Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-4rdpn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-09T16:56:06.943Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

I - Glossary of Terms in Runyoro-Rutooro

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 December 2023

Linda Cimardi
Affiliation:
Martin Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, Germany
Get access

Summary

In this Glossary, I have gathered the Nyoro and Tooro (and some Ganda) terms recurring in this book, except for the words in songs’ lyrics, for which a direct translation is provided in the text. In Runyoro-Rutooro language prefixes are fundamental in expressing nominal classes and number for adjectives and nouns, and person and number for verbs, as mentioned in the initial “Note on Language.” For this reason, ordering terms alphabetically can be problematic and various solutions have been adopted by different authors (Davis 1938; Ndoleriire et al. 2009; Rubongoya 1999). Here I follow the method adopted by Margaret B. Davis (1938) in her dictionary, which has been very useful for my research, especially to retrieve terms quite uncommon in today's Runyoro-Rurooro. In particular, as I have done throughout this volume, I omit initial vowels since they have a role similar to that of articles; I normally refer to the singular form of nouns and adjectives (and mention the plural when different from the singular); finally, differently from Davis, I list verbs in the infinitive form with the ku- prefix, in order to help readers finding the searched verb as it mostly appears in the rest of the book.

Akadinda: Ganda and Soga xylophones and xylophone repertoires.

Amadinda: Ganda and Soga xylophones and xylophone repertoires.

Baakisimba: Ganda music and dance genre.

Bakugarukamu (sing. mu-): lit. those who answer; chorus in call-andresponse singing, also known as banukuzi.

Batebe or Kalyota: sister of the Nyoro and Tooro king, female head of the women of the royal clan Babiito.

Banukuzi (sing. mu-): lit. those who answer; chorus in call-and-response singing, also known as bakugarukamu.

Buhangwa: lit. nature, used to mean local tradition.

Buro: millet; millet polenta.

Buswezi: marriage.

Bw’omu mbaju: lit. of the ribs, of the sides; old Tooro dance, then become women's part in Tooro runyege dance.

Firimbi: Nyoro whistle.

-gano: root present in several Bantu languages and referring to storytelling or to repertoires combining singing and narrating.

Hima: pastoralist, referred to Bahima pastoralists from Nkore.

Huma: pastoralist, referred to Bahuma pastoralists from Tooro and Bunyoro.

Icumbiro: kitchen.

Iguulya: music and dance genre similar to runyege and characterized by cloth rings worn by performers dancing the women's dance part.

Ihega (pl. ma-): one of the three stones delimiting the kitchen fire.

Ihuuru: small double-skin cylindroconical drum used in royal music.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer
Print publication year: 2023

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

  • Glossary of Terms in Runyoro-Rutooro
  • Linda Cimardi, Martin Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, Germany
  • Book: Performing Arts and Gender in Postcolonial Western Uganda
  • Online publication: 17 December 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781805430643.011
Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

  • Glossary of Terms in Runyoro-Rutooro
  • Linda Cimardi, Martin Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, Germany
  • Book: Performing Arts and Gender in Postcolonial Western Uganda
  • Online publication: 17 December 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781805430643.011
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Glossary of Terms in Runyoro-Rutooro
  • Linda Cimardi, Martin Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, Germany
  • Book: Performing Arts and Gender in Postcolonial Western Uganda
  • Online publication: 17 December 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781805430643.011
Available formats
×