70 VOCABULARY.
English
NUMERALS.
Swahili
1
VOCABULARY. 71
72 VOCABULARY.
PHRASES.
English
What is your name ?
Where are you going ?
What do you want 1
Where do you come from ?
What are you doing 1
What is this?
What do you say ?
Where is the water %
I do not know
I do not want
I do not want to go
I cannot go
I will not go
I will go
I will return
I am good
I am hungry
I want milk
I have a child
I do not see
I bring
Come here
Bring food
Bring water
Call himMake a fire
Be quiet
Go away
My child
Your children
His cows
His hand
Our village
Our father
Swahili
jina lako nani ?
wendapi 1
wataka nini ?
watoka wapi ?
wafanya nini ?
nini hii ?
usemaji ?
maji wapi?
sijui
sitaki
sitaki kwenda
siwezi kwenda
siendi
nitakwenda
nitarudi
nimzuri
ninanja
nataka niaziwa
nina mtoto
sioni
naleta
njo hapa
lete chakula
lete maji
mwite
fanya moto
kaleli
enda zako
mtoto wango
watoto wako
ngombe zake
mkono wakemji wetu
baba wetu
VOCABULARY. 73
PHRASES.
Kamba (Ulu dialect) Kikuyu (Jogowini dialect)
wita wata?
uthi naku 1
wendakki 1
uomanakko ?
weikatta 1
kiinichao ?
wenenatta ?
maiba maanzi ?
ndimanya
ndikwenda
ndikwenda kuthi
nditona kuthi
ndithi or ndikathi
nenkathi
ningashoka
nimaseo
ninadja
niguenda kalia
ninamwana
ndineona
niguete
uka haha
ete leu
ete maanzi
mwite
puba mwaki
pindia
eenda or thi
kana kani kakwa
twana tuni nitwako
ngombe shiakwi
kuoko nikwaki
musie ni witu
nau witu
wita gwatia ?
wathiiku ?
ukwendakki ?
umaku ?
uguikatia ?
nikkigekki 1
ukugagatia ?
meku maii ?
ndiui or ndikumenya
ndigika or ndikwenda
ndigika kuthi
ndingihotta kuthi
ndithie or ndikathie
ningathi
ningashoka
nimweganihutie
ningwenda irria
ninakana
ndionna
nikurehe
uka haha
reherria
rehe maii
mwitorria
akiamwaki
kirra
innuka or thi
mwana wakua
siana siaku
ngombe siake
uwoko wake
mwitzi wiitu
baba wiitu
74 VOCABULARY.
English
Our mother
Do you want to eat ?
That is a bad child
A big child
A big house
He has come
You have lied
We will both go
You are a bad manAll the children are small
He is not here
Do not come
We bring
Not you
Not he
Not we
A good child
A good manA good knife
A good tree
Good children
Good menGood knives
Good trees
In the head
In the stomach
In the trees
In the house
Salutation
Reply
Reply
Swahili
mama wetu
wataka kula ?
mtoto yule mbayamtoto mkubwanyumba kubwaamekuja
umesema wongo
tutakwenda wote wawili
wewe mtu mbayawatoto wote wadogo
hako
usiji
twaleta
siwe
siye
sisisi
mtoto mzuri
mtu mzuri
kisu kizuri
mti mzuri
watoto wazuri
watu wazuri
visu vizuri
miti mizuri
kitwani
tumboni
mitini
nyumbaniJambo
ffiamtmSgt
:
FEINTED BY J. AND C. F. CLAY,
AT THE UNIVEESITY FEESS.
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