mbaka

Kikuyu

Etymology

Hinde (1904) records nempaka as an equivalent of English cat in “Jogowini dialect” of Kikuyu, listing also Kamba mbaka and Swahili paka as its equivalents.^[2]

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ᵐbàkáꜜ/

As for Tonal Class, 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

mbaka class 9/10 (plural mbaka)

cat

Synonyms

(ka)nyau

References

^ “mbaka” in Benson, T.G. (1964). Kikuyu-English dictionary, p. 270. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
^ Hinde, Hildegarde (1904). Vocabularies of the Kamba and Kikuyu languages of East Africa, pp. 12–13. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
^ 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.

[1] “mbaka” in Benson, T.G. (1964). Kikuyu-English dictionary, p. 270. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

[hh1904-2] Hinde, Hildegarde (1904). Vocabularies of the Kamba and Kikuyu languages of East Africa, pp. 12–13. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

[yy1981-3] 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.

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