mũthuuri

See also: mũthũũri

Kikuyu

Alternative forms

• mũthuri

Etymology

From gũthuura (“to select, to elect”).

Hinde (1904) records muthuri (pl. athuri) as an equivalent of English man (old) in “Jogowini dialect” of Kikuyu.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mòðùːɾìꜜ/

As for Tonal Class, Armstrong (1940) classifies this term into moondo class which includes mũndũ, huko, igego, igoti, inooro, irigũ, irũa, kĩbaata, kĩmũrĩ, kũgũrũ, mũciĩ, mũgeni, mũri, mwaki (“fire”), ndaka, ndigiri, njagathi, njogu, Mũrĩmi (“man's name”), etc. Benson (1964) classifies this term into Class 1 with a disyllabic stem, together with ndaka, and so on.

• (Kiambu)

• (Limuru) As for Tonal Class, Yukawa (1981) classifies this term into a group including cindano, huko, iburi, igego, igoti, ini (pl. mani), inooro, irigũ, irũa, iturubarĩ (pl. maturubarĩ), kĩbaata, kĩmũrĩ, kũgũrũ, mũciĩ, mũgeni, mũgũrũki, mũmbirarũ, mũndũ, mũri, mwaki (“fire”), mwario (“way of speaking”), mbogoro, nda, ndaka, ndigiri, ngo, njagathi, njogu, nyondo (“breast(s)”), and so on.

Noun

mũthuuri class 1 (plural athuuri)

1. married male person with children, husband

   mũthuuri wakwa ― my husband

   mũthuuriguo ― thy husband

   mũthuuriwe ― her husband

2. male person, man
3. adult (man)
4. elder

   mũthuuri wa kĩama ― a member of a traditional council of elders who have paid goats as fee

Antonyms

• (husband): (concerning sex) mũtumia; (concerning marriage) mwanake
• (male person): mũtumia
• (adult man): (before circumcision) kĩhĩĩ, kahĩĩ; (after circumscision) mwana

Derived terms

(Phrases)

• athuuri a kanitha
• mũthuuri kĩhĩĩ

(Proverbs)

• mũthuuri ũtarĩ kahĩĩ nĩwe wĩriragĩra ngururu

Related terms

(Nouns)

• ũthuuri class 14

See also

• (husband, male person, adult man): mũrũme
• (husband): mũhikania

References

• Kagaya, Ryohei (1981). "An Analysis of Tonal Classification of Noun in the Kabete Dialect of Kikuyu", pp. 3, 7, 9. In Journal of Asian and African Studies, No. 22.