English words of African origin

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Most words of African origin used in English are nouns describing animals, plants, or cultural practices that have their origins in Africa (mostly sub-Saharan African; Arabic words not included unless another African language is an intermediary). The following list includes some examples.

  • azawakh – probably from Fula or Tuareg. A breed of dog from West and North Africa
  • banana – adopted from Wolof via Spanish or Portuguese
  • banjo – from Mandinka bangoe, which refers to the Akonting[1][2][3]
  • basenji – breed of dog from Central Africa – Congo, Central African Republic etc.
  • boma – from Swahili
  • bongo – West African boungu[4]
  • buckra – "white man or person", from Efik and Ibibio mbakara[5]
  • bwana – from Swahili, meaning "husband, important person or safari leader"
  • chigger – possibly from Wolof and/or Yoruba jiga "insect"[6]
  • chimpanzee – loaned in the 18th century from a Bantu language, possibly Kivili ci-mpenzi.[7]
  • cola – from West African languages (Temne kola, Mandinka kolo)[8]
  • dengue – possibly from Swahili dinga
  • djembe – from West African languages
  • ebony – from Ancient Egyptian hebeni[9]
  • - from Yoruba "fani mọ́ra" meaning "to attract people to you"[10]
  • gerenuk – from Somali. A long-necked antelope in Eastern Africa (Kenya, Somalia, Tanzania, Ethiopia and Djibouti)
  • gnu – from Khoisan !nu through Khoikhoi i-ngu and Dutch gnoe
  • goober – possibly from Bantu (Kikongo and Kimbundu nguba)
  • gumbo – from Bantu (Kimbundu ngombo meaning "okra", with similar roots in Tshiluba, Umbundu and other Bantu languages from the Angola/Congo region)
  • impala – from Zulu im-pala
  • impi – from Zulu language meaning "war, battle or a regiment"
  • indaba – from Xhosa or Zulu languages – "stories" or "news" typically conflated with "meeting" (often used in South African English)
  • jazz – possibly from West African languages (Mandinka jasi, Temne yas), though many possible etymologies have been proposed, including the English and French jaser.
  • jenga – from the Swahili verb kujenga meaning "to build".[11]
  • jive – possibly from Wolof jev
  • juke, jukebox – possibly from Wolof and Bambara dzug through Gullah[12]
  • jumbo – from Swahili (jambo "hello" or from Kongo nzamba "elephant")[13]
  • kalimba
  • Kwanzaa – a recent coinage (Maulana Karenga 1965) for the name of an African American holiday, abstracted from the Swahili phrase matunda ya kwanza, meaning "first fruits [of the harvest]"
  • kwashiorkor – from Ga language, coastal Ghana, meaning "swollen stomach"
  • kijiji – from Swahili for "village", "hamlet" or "small town"
  • lapa – from Sotho languages – '"enclosure" or "barbecue area" (often used in South African English)
  • macaque – from Bantu makaku through Portuguese and French
  • mamba – from Zulu or Swahili mamba
  • marimba – from Bantu (Kimbundu and Swahili marimba, malimba)
  • marímbula – plucked musical instrument (lamellophone) of the Caribbean islands
  • merengue (dance) – possibly from Fulani mererek i meaning "to shake or quiver"
  • mojo – from Fula moco'o "medicine man" through Louisiana Creole French or Gullah
  • mumbo jumbo – from Mandingo name Maamajombo, a masked dancer[14]
  • obeah – from West African (Efik ubio, Twi ebayifo)
  • okapi – from a language in the Congo
  • okra – from Igbo ókùrù
  • safari – from Swahili travel, ultimately from Arabic
  • sambo – Fula sambo meaning "uncle"
  • sangoma – from Zulu – "traditional healer" (often used in South African English)
  • Shea - A tree and the oil Shea butter which comes from its seeds, comes from its name in Bambara
  • tango – probably from Ibibio tamgu
  • tilapia – possibly a Latinization of "tlhapi", the Tswana word for "fish"[15]
  • tsetse – from a Bantu language (Tswana tsetse, Luhya tsiisi)
  • ubuntu – Nguni term for "mankind, humanity", in South Africa since the 1980s also used capitalized, Ubuntu, as the name of a philosophy or ideology of "human kindness" or "humanism"
  • vodou – from West African languages (Ewe and Fon vodu "spirit")[16]
  • vuvuzela – musical instrument, name of Zulu or Nguni origin
  • yam – West African (Fula nyami, Twi anyinam)
  • zebra – of unknown origin, recorded since c. 1600, from Portuguese ‘ezebro’, used of an Iberian animal, in turn possibly ultimately from Latin ‘equiferus’, but a Congolese language, or alternatively Amharic have been put forward as possible origins[17]
  • zombie – likely from West African (compare Kikongo zumbi "fetish", Kimbundu nzumbi "ghost"), but alternatively derived from Spanish sombra "shade, ghost"[18]

References[]

  1. ^ http://lege.net/web.comhem.se/abzu/akonting/akont.html
  2. ^ "Black People : - The Mandinka Legacy in The New World". Destee - Black Discussion Forum. Retrieved 2021-05-26.
  3. ^ "The Ekonting: African Roots of the Banjo – A Direct Connection Between African & African-American Music – Down Home Radio Show". Retrieved 2021-05-26.
  4. ^ "Bongo | Etymology, origin and meaning of bongo by etymonline".
  5. ^ Mason, Julian (1960). "The Etymology of 'Buckaroo'". American Speech. 35 (1): 51–55. doi:10.2307/453613. JSTOR 453613.
  6. ^ "Chigger | Etymology, origin and meaning of chigger by etymonline".
  7. ^ "chimpanzee" in American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 2011.
  8. ^ https://www.dictionary.com/browse/kola
  9. ^ https://www.dictionary.com/browse/ebony
  10. ^ Conference, Association of Social Anthropologists of the Commonwealth; Conference 1, Association of Social Anthropologists of the Commonwealth (1995). Worlds Apart: Modernity Through the Prism of the Local. Psychology Press. ISBN 9780415107884.
  11. ^ "Play Stuff Blog » Archives » Jenga. Jenga? Jenga! | National Museum of Play". 2011-08-07. Archived from the original on 2011-08-07. Retrieved 2021-09-23.
  12. ^ "Jukebox definition and meaning | Collins English Dictionary".
  13. ^ "Jumbo definition and meaning | Collins English Dictionary".
  14. ^ "Mumbo jumbo Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster".
  15. ^ Tilapia etymology
  16. ^ "Voodoo definition and meaning | Collins English Dictionary".
  17. ^ "Zebra | Etymology, origin and meaning of zebra by etymonline".
  18. ^ "Zombie | Search Online Etymology Dictionary".
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