abeng

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English

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Jamaican Creole abeng,[1] from Akan abɛŋ (animal horn; wind instrument) (Twi).[2]

Pronunciation

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Noun

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abeng (plural abengs)

  1. (Jamaica, music) An animal (usually bull) horn used by the Maroon people of Jamaica as a musical instrument; and also (historical) formerly by slaveholders to summon slaves to canefields and by the Maroon army to communicate cryptic messages over great distances.

Hypernyms

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Coordinate terms

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Translations

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References

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  1. ^ Richard Allsopp, editor (1996), “abeng (horn), n”, in Dictionary of Caribbean English Usage, Kingston, Jamaica: University of the West Indies Press, published 2003, →ISBN, page 5, column 2; F[rederic] G[omes] Cassidy and R[obert] B[rock] Le Page, editors (2002), “ABENG, sb dial”, in Dictionary of Jamaican English, 2nd edition, Kingston, Jamaica: University of the West Indies Press, →ISBN, page 2, column 2.
  2. ^ abeng, n.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, December 2021; abeng, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Further reading

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Anagrams

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Jamaican Creole

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Etymology

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From Akan abɛŋ (Twi).[1]

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /æˈbɛŋ/, /ˈæbɛŋ/

Noun

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abeng (plural abeng dem, quantified abeng)

  1. (music) An abeng (horn of the Jamaican Maroons).
    • 2003, Louise Bennett, Mervyn Morris, Aunty Roachy Seh, →ISBN, page 14:
      Yuh know omuch time dem sen soldiers an militia fi attack Nanny Town an Nanny pop dem? [] She always wear her abeng horn tie pon a string roun her wais []
      Do you know how often soldiers and militias were sent to attack Nanny Town and Nanny routed them? [] She always wore her abeng on a lanyard around her waist []

References

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  1. ^ Richard Allsopp, editor (1996), Dictionary of Caribbean English Usage, Kingston, Jamaica: University of the West Indies Press, published 2003, →ISBN, page 5.