Glossary African Language

www.bu.edu/Africa/alp GLOSSARY: Ab: a, an [singular indefinite article for noun class b-] Àggali: to finish, conclude Aw: variant of yow (Lebu Wolof) Baayoo: to act like or consider oneself as a father to someone Ba pare: already Bàyyi: to leave; allow; quit, leave off Bàyyi ko foofu! leave him there! Bàyyil tooñ: stop teasing Bëggal: to want for someone Bon: to be bad Bu yàgg: for a long time Ci diggu nelaw: in the middle of sleeping Coliin g-: style of dress [from sol, “to wear” + suffix –iin meaning “way of”] Da: contraction of dafa Daal: particle emphasizing a preceding noun Dafa am fu may dem: there is somewhere I’m going Daraja j-: rank, status, honor (from Arabic) Dee: to die Digle: to give advice Digal: to advise, recommend Doomoo: to act like or consider oneself like a child of someone Doyu ma ci! I won’t be happy about it! (Lebu Wolof) Duggal! enter! Dund: to live Instant yi: right now, these moments (French; Urban) Ëmbal: to make someone pregnant Entre: between (French; Urban) Fëll: to appear from, to come out of Fi nga fëlle nooy na! you’re looking fresh! (Urban) Fi nu tollu nii: right now [literally, “where we’re at now”] Fii toj na! this place is jumpin’! (Urban) Fomm: to delay, to postpone Foog: to think, to believe Gëm: to believe Génn: to leave, to go out Indil: to bring for someone Ja b-: market Jaay: to sell; to pretend Jabar j-: wife Jam: to stab [for a knife]; to shoot [for a firearm] Jamano j-: era, age, period; variant: jamono j- Jamano ju naqaree mucc la: this is a time difficult to survive. Jamano ju tëradi: a confusing/restless time Jànq b-: young (unmarried) woman Jàpp ni: to hold that, consider that, consider as Jéppi to hate, to dislike, to be disgusted Jigéén da daan toog ci peggi ndeyam: a girl used to stay close to her mother Jommi: to be astonished, shocked Jot na: the time has come, it’s time to Jullit j-: Muslim [from julli, “to perform Islamic ritual prayer”] Juuf la ma sant: equivalent of Juuf laa sant (Lebu Wolof) Ka: equivalent of ko and ku (Lebu Wolof) Kaa ka wax? equivalent of koo ko wax (Lebu Wolof) Këpp: to knock over, to turn upside down Këpploo: to make somone turn something upside down Kii, fii la mujje! this guy, he ended up here! Ku dee si marse ba, yaa tàgge sa bopp: “Whoever dies in the market has publically announced his or her own death” (Proverb) Ku la mag ëpp lay sagar: “Your elder knows more than you do” [literally “whoever is older than you has more worn out clothes than you”] (Proverb) Laata: before Li nga sol nii…: what you are wearing there... Lijjanti: to work or figure (something) out; to clarify an issue Loolu nga foog: equivalent of loolu nga foog (Lebu Wolof) Lu fi xew rek lañu wax!: we’re only talking about what’s happened here! Ma bëggoon nak ngeen doxale noonu: I wanted you to behave like that. Mais: but (French; Urban) Ma njaboot: equivalent of sama njaboot (Lebu Wolof) Man, ba ma laa waxtaan, tàng gi ma tàng moo tax nit ñi daan wax “mag siiw”: When I speak, my hot-temperedness is the reason why people call me “famous old man”; equivalent of Man, ba ma daan waxtaan, tàng gi ma tàng moo tax nit ñi daan wax “mag siiw” (Lebu Wolof) May doom: equivalent of samay doom (Lebu Wolof) Maye: to give away something, to offer; [colloquial] to wear (Urban) Mbalit m-: trash Miseerloo: to make someone miserable [from French misère “misery,” + suffix –loo, meaning “to make someone”] Moos: for sure Moroom m-: peer, fellow Mucc: to survive Mujje: to end up at, finish at Naan: to say Na nga dee fi nga tëdd foofu! may you die there where you lie! Nàmm naa la: I miss you Nañ / Nan: let’s; contraction forms of na ñu / na nu [used interchangeably] Nun / ñun: we (pronoun) [both nun and ñun are used interchangeably by many speakers to mean “we”; use of ñun is generally followed by use of ñu to mean “we” in verb conjugations as well] Naqar g-: suffering, emotional pain, difficulty Ndekete yóó! variant of ndekete Ndekete: expression of surprise at discovering the contrary of something: “as it turns out,” “as a matter of fact” Ne: to say; like; variant: ni Ne weŋ: to be in the open, be completely visible Nga xamante ne: idiomatic expression similar to nga xam ne Ngeen baal ma: please, excuse me, forgive me Njuuma l-: ghost, little devil, or anything believed to have some supernatural power able to frighten a human being Njuuma noo sant, mu ne wele!: idiom referring to people denying their faults [literally, “ask a devil its last name, it will say ‘Wele’”] Nooy: to be soft, to be tender Noppi: to be quiet Olof Njaay nee na: Wolof Njaay said [way of introducing a proverb] Paa Almaa: cantankerous old man [from French Allemand, “German”] Paa b-: old man (Urban) Paaka b-: knife Pegg b-: side Poon b-: tobacco Poon sax yaa ko gëna siiw!: you are even more well-known than tobacco! Pollu mbalit: garbage can Posone: to poison Ray: to kill Rëy dara: to have a high social rank, to be important [contraction of rëy daraja; jaay rëy dara to pretend to be important] Saa s-: hour, time Sangu: to take a bath Sañse: to be well-dressed (Urban) Sax: even Seetsi: to come visit (seeti ‘to go visit’) Si / sa: variants of ci / ca Siwo: bucket (from French seau) Soxla: to  need Soxna si: Miss [deferential form of addressing a woman] Tëradi: to toss and turn, to be restless in bed Tollu: to reach, to be at a certain point Tooñ: to offend; to tease Waay j-: man, guy, person; buddy Waxu mbedd: street talk Xaar: to wait Xawma: variant of xamuma Xamoo: variant of xamoo Xëm: to lose consciousness, black out; to be charred, burned Xew: to happen Xéy: to get up and leave (for work) Xibaar b-: news Xool: to look at Yàkkamti: to be in a hurry Yeddaate: to sermonize, to advise Yee: to wake someone up Yég: to be informed of Yor: to hold, to possess