Nembe-English Dictionary
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NEMBE-ENGLISH DICTIONARY 2nd edition of the Nembe dictionary, M.H.I. Kaliai, University of Ibadan Press, 1964. This version prepared and edited by Roger Blench Roger Blench Mallam Dendo 8, Guest Road Cambridge CB1 2AL United Kingdom Voice/ Fax. 0044-(0)1223-560687 Mobile worldwide (00-44)-(0)7967-696804 E-mail [email protected] http://www.rogerblench.info/RBOP.htm To whom all correspondence should be addressed. This printout: August 6, 2008 i TABLE OF CONTENTS Abbreviations: ................................................................................................................................................. 2 Editor’s Preface............................................................................................................................................... 3 i Abbreviations: Parts of speech of headwords have been indicated in this edition as follows adj. adjective aux. v. auxiliary verb cf. compare coll. colloquial conj. conjunction dem. demonstrative E. English enc. enclitic esp. especially ext. suff. extensional suffix H. Hausa infl. suff. inflectional suffix int. interjection int. interrogative lit. literally n. noun num. numeral p.n. proper name prep. preposition pron. pronoun poss. possessive pronoun quant. quantifier v. verb Y. Yoruba derived from ii Nembe dictionary. Kaliai revised Blench. Circulation draft 6-Aug-08 Editor’s Preface The present Nembe dictionary is a revised and expanded version of the Nembe dictionary published by M.H.I. Kaliai at the University of Ibadan in 1964. died in early January 2005, with it still unpublished. During the 1990s, the manuscript was typed without alteration into an Apple-based system under the auspices of the late Professor Kay Williamson. The files transferred to an IBM system in the early 2000s, but without any conversion of the character codes. This was only partly successful, and several sections of the dictionary became corrupted. In order to make the manuscript available, I have therefore joined together the fragments of the electronic manuscript and converted the diacritics to a single system. Checking of scientific names and additional typing of corrupted electronic files was done by Dr. Carole Pegg and Dr. Martin Walsh. I hope the results are consistent, but errors may still remain. In 2008, the availability of an extended Times Roman Unicode font, made it possible to have the entire file in a single consistent font and the whole manuscriopt was converted yet again. Manuscript notes made by Professor Williamson on a copy of the original dictionary were added to the text. The original addendum to the published work, with words and expressions omitted has now been edited into the main text. I have also corrected other obvious errors, checked and updated scientific names and reformatted the headings. I have added additional etymologies where they were known to me and substituted updated scientific names. Descriptions of musical instruments and dance are based on my own original fieldwork. The present ms. does not include the introduction, as there has been considerable scholarship on Nembe since its publication and I hope to write a new text, incorporating modern insights inot the language, as well as a bibliography of Nembe studies. I believe the ms. should be published in hard copy, but there are several reasons for not doing this at present. The first is that the ms. represents a form of Nembe current fifty years ago, and the language has changed. It will need to be reviewed by competent speakers of the current language. Secondly, it would be unfortunate not to have photographs with the text, in view of the richness of Nembe culture. Roger Blench Kay Williamson Education Foundation Cambridge 06 August 2008. iii Nembe dictionary. Kaliai revised Blench. Circulation draft 6-Aug-08 NEMBE-ENGLISH DICTIONARY The following abbreviations are intended to help search in particular semantic fields; a architecture dr item of dress ma mammal ai agricultural implement e emotions me medicine al animal sp. indet. et ethnonym mi musical instrument am amphibian f fish ms masquerade an ant fa farming mt marine term ap animal part fg fishing gear p person b bird fo food pd personal decoration bf bodily fluid fp fish part po pot bl blacksmithing fr fruit r reptile, amphibian bm body mark, sore etc. ft fishing term s snake bo boat term g grass sh shrub bp body part ga game so song bs basket go gourd t tree c crustacean gr grasshopper ti title cl cloth h herb tm temporal (adverbs) co colour he hunting equipment to tool cr crop hi household tp tree part implement d disease, sickness i insect tr traditional religion da domestic animal k kinship v vine dc dance la landscape wv