GLOSSARY OF NYANJA AND OTHER TERMS USED IN THIS BOOK
(Unless otherwise stated, the language is Nyanja)
Abusa, plural of mbusa, a herd-boy.
Adzukulu, grandchildren, also spelt ajukulu and azukuru. But it usually means the relatives or friends who make all the arrangements for burying a deceased person.
Afiti, plural of mfiti, a wizard.
Amabele (Zulu), ‘Kafir corn’—Holcus sorghum.
Amadhlozi (Zulu), plural of idhlozi, ancestral spirits, when they appear in the form of snakes.
Amatongo (Zulu), ancestral spirits manifesting themselves in dreams.
Bango, a very common kind of reed—Phragmites communis.
Bwalo, the village place of assembly or ‘forum’; it is also used (see p. 122) for the unmarried men’s house.
Bwazi, a shrub (Securidaca longipedunculata) and the fibre procured from its bark.
Bwebweta, v., to rave or talk nonsense, as if possessed by spirits.
Chagwa, lit. ‘it has fallen’; name of a game. See p. 113.
Chamba, Indian hemp; also name of a dance.
Chifukwa, lit. ‘a fault,’ but used as a conjunction—‘because.’
Chikolongwe, a barbed fish-spear, or gaff.
Chikonyo, a cob of maize.
Chimanga, maize.
Chinamwali, the initiation ceremonies for girls.
Chinangwa (Yao), cassava.
Chipini, a metal ornament, like a stud, worn by women in the nose.
Chipongwe, impudence.
Chire, the bush.
Chiri, a steep bank.
Chirombo, a wild beast, a monster; also an insect or a weed.
Chirope, madness caused by shedding blood. See p. 67.
Chitalaka, red porcelain beads, white inside.
Chitowe, sesamum, the seed of which is used for making oil.
Dambo, a plain, or open grass-land in the Bush.
Dimba, a patch of alluvial soil beside a stream.
Dzombe, a locust.
Fumba, a sleeping-bag made of matting.
Garanzi, a small drum, beaten quickly.
Gome (nyumba ya), a square house.
Gowero, boys’ house in a village.
Gwape (gwapi), the klipspringer—Oreotragus saltator.
Imfe (Zulu), a kind of sorghum with sweet juice (S. sacharinum); Nyanja msale.
Inswa, ‘white ants,’ or termites.
Isigcogco or isicoco (Zulu), head-ring worn by men when of an age and standing to be called to the chief’s council.
Kokalupsya, the early rains which sweep away the ashes of the burnt grass and scrub (lupsya).
Kombe, the strophanthus creeper; the arrow-poison made from it.
Konde, keloids, or scars made by cutting, as tribal marks or for ornament.
Lisoka (Yao), the spiritual part of man; a ghost.
Lobola, v. (Zulu), properly, to arrange a marriage ‘by agreeing to deliver a certain number of cattle’ to the girl’s father or guardian.
Lululuta, v., or luluta, ‘to utter the cry called ntungululu on the return of men from war or hunting, or any other exciting occasion. The sound is produced by vibrations of the tongue intermitting the cry or whistle by the lips.’