Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A Bantu language spoken in Malawi and neighboring areas.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- proper noun
Chichewa
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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The lagoon itself is called Nyanja ea Motope (Lake of Mud).
A Popular Account of Dr. Livingstone's Expedition to the Zambesi and its tributaries And of the Discovery of Lakes Shirwa and Nyassa, 1858-1864 David Livingstone 1843
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Yao mpingu, mpingusi "protective medicine"; Zigua mpingu "medicine"; Nyanja, mpingu, mi - "charm worn at throat to ward off illness"; mpingusi, mi - "calamity, event of ill omen, shadow of coming evil."
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Nkoya kukûla "to become mature (of male)"; Nyanja, kula, ku - v.i. "grow, grow up, mature"; Zigua kukula "to grow, to scrape (as when shaving)."
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For example, in the Nyanja language the root attests as nouns for both "apparition" and "malice or evil intent."
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Nyanja, mpingu "charm worn at throat to ward off illness"; mpingusi "calamity, event of ill omen, shadow of coming evil"; Zigua mpingu "a charm worn on body."
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Nyanja fungo "protective medicine for hunters." back
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Nyanja kotola, ku - v.t. "strip off bark for barkcloth, burn off skin, brand"; ngotola "hooked stick used in removing baobab bark to make a rope (from kotola)."
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Zigua kungwi, ma - "one who has had a certain illness previously"; Bondei (Seuta) kungwi, plus same term in Swahili and Ruvu, as well as in Nyanja namkungwi; Proto-Kaskazi * mkunga "midwife/birth attendant"; also in Lambya and Mabia; Gogo munkunga "circumciser," "sponsor of girl initiates."
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In Nyanja, for instance, the term named a medicine that was carried on a string around a person's neck. 145 Its application as a specific protection for children may reveal a proto-Ruvu narrowing in meaning.
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Nyanja chinga, ku - v.t. "stop, hinder, guard, compass, give another something to drink"; chingiliza, ku - v.t. "to guard by interposition"; Rundi gu-kinga "shield, protect, shelter."
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