Bantu Languages - Bantu Words Popularised in Western Cultures

Bantu Words Popularised in Western Cultures

Some words from various Bantu languages have been borrowed into western languages. These include:

  • Bomba
  • Bongos
  • Boogie-woogie
  • Bwana
  • Candombe
  • Chimpanzee
  • Conga
  • Goobers
  • Gumbo
  • Hakuna matata
  • Impala
  • Indaba
  • Jenga
  • Jumbo
  • Kalimba
  • Kwanzaa
  • Mamba
  • Mambo
  • Mbira
  • Marimba
  • Rumba
  • Safari
  • Samba
  • Simba
  • Ubuntu

A case has been made out for borrowings of many place-names and even misremembered rhymes such as "Here we go looby-loo ... " – chiefly from one of the Luba varieties – in the USA.

Read more about this topic:  Bantu Languages

Famous quotes containing the words words, western and/or cultures:

    Usually it is uses of words, not words in themselves, that are properly called ‘vague.’
    —J.L. (John Langshaw)

    Pictures are for entertainment, messages should be delivered by Western Union.
    Samuel Goldwyn (1882–1974)

    Every age, every culture, every custom and tradition has its own character, its own weakness and its own strength, its beauties and cruelties; it accepts certain sufferings as matters of course, puts up patiently with certain evils. Human life is reduced to real suffering, to hell, only when two ages, two cultures and religions overlap.
    Hermann Hesse (1877–1962)