a- (ka/bu) small cow; calf. cf. ente.
a- (ka/bu) small chair; small stool. Nnazaalibwa mu njala ‘ani amuwadde a katebe.' I was born during the great famine of the early 1940's, lit. the famine ‘who has given him a chair (so that he can sit down and eat our food)?' cf. ekitebe, entebe.
a- (ka/bu) boggy field; quagmire, soft miry land that yields under the foot. cf. ekiteebe.
a- (ka/bu) small/short skirt, obuteeteeyi obumpi, miniskirts, cf. ekiteeteeyi.
a- no plur. (ka/bu) faint breathing of a dying person. Yasangibwa mu nju ye ng'aliko kateetera. He was found in his house on the point of death, cf. teetera.
a- with the -a of rel. sprouting, budding (of trees); scarce (of food).
a- (ka/bu) hoe, lit. it chops (lema) the stumps (nkonge).
drama; performance. cf. ^temba.
a- (ka/bu) rush, hurry; a rather long distance, as adv. hurriedly, in a hurry.
a- (ka/bu) top ring in the roof of a thatched hut; fig. pinnacle, acme. Atuuse mu katemyo. He has now reached the pinnacle of success.
a- (ka/bu) variety of colocynth plant, with fruit something like egg-fruit. cf. entengo.
a- (ka/bu) kilt, short skirt.
a- path/ridge of earth before the doorway of a hut.
a- rare var. of akatiriginya, q. v.
okulongoosa, okuteekateeka, okutandika, okubembeka.
o- adv. like cattle, kugumba bute, to huddle/cluster together like cattle, as a noun obute is the plur. of akate, q.v.' cf. ente.
o- (bu/-) readiness, preparedness. cf. Heeka, -eteekateeka, -eteefuteefu.
katekiisimu.
okuweebwa, okufuna. g. up, okugolokoka, okuyimuka. g. better, okussuuka, okulamuka, okuwona. g. out of the way, okusegulira. g. ready, dkweteekateeka. g. away, okuvaawo. g. out, okuvaamu. g. off, okuvaako; (penalty), okuwona.
etc.; spoil, mar. Enkuba nayo egoyaanye enteekateeka zaffe. The rain has spoiled our plans.
for which see the grammars. One usage which presents serious difficulties to the users of the dictionary must be mentioned here. ka- is the prefix for singular nouns of the ka/bu class. This class contains not only nouns proper to it, but in addition most other nouns can be converted to this class; in the latter case the resultant noun is a diminutive. In many cases sound changes obscure the relationship between the original noun and the diminutive: ente, cow; akate, small cow. ejjinja, rock; akayinja, stone, endabirwamu, mirror; akalabirwamu, small mirror.
a- also akateregenya (ka/bu) drop, tiny amount, ‘dash.' with the -a of rel. tiny, very small.
e- (ki/bi) seat; site; base, ekitebe ekikulu, headquarters, cf. akatebe, entebe.
e- (ki/bi) bog. cf. akateebe.
e- (ki/bi) dress, skirt, ennyumba ey'ekiteeteeyi, round hut with thatched, sloping roof. cf. akateeteeyi.
e- (ki/bi) parched/arid place; bald patch on the head, kukaaba kiwalakate, to go through the motions and sentiments of weeping without actually shedding tears, cf. walakata.
etc. okunaabira mu maaso, to wash one's hands of. Mw. Katende muzibu, mwannyina amunaabidde mu maaso, era amugobye. Mr. Katende is a harsh person; he has washed his hands of his sister and has sent her away. Balina emyenge egya buli kika ne batuuka n'okuginaabiramu ebigere. They have beers of every type in great abundance, lit. they even wash their feet in it.
e- with the -a of rel. cropped, docked (of ears, a tail, etc.); very short (of clothes). akateeteeyi ak'enkuggu, very short dress; mini-skirt, cf. ekikuggu.
e- (n/n) domestic bovine, cow, bull, ox; in the plur. cattle, ente enduusi, cow. ente ennume, bull. Ekika ky'Ente, the Cow Clan. cf. obute, akate. akooye, easy chair, sofa. cf. akatebe, ekitebe, omutebe, ssentebe.
e- (n/n) preparation(s), arrangements); plan; program, enteekateeka y'eby'obufuzi, constitution, cf. ^teeka, teekateeka.
e- (n/n) colocynth berries; game played by children with these berries, ma- tama kuba ntengo, to be silent when questioned (particularly when one is being accused). Yatuukira ku kubuuza Nsimbye- gwire gy'ali kyokka nga omukyala amatama ntengo. He asked where N. was, but the wife only kept silent, cf. akatengotengo.
ekiwalakate.
