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Showing 70 result(s) for "low".
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ba (-badde EN→LG

mbadde) v.i. be. In certain tenses ba is replaced by -li, Both may be used as primary verbs or as auxiliaries in compound tenses. bwe tuba mu ssomero, when we are in school. Yabadde anzise. He nearly killed me. Tuli mu kisenge. We are in the room. Twali tuli mu kisenge. We were in the room, ba and -li may be followed by na (-na in the case of -li) to express possession. Tulina ensimbi. We have money. Twabadde n'ensimbi. We had money.

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baluka (-baluse) v.i. make a cracking sound EN→LG

crack, crackle; give off sparks, flare up; burst, explode; blow up; throb, tinglejfo/ the fingers, etc.); be very hot (of sunshine); come out, debouch (of a small road or path); fig. break out (of war, sickness, etc.). Olutalo lubaluse buto nate mu Bulaaya. War has broken out again in Europe.

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bbanda EN→LG

e- (li/ma) hollow-stemmed perennial mountain bamboo, Arundinaria alpina. It is black in color as opposed to nkaawo which is yellow.

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bbeeyi EN→LG

e- (n/n or li/ma) price; expensive price, ebbeeyi eza wansi, low prices, engoye ez' ebbeeyi, expensive clothes.

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bendabenda (-benzebenze EN→LG

mmenzebenze) v.i. hobble along, walk painfully, walk with the back bent forward, bendegera (-bendegedde, mmendegedde) v. tr. make restitution for; reimburse; pay for (lit. and fig.); be accountable to. Ojja okubende- gera ebinaddawo. You will suffer the consequences (lit. that which will follow). Aliba abatutteyo alimmendegera. Whoever takes them there will have to answer to me for it.

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bimba (-bimbye) v.i. froth EN→LG

foam, foam up; overflow. Ebibimba bikka. Things which boil up (ultimately) simmer down. What goes up comes down. Kyabimba (nga) si kisaanikire mu maaso ga kkanisa. There was an enthusiastic/lively crowd in front of the church.

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bisulo EN→LG

e- plur. (ki/bi) twitching in the eyelids. (A twitch in the lower lids means that one will receive bad news; a twitch in the • upper lid signifies good news.) Not to be confused with bisulo, dormitories, the plur. of ^eklsulo, q.v.

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blow EN→LG

v., okufuuwa; (of wind) okukunta; (gale) okufuuwuuka; (bellows) okufukuta; (out) okuzikiza; (nose) okunyiza; (fire up) okukuma omuliro; (on) okufuuyirira.

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bu- a prefix of many functions EN→LG

for which see the grammars. The following usages are important for lexical purposes because the derivatives formed cannot all be included in the dictionary. 1) bu + la ~ negative infinitive, often equivalent to an English noun which is not an infinitive in form. okumanya, to know; obutamanya, not to know; ingnorance. 2) bu + stem of a noun from another class often produc es an adverb which must be rendered by a phrase in English, enkofu, guinea fowl; bukofu, like a guinea fowl, kukaabya bukofu, to make cry like a guinea fowl, i.e., to cause to suffer. 3) bu + reduplicated stem of a noun of another class indicates plurality with the added notions of indefiniteness, scattered state or even contemp t. essomero, school; obusomerosomero, small, scattered schools which are inferior in quality. 4) normal verb form + bu + verb stem + i. Abalala bagamba nti... others say that; Abalala bagamba bugambi nti... others just/ simply/only say that.

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bufumbo EN→LG

o- (bu/-) fluffy substance resembling cotton often used for stuffing mattresses and pillows; the plant from which this substanceis obtained, cf. olufumbo.

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bugobo EN→LG

o- adv. kumira bugobo, to .bolt down, swallow with one gulp. Tamira bugobo buli ky'asoma. He isn't taken in by everything he reads, ennyanja kamirabugobo, the fathomless sea.

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bulembwe EN→LG

o- adv. kujja bulembwe, to come on the heels of, follow closely; to come one after the other, come together.

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buntu EN→LG

o- (bu/-) humanity; manhood, with the -a of rel. humane. Okuwanika omuntu ku kalabba si kya buntu. It is not humane to hang a man on the gallows, eby'obuntu, human nature, mu buntu, in person, personally. okuddamu ak'obuntu, to recover one's composure. Muntu buntu. He is a mere man. buntu is also the plural of kantu, small thing. From the root -ntu are also derived omuntu, ekintu, akantu, etc.

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busera EN→LG

o- (bu/-) gruel/porridge made from millet or banana meal, kuyoya busera, to be tired and hungry. Mpolampola, ayiisa obusera. (prov.) Very slowly, he cooks (good) porridge. Slow but sure.

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butto EN→LG

o- (bu/-) simsim oil, cottonseed oil. -ebutuggiza (-ebutuggizza) v.i. refl. move along slowly, drag oneself along.

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buwufu EN→LG

o- (bu/-) tracks, traces; footsteps; direction, okugoba obuwufu, to follow the steps of; to track (of a hunter), okuzza obuwufu, to go back, return, okukyusa obuwufu, to change one's course, alter one's direction. Ka tubagwe mu buwufu. Let's trail them. cf. oluwufu.