weaving dk drink wp weapon wt weather á1 pron. subject form of 1st person singular pronoun; I: á ḅoyo ‘I am coming’ á2 pron. subject form of 3rd person plural impersonal á ḅoyo ‘they (non- pronoun; they (used of animals, birds, fishes human) are coming’ or manufactured objects, not of human beings): á3 pron. object form of 3rd person plural impersonal á lẹẹ ‘flog them pronoun; them: (non-human)’ a1 pron. subject form of 3rd person feminine singular a ḅoyó ‘she is pronoun; she: coming’ a2 pron. object form of 3rd person feminine singular a léẹ̣ ‘flog her’ person; her: a3 pron. possessive form of 3rd person feminine a ḅẹréṃ ị opú ḅẹré ̣ singular pronoun; her; hers: ‘hers is a big case’ a-1 pref. prefixed to a noun to form plural when a tịn a-ḅerí ‘plant qualifying word precedes: leaves’, ịní á-̣ ḅara ‘my hands’ a-2 pref. prefixed to the root of a verb to form a a-ḅóu ‘drunkard’, personal noun signifying a notorious doer of a-múnu the action denoted by the verb: ‘slumberer’ Derivatives with this prefix have been largely omitted. a suf. suffixed to a repeated verb to mean ‘after’, ó ḅo ḅó-a ‘if or ‘if’, or ‘when’: when or after he 1 Nembe dictionary. Kaliai revised Blench. Circulation draft 6-Aug-08 comes’ áa! excl. shout of surprise aán! excl. used to express interrogation abá n. tr magical power of poisoning; such poison; (= atángbaị) charm: abá tein v.p. tr charm; bewitch; influence by magic: abátein n. tr art of poisoning by magic ababá n. bp spleen ababá n. d disease of the spleen; splenalgia; splenitis abada n. cl cloth; blackprint abadamindi n. cl imitation abada cloth abadí ̣ n. la ocean; sea abadí-aka,̣ n. la sea-coast abadí akakạ n. la sea-coast abadí-angạ n. la seashore, littoral abadíḅẹ̣ lẹụ n. la cape of the sea; headland; promontory abadíḍẹ̣ rị n. fr fruit with natural cracks or splits in the skin abadí-ereẉ ọ n.m. c fast-running whitish crab found on seashore abadí-̣ẹfẹrụ n. wt sea-breeze abadí-̣ẹngẹ n. h rhizome or underground stem used as medicine abadí-itụ ḅru n.m. f seafish, mojarras sp. Gerres sp. abadí-̣ịfụngọị n.m. c bivalve shellfish with round or long soft white shells found in sandy shores and hursts; clam abadí-okolạ ịn n.m. b curlew Numenius sp. (cf. mụmọgbọlụ; okolaíṇ ) abadị-ókolaịn n.m b curlew Numenius sp. (cf. mụmọgbọlụ; okolaíṇ ) abadí-osungạ n. g grass sp. Paspalum sp. (= angala kiri osunga) abadípṛ ịḅọ n.m.f p albino . abáka-ikuli n. f sleeper sp. family Eleotridae. Mispronounced form of abása-ikuli abalába n. hi carved flat stick for turning fufu abalamú ̣ n.m. i bedbug ábaná n.m. f mudfish or barreto; conger eel Clarias spp. family Congridae ábangá n. fr plantain (both fruit and plant) Musa paradisiaca Linn. (Musaceae) ábangá-obi n. d disease; swollen state of the tissues of the body; oedema; local dropsy ábangáḅaụ n. fr plantain sucker abanga-ípeín n. fr plantains hanging together around the bunch ábangátịn n. fr plantain bunch; plantain plant ábangátụngba n. fr plantain finger; single plantain fruit awụ-ábanga n. fr red or purplish plantain iḅéḅu-abanga n. fr two fingers of plantain which are not split but are still joined together ma-ipéín-abanga n. fr species of plantain with only two rings of fruit 2 Nembe dictionary. Kaliai revised Blench. Circulation draft 6-Aug-08 okoloḅana’abanga n. fr common banana cultivar, longer than osokpo omoní-ábangá n. fr plantain cultivar omoní-abanga n. fr species of plantain with very long bunch abára n. pretence; flourish in a dance or play abará n. la immature crop of land abará kiri ‘immature land’ (i.e. which has not lain fallow for long) abará ikereḅuru ‘immature crop of cocoyams’ abaraká n.m. f mullet sp. family Mugilidae. cf. akúṛ ọ; ḅụọḅakalamọ; gbulu; íḍ ẹgẹ, móng̣ ịnị abaraká-ịdẹgé n.m. f mullet sp.. family Mugilidae. cf. akúṛ ọ; ḅụọḅakalamọ; gbulu; íḍ ẹgẹ, móng̣ ịnị abása a. with flat and wide head abása-ikuli n.m. f fish sp. sleeper sp. (‘flat-headed sleeper’) family Eleotridae. Mispronounced abáka-ikuli cf. ikúli abedí n.m. r Nile monitor lizard, ‘iguana’ Varanus niloticus abígorógoró n. ga game, guessing in which hand a seed is held abígorógoró n. sh small shrub; the seed of the shrub, which is used in the game ábiógbo n ms masquerade type abịa n. mi tall drum, narrow, cylindrical used for (= atangbaị) Sẹkịapú ̣masquerades abóso n. bp fork of stick or of thumb and other fingers abó ̣ n. wp scabbard; sheath of sword abóḅ ọ n. t tree sp. abụlákịmị n. tr teraph; small figure of camwood made in human shape, tied around neck of children to protect them from gods during festivals aḅá n.m. b bird sp. with very long neck; great egreat = Casmerodius (or great white egret Ardea) albusii; Egretta alba aḅa n.m. f freshwater fish sp. Gymnarchus niloticus aḅaká n. v bush-rope aḅaká v.t. tie with a rope áḅakalafáka n. v bush-rope aḅáko n., a.