Kikuyu

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Alternative forms

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Pronunciation

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This i is pronounced long.[2]
As for Tonal Class, Armstrong (1940) classifies this term into ðiimbo class which includes thimbũ, thani, gĩthitũ, itũũra (pl. matũũra), kĩratũ, mwatũka, etc.[3] Benson (1964) classifies this term into Class 8 with a disyllabic stem, together with matũũra, thani, kiuga, and so on.
  • (Kiambu)

Noun

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mũbira class 3 (plural mĩbira)

  1. ball
  2. rubber
  3. bicycle
    Synonyms: baithikiri, mũithikiri

References

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  1. ^ Ford, K. C. (1975). "The Tones of Nouns in Kikuyu", p. 61. In Studies in African Linguistics, Volume 6, Number 1, pp. 49–64.
  2. ^ bira” in Benson, T.G. (1964). Kikuyu-English dictionary, p. 29. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
  3. ^ Armstrong, Lilias E. (1940). The Phonetic and Tonal Structure of Kikuyu. Rep. 1967. (Also in 2018 by Routledge).
  4. ^ 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.