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:
“Touch me not.”
—Bible: New Testament Jesus, in John, 20:17.
Spoken to Mary Magdalene, after Jesus has risen from the dead and made himself known to her. The words are best known in the Latin form in which they appear in the Vulgate: Noli me tangere.
“Westron wind, when will thou blow?
The small rain down can rain.
Christ, that my love were in my arms,
And I in my bed again.”
—Unknown. Western Wind (l. 1–4)
“A two-week-old infant cries an average of one and a half hours every day. This increases to approximately three hours per day when the child is about six weeks old. By the time children are twelve weeks old, their daily crying has decreased dramatically and averages less than one hour. This same basic pattern of crying is present among children from a wide range of cultures throughout the world. It appears to be wired into the nervous system of our species.”
—Lawrence Kutner (20th century)