mwarĩ

Kikuyu

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /mwà(ː)ɾě/, /moàɾě/

Armstrong (1940) claims that this a is pronounced long.

As for Tonal Class, Armstrong (1940) classifies this term into mote class which includes mũtĩ, gĩkwa (pl. ikwa), gĩthaka, kĩnya, kĩrũũmi, mũcinga, mũgate, mũhaka, mũrũthi, njagĩ, njohi, nyũmba, etc.[1] Benson (1964) classifies this term into Class 2 with a disyllabic stem, together with kĩgunyũ, njagĩ, kiugũ, and so on.

(Kiambu)

(Limuru) As for Tonal Class, as mũarĩ, Yukawa (1981) classifies this term into a group including gĩkwa (pl. ikwa), ithangũ (pl. mathangũ), kiugũ, kĩboko, kĩgunyũ, kĩnya, kĩroboto, kĩrũũmi, mbogo, mũcinga, mũgate, mũhaka, mũrangi, mũrũthi, ndaraca, ndirica, njohi, nyũmba, thĩ, and so on.[2]

Noun

mwarĩ class 1 (plural aarĩ)

daughter

Derived terms

(Proverbs)

mwarĩ mwega ahĩtũkĩra thome wa ngĩa
mwarĩ mwerũ ndaragũragĩrwo
mwarĩ mwerũ nĩ magambo

References

Armstrong, Lilias E. (1940). The Phonetic and Tonal Structure of Kikuyu. Rep. 1967. (Also in 2018 by Routledge).
Yukawa, Yasutoshi (1981). "A Tentative Tonal Analysis of Kikuyu Nouns: A Study of Limuru Dialect." In Journal of Asian and African Studies, No. 22, 75–123.

“mwarĩ” in Benson, T.G. (1964). Kikuyu-English dictionary. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

[lea1940-1] Armstrong, Lilias E. (1940). The Phonetic and Tonal Structure of Kikuyu. Rep. 1967. (Also in 2018 by Routledge).

[yy1981-2] Yukawa, Yasutoshi (1981). "A Tentative Tonal Analysis of Kikuyu Nouns: A Study of Limuru Dialect." In Journal of Asian and African Studies, No. 22, 75–123.