okufuna (chieftainship), okulya bbwami.
o- (bu/-) in-laws; relationship acquired by marriage; relationship of a man to his wife's brothers; disease or misfortune due to the violation of any of the prohibitions relating to in-laws; Parkinson's disease, eby'obuko, bride price. Tugenda ku buko. We are going to visit our in-laws. cf. ebiko, ^njuko.
e- (li/ma) step; rank; grade, degree. plur. amadaala ladder; stairs, stairway, steps, ow'eddaala, someone who has acquired a high status/position, cf. aka- daala, ekidaala.
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.
obtain for; get in/at, etc. okufunira ku mukeeka, to get (something) without effort; to acquire by using shrewd means.
e- usually with the -a of rel. useless; wasted; of no purpose; not being fully utilized. Omulimu guno gwali gwa kifamukokko. This job was a waste of time. Ekifo kiri awo kya kifamukokko. The place is there going to waste/serving no purpose. eby'ekifamukokko, things acquired without any effort; useless things.
a- plur. (li/ma) period of growth; period of sprouting of seeds. Aka- kyama amamera tekagolokokeka. (prov.) The little tree (aka- implies akati) which is crooked when it grows does not straighten up. Evil habits acquired in childhood are not usually eradicated in adulthood. c f, mera.
to look well; to acquire a healthy tone/complexion.
mponodde) v.tr. acquire cheaply, buy at a bargain (esp. something desirable).
adv. formative of place frequently equivalent to the English prepositions to or at. Agenze e Kampala. He has gone to Kampala. It is not joined to proper nouns but is prefixed directlv to a number nf pronouns and common nouns, many of which acquire thereby an adverbial function, mabega, back; emabega, backwards, back, amaka, home; eka, at home, (in the direction of) home, waffe, our(s); ewaffe, at our house. cf. ewa.
snap; fig. obtain, acquire (a position). Bakoonodde ebifo ebya waggulu. They have gotten good jobs/high positions. cf. -koonofu.
o- (mu/mi) village; newly acquired land; land between two streams or swamps used as a measure of distance, emitala wa..., over, across, on the other side of. emitala w'omugga, across the river, emitala w'amayanja, overseas, abroad, emitala w'eno, on this side, emitala w'eri, on the far side.
v.tr. buy at a low price; acquire with little effort.
adopt, pick up (esp. something undesirable or foreign), okuwakula entalo, to pick fights, look for trouble, okuwakula ejin_ambo, to pick up rumors, spread rumors, okuwakula empisa, to take over alien/undesirable customs, okuwakula obulwadde, to contract a disease, okuwakula eŋŋombo, to pick up mannerisms of speech, okuwakula enjuki, to take honey from bees.
to refuse flatly, lit. to lick that which digs (enkumbi, hoe, is implied). okukomba obulamu, colloq., to enjoy life, have a good time, okukomba amazzi, colloq., to drink a great deal of beer, okukomba amannyo ng'embwa, to lick one's chops in anticipation of food or (more frequently) drink, okukomba ssente, to acquire money without much effort, to ‘clean up.' okukomba ku kantu, to eat a little bit, taste a little bit; to drink a little bit. Ge balira ge bakomba. They are in great distress, lit. The tears (amaziga is implied) they weep they lick. Yasula takombye ku mpeke ya tulo. He didn't get a wink of sleep all night.
to use things which were acquired illegally or stolen, lit. for which a price had not been stated, c/. lamina.
-eweeka (-eweese) v.i. neut. refl. Empisa z'Abazungu tezeeweeka. The customs of the Europeans cannot be learned/acquired easily.