mũirĩtu

Kikuyu

Alternative forms

mũirĩĩtu

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /moìɾéːtú/

This ĩ is pronounced long.^[1]

As for Tonal Class, Benson (1964) classifies this term into Class 4 with a trisyllabic stem, together with kĩhengere, kĩariũngũ, and so on.

(Kiambu) IPA^(key): /moìɾéːtù(ꜜ)/

Armstrong (1940:52) records that this term has the same tonal pattern as mũceere, mbarathi, ndũrũme, mũthanga, and Mũthũngũ in isolation.^[2]

(Kabete) The same underlying pattern as that of thimiti.^[3]
(Limuru) As for Tonal Class, Yukawa (1981) classifies this term into a group including gĩcũhĩ, gĩkorora, kĩgokora, mũceere, mũgathĩ, mũgogo (pl. mĩgogo), mũgoma, mũirĩtu, mbarĩki, ndagitari, ngirathi, njohero, njũi, rĩithori (pl. maithori), ũnyiinyi, and so on.^[4]

Noun

mũirĩtu class 1 (plural airĩtu)

big circumcised girl; maiden

Derived terms

(Proverbs)

mũirĩtu mũthaka ahĩtũkagĩra thome wa ngĩa

Related terms

(Nouns)

kairĩtu class 12

References

^ “mũirĩtu” in Benson, T.G. (1964). Kikuyu-English dictionary. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
^ Armstrong, Lilias E. (1940). The Phonetic and Tonal Structure of Kikuyu. Rep. 1967. (Also in 2018 by Routledge).
^ Kagaya, Ryohei (1981). "An Analysis of Tonal Classification of Noun in the Kabete Dialect of Kikuyu." In Journal of Asian and African Studies, No. 22, 1–20.
^ 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.

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

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

[lea1940-2] Armstrong, Lilias E. (1940). The Phonetic and Tonal Structure of Kikuyu. Rep. 1967. (Also in 2018 by Routledge).

[3] Kagaya, Ryohei (1981). "An Analysis of Tonal Classification of Noun in the Kabete Dialect of Kikuyu." In Journal of Asian and African Studies, No. 22, 1–20.

[yy1981-4] 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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