ngarĩ
See also: ngari
Kikuyu
Etymology
Hinde (1904) records ngare as an equivalent of English leopard in “Jogowini dialect” of Kikuyu, listing also “Ulu dialect” (spoken then from Machakos to coastal area) of Kamba ngoo and “Nganyawa dialect” (spoken then in Kitui District) of Kamba engo as its equivalents[1].
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ᵑɡàɾéꜜ/
- As for Tonal Class, Armstrong (1940) classifies this term into mbori class which includes mbũri, ikinya (pl. makinya), itimũ, kĩhaato, maguta, mbembe, mũgeka, mũrata, nyaga, ũhoro, riitho, riũa, rũrĩmĩ, Kamau (“man's name”), etc.[2] Benson (1964) classifies this term into Class 3 with a disyllabic stem, together with kĩhaato, mbembe, kiugo, and so on.
- (Kiambu)
- (Limuru) As for Tonal Class, Yukawa (1981) classifies this term into a group including bũrũri (pl. mabũrũri), ikara, ikinya, itimũ, kanitha (pl. makanitha), kiugo, kĩhaato, maguta, mũgeka, mũkonyo, mũrata, mwana, mbembe, mbũri, nyaga, riitho, riũa, rũrĩmĩ (pl. nĩmĩ), ũhoro (pl. mohoro), and so on.[3]
Noun
ngarĩ class 9/10 (plural ngarĩ)
- leopard
Derived terms
(Proverbs)
- tiga kuonia ngarĩ kũhaica mũtĩ
References
- Hinde, Hildegarde (1904). Vocabularies of the Kamba and Kikuyu languages of East Africa, pp. 36–37. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- 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.
- “ngarĩ” in Benson, T.G. (1964). Kikuyu-English dictionary. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
- Muiru, David N. (2007). Wĩrute Gĩgĩkũyũ: Marĩtwa Ma Gĩgĩkũyũ Mataũrĩtwo Na Gĩthũngũ, p. 10, 33.