Luganda phrases, idioms to up your fluency
LITTLE is currently on offer in Kampala bookshops for anyone, African or <i>Mzungu</i>, who wants to learn Luganda, even if just a few phrases. It seems we have little choice but to get by with “<i>Weebale nnyo</i>,†“<i>Bulungi, Ssebo</i>†and a few more common phrases.
Title: Dictionary of Luganda Phrases and Idioms: English–Luganda for Everyday Use
Authors: C.W. Hattersley & H.W. Duta
Publisher: Fountain Publishers
Available: All Major Bookshops
Reviewed by: Martyn Drakard
Price: sh5,000
LITTLE is currently on offer in Kampala bookshops for anyone, African or Mzungu, who wants to learn Luganda, even if just a few phrases. It seems we have little choice but to get by with “Weebale nnyo,†“Bulungi, Ssebo†and a few more common phrases.
There is Margaret Nanfuka’s smart little book, Luganda-English Phrasebook for Tourists, which caters for anyone’s basic material needs, except to know how to get to the nearest cyber-café, since this was written in 1995, and went through its fourth reprint in 2003.
Fountain Publishers, however, have recently reprinted the “classic†phrase book of C.W. Hattersley and H.W. Duta, Luganda Phrases and Idioms, first published in 1904 and reprinted in 1921. The fact that it has been retrieved from virtual oblivion is an encouraging sign.
Besides providing many useful expressions and some very practical vocabulary, it also has historic value. The people it was written for belong to another age of history: explorers, missionaries and colonial administrators. Luganda translations for “Have you picked out your jiggers?â€, “Take this man and put him in the chain gangâ€, and “Dig a grave and burry (sic) him†tell of very different needs and circumstances to those of the normal outsider’s experiences. And of a different mentality, one of hierarchy where each one had his place.
The auxiliary verbs and basic tenses are covered, but sketchily. Correct greetings, in speaking and writing, are given ample space.
The 93 pages contain plenty of vocabulary useful for the military and government, for the traveller (by land and by lake), for cooking and sickness, and for the teacher.
Authors: C.W. Hattersley & H.W. Duta
Publisher: Fountain Publishers
Available: All Major Bookshops
Reviewed by: Martyn Drakard
Price: sh5,000
LITTLE is currently on offer in Kampala bookshops for anyone, African or Mzungu, who wants to learn Luganda, even if just a few phrases. It seems we have little choice but to get by with “Weebale nnyo,†“Bulungi, Ssebo†and a few more common phrases.
There is Margaret Nanfuka’s smart little book, Luganda-English Phrasebook for Tourists, which caters for anyone’s basic material needs, except to know how to get to the nearest cyber-café, since this was written in 1995, and went through its fourth reprint in 2003.
Fountain Publishers, however, have recently reprinted the “classic†phrase book of C.W. Hattersley and H.W. Duta, Luganda Phrases and Idioms, first published in 1904 and reprinted in 1921. The fact that it has been retrieved from virtual oblivion is an encouraging sign.
Besides providing many useful expressions and some very practical vocabulary, it also has historic value. The people it was written for belong to another age of history: explorers, missionaries and colonial administrators. Luganda translations for “Have you picked out your jiggers?â€, “Take this man and put him in the chain gangâ€, and “Dig a grave and burry (sic) him†tell of very different needs and circumstances to those of the normal outsider’s experiences. And of a different mentality, one of hierarchy where each one had his place.
The auxiliary verbs and basic tenses are covered, but sketchily. Correct greetings, in speaking and writing, are given ample space.
The 93 pages contain plenty of vocabulary useful for the military and government, for the traveller (by land and by lake), for cooking and sickness, and for the teacher.