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buyiso EN→LG

o- adv. like a needle, kuwenja buyiso, to search diligently for, search high and low for. kukutuka buyiso, to be terminated/broken off (of a frie ndship). cf. empiso.

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dda (-zze EN→LG

nzize) v.i. return, come back; go back; go; come up (of crops); take effect (of medicine), kudda mu mbeera, to return to normal, kudda mu maziga, to burst into tears; kudda mu ddiiro, to do a job over (because it was poorly done the first time); to dance again, kudda ngulu, to regain consciousness; to wake up. kudda buto, to become childish, enter one's second childhood (see buto for additional meanings). kudda ku mabbali, to stand aside, kudda mu bi- gere bya..., to follow in the footsteps of, succeed. Tayinza kudda awo kumala bi- seera bye. He can't just stand around and waste his time, abanlu abatalina kadda eri mumwa, people who have nothing to eat, lit. who do not have (a little thing, kantu implied) which returns to the lip. Emmere ezze. The food has been vomited up or The crops have come up.

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ddako v.i. come next EN→LG

be next in order, oluddako, the next day, the following day (lu- implies lunaku, day). Nnambi y'anzirako. Nnambi is my younger sister/the one who comes after me. Namusoke azzeeko omubiri. N. has gained some weight.

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ddenge EN→LG

e- plur. amalenge (li/ma) small wind instrument, whistle, reed pipe made of bamboo; measure for a charge of gunpowder. Enjala wano efuuwa n'ama lenge. The hunger here is beyond belief, lit. is blowing whistles, cf. ^akalenge, kirenge, orau- lenge. See also fuuwa and fuuyira.

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expresses indifference EN→LG

carelessness, inevitability (in the sense of being obliged to do what one does not want to do) and even sheer exasperation. Tumaze ga- gendayo. We sent there just for the sake of going. Mumale gaddamu, temulowooza. Just give an answer, don't think about it first. Mala gakola. Just go ahead and do it. Don't spend too much time on it. Among the younger generation there is a tendency to drop the verbal stem which normally follows ga-. The meaning is implied from context, e.g., Twamala ga-. We simply went there (or simply did something else, dep ending on previous context).

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fukuta (-fukuse) v.tr. blow EN→LG

blow on. oku- fukuta emivubo, to blow with a pair of bellows. okufukuta amazzi, to gargle with water, okufukuta ekyuma, to melt metal (e.g., with a blowtorch), kuwoza gufukula, to talk nonsense (gu- implies muliro, fire), kufukuta lulimi, to speak a language (usually English) fluently. Bwe yatuuse mu dduuka n'afukutira omutunzi Oluzungu nga gw'alufukutira talina ky'aggyamu. When he arrived in the store he spoke English to the salesman, but the person to whom he was talking did not get anything out of it.

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funa (-funye) v.tr. get EN→LG

obtain, procure, okufuna olubuto, to become pregnant, okufuna erinnya, to acquire a reputation, kufuna bya kakule or kufuna bya ndola, to I obtain for nothing or to buy at a price far below the normal.

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fuuweeta (-fuuweese) v.tr. smoke (a pipe EN→LG

cigarettes, etc.); blow, blow out. oku- fuuweeta oluyimba, to whistle a tune, okufuuweeta olulimi, to speak a language fluently, kufuuweeta bbidde, to drink alcohol. okufuuweeta erapewo, to show off, be snobbish/supercilious/high-hat. ennambo ezibadde zifuuweeta mu Kampala, the rumors which were spreading around Kampala. Omuntu oyo afuuweeta nnyo ebigambo. This person gossips a lot. cf. fuuwa.

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fuuyira (-fuuyidde) v.tr. appl. blow in/on EN→LG

etc.; spray (e.g., insects), kufuuyira mbuzi mulere, to waste one's time/breath, lit. blow a pipe for a goat, kufuuyira malenge, to drink a lot without having one's thirst assuaged, kufuuyira mmindi, to smoke an empty pipe while reciting incantations for the purpose of putting a hex on someone; to wish someone bad luck.

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genda (-genze EN→LG

nnenze) v.i. go, go away; relieve oneself, ‘go.' Before a following infinitive it expresses future time. Tugenda kugenda. We are going to go. oku- lugenda, euph. to die, lit. to go on the journey (olugendo is implied by -lu-). Mu- naffe alugenze. Our friend is dead.

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ggi EN→LG

e- (li/ma) egg. amagi amasii ke, fried eggs, kukuba za ku magi, to be a coward, act in a cowardly way, lit. strike the hens (enkoko is implied by za) (who are sitting) on the eggs. Kiriba kya nsonyi bwe mulirya eggi. lit. It will be a shame if you eat the egg. This derives from the proverb okulya eggi okwesub.ya omuwula, to eat the egg and miss the meat. The implication is that if one allows an egg to develop into a chicken the gain will be greater. Bulijjo afuna magi mu kubala. He always gets zeros in arithmetic, cf. ekigi.

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ggombolola EN→LG

e- (n/n or li/ma) sub-county, administrative division immediately below the ssaza (county), ow'eggombolola, subcounty chief, cf. gombolola.

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