noun

MEANING

A crocodile.

Example of use

I?wena yalya imbushi, MEANING: A crocodile has eaten a goat.

SYNONYM/SIMILAR WORD/COMPARE/CONTRAST

I?andu, icibokolo

 

FIGURATIVE EXPRESSIONS:/SPEECH/IDIOMS/PHRASES/COLLOQUIAL USES

1. Uli mu kanwa ka ?wena, MEANING: You are in a tight corner.

2. Nga wamona umwina mobe Iwanga atoola, nobe we ?wena usangalale. Literal translation

If you see your wife pick up a fishing basket, crocodile be happy. Meaning The crocodile here means husband. The woman going fishing alone, without her friends, is a signal that she’s pregnant. So, the husband should rejoice at the prospect of fish for a meal as well as at the wife being pregnant.

 

PROVERBS

1. Umwana wa ?wena akulila kwitete.

Literal translation

A little female crocodile grows among reeds.

Meaning

A way of excusing the custom of allowing a young girl to sleep in her fiancé’s hut.

Bemba meaning

Umwana mwaice umukashana alingile ukulalaala kuli Lumbwe (nkobekela wakwe) pakuti alebelesha.

Proverb 2:

2. I?wena ishenda, ifwila itenga limo.

Literal translation

The crocodile that does not travel dies in the one hole in the river.

Meaning

A young person who does not visit his relatives, when bad times come, he will have nowhere to go.

Bemba meaning

Umwana aliinga ukulatandalila ulupwa pakuti balemwishiba, pakuti nangu amafya yaisa aishiba ukwakubutukila.

3. Umwana wa ?wena angala amatenga yonse.

Literal translation

The baby crocodile plays in every water hole.

Bemba meaning

Tacawama ukulesha umwana ukulebela kubantu bakwanyina nangu abakwawishi. Umwana balela bonse nangufye mwebafyashi mwalipusana