la chumvi nyingi

Swahili

Etymology

Literally, “to eat a lot of salt”.

Pronunciation

• Audio (Kenya):

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Verb

-la chumvi nyingi (infinitive kula chumvi nyingi)

1. (idiomatic) to live a long life

Conjugation

Conjugation of -la chumvi nyingi: see -la.

References

• Luffin, Xavier (2002 September) “Language Taboos In Kinubi: A Comparison With Sudanese And Swahili Cultures”, in Africa: Rivista trimestrale di studi e documentazione dell'Istituto italiano per l'Africa e l'Oriente‎^[1], volume 57, number 3, page 361 of 356-367: “Another interesting expression underlines the link between salt and life: fulani amekula chumvi nyingi, literally "someone who ate a lot of salt", means that a person had a long life (Johnson, 1939, p. 65).”