ng'ombe

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈŋo.ᵐbe/

Noun

ng'ombe class 9 (plural ng'ombe class 10)

1. cow, ox

Etymology

Hinde (1904) records ngombe as an equivalent of English cow in “Jogowini dialect” of Kikuyu, listing also Kamba ngombe and Swahili ngombe as its equivalents.^[1]

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ŋɔ̀^mbɛ̀ꜜ/

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.^[2] 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, mũthuuri, mwaki (“fire”), mwario (“way of speaking”), mbogoro, nda, ndaka, ndigiri, ngo, njagathi, njogu, nyondo (“breast(s)”), and so on.^[3]

Noun

ng'ombe class 9/10 (plural ng'ombe)

1. cow or ox

   ng'ombe yakwa - my cow/ox

   ng'ombe ciakwa - my cows/oxen

References

Noun

ng'ombe class 9 (plural ng'ombe)

1. cow, ox

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈŋɔ.ᵐbɛ/

Noun

ng'ombe (n class, plural ng'ombe)

1. cow, ox
2. (pejorative) idiot