«., okuteekateeka.
v., okuteekateeka, okutegeka; okulongoosa; (for marriage) okufumbirira; p. oneself, okweteekateeka, okwetegeka, okwekindikira.
get, okweteekateeka, okw etegeka, , okwetala (for battle); be r. (food), okuggya; make r., okuteekateeka, okutegeka.
etc. ekitabo ekikusookeza ku Katekisimu, a book which will introduce you to the catechism.
n., omugga, akateebe.
teekulula (-teekuludde) v.tr. conv. 1 & 2 unload; annul. cf. obweteefuteefu, ekiteeko, omuteeko, omuteesiteesi, enteekateeka, enteeko, -eteefuteefu, etteeka.
perform, (in a play). Gundi atemba butembi. So-and-so is just joking, cf. katemba.
omutemwa, ettemankima.
ekiwalakate.
tinyimye) v.i. stand; be situated; in translation often equivalent to the preposition from. Yayima Busujju n'atu- wandiikira. He wrote to us from Busujju. Ayima atya e Bulemeezi n'amanya ebifa e Busujju? How can he be in Bulemeezi and know what is going on at Busujju? Yayima ku katebe n'awanula engoye zaffe. He stood on a chair and took down our clothes.
v.tr. redup. prepare; make ready; arrange.
o- (mu/ba) master of ceremonies; planner, organizer, omuteesi- teesi w'embaga, one who is in charge of arrangements for a wedding, cf. ^teeka, teekateeka.
o- trap; bow; fig. trap, snare, pitfall. Akateeyanira ke kafa omutego. (prov.) lit. (The little animal) which does not cry out dies in the trap. Survival is granted only to those who fight for it. cf. tega, obutego.
v.tr. be lost to. Ekitabo kimbuze. I have lost my book, lit. the book has become lost to me. obusungu ne bubula okumutta, and he became furious, lit. anger almost killed him. Akakiiko kaamaze ekiro kyonna nga kateesa, ne kabulako kye kamaliriza. The committee spent the whole night in discussion, but failed to reach a decision. Ebulayo eddakiika ttaano okuwera essaawa ettaano. It is five minutes to eleven, lit. there are lacking five minutes to eleven (five by Bantu time). Ennyumba ye yabadde ebulayo katono mu maaso. His house was a short distance ahead. Yajja abulidde mu mugugu. He came loaded down (lit. disappearing into) with a large bundle. Ssente te(zi)bula mukwate. Money is not lacking to one who is arrested/apprehended (i.e., a person charged with an offense will do everything possible to have himself exhonerated). gunaabula asala, lit. the case (omusango is implied by gu-) will lack any one who (can) pass judgment, i.e., it will be a cliff-hanger/a'thriller, ' a contest whose outcome is in doubt to the end or it will be pandemonium, sheer chaos/confusion.
etc. Baabinjokerawo nti teri mulimu. They told me right off that there was no work, lit. burned words (-bi- implies ebigambo) at me. Omusana gunjokedde busa. have troubled myself/worked in vain, lit. the sun has shone on me in vain, kukwokera Katebo, to be depressed at not getting what one wants, labour in vain, Katebo is a port on Lake Victoria).
v.i. pant; breathe with difficulty; throb (of the heart); tick (of a clock). Aliko kateetera. He is extremely ill.
annoy. cf. akateetera, oluteeteru.
ekiwalaata, ekiwalakate, essega.
to doze, doze off, lit. cut logs, kutema lu- wenda, to cut a path; to mark the end of one's own land; fig. to be a pioneer, a pathfinder. kutema lubimbi, to cultivate intensively/a great deal, kutema mulanga or kutema kiwoobe, to wail loudly, kutema ka- kule or kutema kalali, to burst out laughing, kutema bikata, to hoe/ridge potatoes, kutema mwenge, to cut bananas for making beer, kukatema muntu, tell someone very bad or shocking news, lit. cut (laughter, implied by ka = akakuie) from a person. Yakantema. He told me something that had a shocking effect on me. kutema lizzi, to swim, kutema bigambo, to make unfounded statements.
v.tr. appl. caus. cause to inherit; establish as heir. Baagenda ku- sikiza Nnaakaterekawa. They went to establish N. as heir. Ababaka abajeemu ba- sikizibwe abalala. Let the rebel representatives be replaced by others.
deceitful person.
a small, hard and uncomfortable chair or Stool (esp. one which folds), cf. yasa, ejjute.
-eyanira (-eyanidde) v.i. appl. refl. cry out for help; struggle to survive/prevail. (Akasolo) akateeyanira kafa omutego. (prov.) (The animal) which does not struggle to survive dies in the trap.
prepared, cf. ^teeka, -eteekateeka.
-travel. Yee- walakata olw'e Ggaba. He headed for/ traveled to Ggaba. cf. ekiwalakate; kalakata.