mũrarũ

mũrarũ

See also: mũraru

Kikuyu

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mò(ː)ɾáɾò(ꜜ)/

According to Yukawa (1981), the first ũ is pronounced long.

As for Tonal Class, Benson (1964) classifies this term into Class 9 with a disyllabic stem, together with gĩcũhĩ, njũi, and so on.

• (Kiambu)

• (Limuru) As for Tonal Class, as mũũrarũ, Yukawa (1981) classifies this term into a group including gĩcũhĩ, gĩkorora, kĩgokora, mũceere, mũgathĩ, mũgogo (pl. mĩgogo), mũgoma, mũirĩtu, mbarĩki, ndagitari, ngirathi, njohero, njũi, rĩithori (pl. maithori), ũnyiinyi, and so on.[1]

Noun

mũrarũ class 3 (plural mĩrarũ)

1. a sort of harmless[2] snake

Usage notes

Although both Benson (1964) and Leakey (1977) translates this term as green grass snake, the species having that common name, namely Opheodrys vernalis (vernalis)[3] and O. aestivus[4] are both native to North America.[5][6]

The species native to Kenya, where Kikuyu people live and containing the words green or grass in their English common names are as follows:

• Causus resimus (Eng. green night adder,[7] velvety-green night-adder[8]) - In western Kenya this snake occurs north from the Mara area through Kisii, Kericho and the gulf areas to Kakamega, Eldoret, Kitale and south-east Mount Elgon, from whence the range curves west into Uganda. A population also occurs on the coast, from Kikambala north to the Tana delta in eastern Kenya;[8] venomous.[7]
• Chamaesaura anguina (Eng. Cape grass lizard, Cape snake lizard)[7] - Actually it is not a snake, but a lizard.
• Dendroaspis angusticeps (Eng. green mamba[7]) - The coastal plain, the gallery forest of the Tana river as far up as the Nyambeni Range, from whence it has spread north into the forest at the south-eastern base of these hills. Also recorded from Kibwezi forest and the forest of the foothills of Mount Kilimanjaro and around Taveta, it is feasible these populations are connected via the Chyulu Range;[8] venomous.[7]
• Dendroaspis jamesoni (Eng. Jameson's mamba,[8][7] Jameson's green mamba[7]) - The easternmost point of the range is Kakamega Forest in western Kenya;[8] venomous.[7]
• Hapsidophrys lineatus (Eng. black-lined green snake,[8][7] green tree snake[9]) - The easternmost point of the range is Kakamega Forest in western Kenya.[8]
• Natriciteres olivacea (Eng. olive grass snake,[10][9] olive marsh snake,[10][7] common water snake[9])

• N. o. olivacea (Eng. olive marsh-snake) - In western Kenya, it occurs from Lake Baringo westward over the Elgeyo Escarpment, through Nandi and Trans-Nzoia districts to Mount Elgon, Kakamega and the lakeshore around the Winam Gulf. A population also occurs on the Tana River delta in the Garsen-Witu area in eastern Kenya.[8]

• Philothamnus battersbyi, syn. P. irregularis battersbyi (Eng. Battersby's green snake,[7] common green snake, grass snake, green bushsnake, green water-snake) - Widespread in western, central and southern Kenya.[8]
• Philothamnus carinatus, syn. P. heterodermus carinatus (Eng. thirteen-scaled green snake, barred green snake, strange-scaled green snake - The easternmost point of the range is Kakamega Forest in western Kenya.[8]
• Philothamnus heterodermus (Eng. emerald green snake, variable green snake)[7]
• Philothamnus heterolepidotus (Eng. slender green snake) - The upper Yala River.[8]
• Philothamnus hoplogaster (Eng. green water snake, southeastern green snake)[7]
• Philothamnus irregularis (Eng. green tree snake,[11][12] irregular green snake,[12][7] northern green bush snake,[12][7] common bush snake[12]) - Green to pale greenish-yellow; non-venomous.[11]
• Philothamnus nitidus loveridgei (Eng. Cameroons wood snake, green bush snake) - Western Kenya.[7]
• Philothamnus punctatus (Eng. spotted green snake)[7]
• Philothamnus semivariegatus (Eng. spotted bush snake, spotted green snake, variegated green snake)[7]

• P. s. semivariegatus (Eng. spotted bush-snake, spotted wood-snake) - Common along the entire coastal plain and the Galana and Tana rivers. Elsewhere in Kenya it occurs sporadically across the north and east in areas where there is permanent water.[8]

• Psammophis mossambicus (Eng. olive grass snake, olive whip snake - Dorsum olive brown, often yellowish posteriorly, uniform, or with black-edged mid-dorsal scales forming black lines, or with irregularly scattered black scales on the neck (Broadley 2002).[7]
• Psammophylax variabilis (Eng. grey-bellied grass snake, grey-bellied skaapstekker)[7]

• P. v. multisquamis (Eng. common skaapsteker, striped grass-snake, striped skaapsteker) - Grasslands and Acacia woodlands of west, central and eastern Kenya, usually above 1000 m altitude.[8]

• Rhamnophis aethiopissa, syn. R. ituriensis (Eng. large-eyed green treesnake,[7] splendid dagger-tooth tree snake,[7] green tree snake[9])

See also

• nyamũ ya thĩ

References

1. 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.
2. Leakey, L. S. B. (1977). The Southern Kikuyu before 1903, v. I, p. 460. →ISBN
3. Fergus, Charles (2000). Wildlife of Pennsylvania and the Northeast, p. 399. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books. →ISBN
4. Swan, Lester A. (1964). Beneficial Insects, p. 117. New York: Harper & Row.
5. Hammerson, G.A., Lavin, P. & Mendoza Quijano, F. (2007). Opheodrys aestivus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2007: e.T63859A12722881. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2007.RLTS.T63859A12722881.en. Downloaded on 23 March 2018.
6. Opheodrys vernalis (The Reptile Database). (retrieved 23 March 2018)
7. The Reptile Database. (retrieved 24 March 2018)
8. Spawls, S. (1978). "A checklist of the snakes of Kenya." Journal of the East Africa Natural History Society and National Museum 31(167): 1–18.
9. Chifundera, Kusamba (1990). "Snakes of Zaire and Their Bites." African Study Monographs 10(3): 137–57.
10. Rödel M.-O. & Spawls, S. (2010). Natriciteres olivacea. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2010: e.T176866A7320434. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2010-4.RLTS.T176866A7320434.en. Downloaded on 23 March 2018.
11. Kokwaro, John O. and Timothy Johns (1998). Luo Biological Dictionary, p. 259. Nairobi and Kampala and Dar es Salaam: East African Educational Publishers. →ISBN
12. Rödel, M.-O. & Schmitz, A. (2010). Philothamnus irregularis. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2010: e.T177439A7436698. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2010-4.RLTS.T177439A7436698.en. Downloaded on 23 March 2018.

• “mũrarũ” in Benson, T.G. (1964). Kikuyu-English dictionary, p. 372. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Further reading

• Broadley, Donald G. (2002). "A review of the species of Psammophis Boie found south of Latitude 12° S (Serpentes: Psammophiinae)." African Journal of Herpetology 51(2): 83–119.