-erũ

Kikuyu

Etymology

Hinde (1904) records kierru as an equivalent of English white in “Jogowini dialect” of Kikuyu.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛ̀ɾóꜜ/

As for Tonal Class, Benson (1964) classifies this term into Class 3 with a disyllabic stem, together with kĩhaato, mbembe, kiugo, and so on.

Adjective

-erũ

1. white
2. light-colored

Inflection

agreement of -erũ

	Singular	Plural
Class 1, Class 2	mwerũ	erũ
Class 3, Class 4	mwerũ	mĩerũ
Class 5, Class 6	rĩerũ	meerũ
Class 7, Class 8	kĩerũ	njerũ
Class 9, Class 10	njerũ	njerũ
Class 11, Class 10	rwerũ	njerũ
Class 12, Class 13	kerũ	twerũ
Class 14, Class 6	mwerũ	meerũ
Class 15, Class 6	kwerũ	meerũ
Class 16	herũ	-

Derived terms

(Nouns)

• werũ class 14

(Proverbs)

• Kamau mwerũ nĩ airaga
• mwarĩ mwerũ nĩ magambo
• mwarĩ mwerũ ndaragũragĩrwo

Related terms

(Verbs)

• kwerũha

References

• “-erũ” in Benson, T.G. (1964). Kikuyu-English dictionary, p. 95. Oxford: Clarendon Press.