mbembe

Kikuyu

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ᵐbɛ̀.ᵐbɛ́ꜜ/

As for Tonal Class, Armstrong (1940) classifies this term into mbori class which includes mbũri, ikinya (pl. makinya), itimũ, kĩhaato, maguta, mũgeka, mũrata, nyaga, ũhoro, riitho, riũa, rũrĩmĩ, Kamau (“man's name”), etc.^[1] Benson (1964) classifies this term into Class 3 with a disyllabic stem, together with kĩhaato, 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, mbũri, nyaga, riitho, riũa, rũrĩmĩ (pl. nĩmĩ), ũhoro (pl. mohoro), and so on.^[2]

Noun

mbembe class 9/10 (plural mbembe)

maize, corn (Zea mays)

Meronyms

mũcakwe

Related terms

(Nouns)

mabeebe class 6
mũbeebe class 3

References

^ Armstrong, Lilias E. (1940). The Phonetic and Tonal Structure of Kikuyu. Rep. 1967. (Also in 2018 by Routledge).
^ 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.

“mbembe” in Benson, T.G. (1964). Kikuyu-English dictionary. Oxford: Clarendon Press.