theka

Kikuyu

Etymology

Hinde (1904) records kutheka as an equivalent of English laugh in “Jogowini dialect” of Kikuyu, listing also “Ulu dialect” (spoken then from Machakos to coastal area) of Kamba gutheka and Swahili kucheka as its equivalents.^[1]

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ðɛka/

Verb

theka (infinitive gũtheka)

to laugh

Derived terms

(Nouns)

mũthekere class 3
mũtheko class 3, mĩtheko class 4

(Verbs)

gũthekerera

(Proverbs)

References

^ Hinde, Hildegarde (1904). Vocabularies of the Kamba and Kikuyu languages of East Africa, pp. 36–37. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Armstrong, Lilias E. (1940). The Phonetic and Tonal Structure of Kikuyu, p. 360. Rep. 1967. (Also in 2018 by Routledge).
Barlow, A. Ruffell (1960). Studies in Kikuyu Grammar and Idiom, pp. 90, 238, 247.
Muiru, David N. (2007). Wĩrute Gĩgĩkũyũ: Marĩtwa Ma Gĩgĩkũyũ Mataũrĩtwo Na Gĩthũngũ, p. 45.

Sotho

Noun

theka class 9/10 (plural ditheka)

waist, hip

Descendants

→ Phuthi: lithega

[hh1904-1] Hinde, Hildegarde (1904). Vocabularies of the Kamba and Kikuyu languages of East Africa, pp. 36–37. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

[1]