bi

See also: Appendix:Variations of "bi"

English

Etymology 1

Clipping of bisexual.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /baɪ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪ
• Homophones: bye, buy, by

Adjective

bi (not comparable)

1. (informal) Bisexual.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:bisexual

   Coordinate terms: pan, mono

   I'm straight, but my oldest sister is bi.

Translations

bisexual

• Dutch: bi (nl)
• Finnish: bi (fi), bisse (fi)
• French: bi (fr)
• German: bi (de)
• Italian: bisex

• Japanese: バイ (ja) (bai)
• Portuguese: gilete (pt)
• Spanish: bi (es)
• Swedish: bi (sv)

See also

• bi-

Etymology 2

Mandarin 璧 (bì)

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) enPR: bē, IPA^(key): /biː/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iː
• Homophones: b, be, Bea, bee

Noun

bi (plural bi)

1. A type of jade disk produced in ancient China.

See also

• Bi (jade) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• IB, ib.

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Albanian

Etymology

A short form of bijë, from archaic bilë ("daughter, girl").

Interjection

bi

1. A friendly exclamation to a person (female).

   Fol bi, Dritë!

   Speak, therefore, Dritë!

2. An exclamation of surprise (to a female person).

   Bi! Po ç'është kjo?

   Girl! What is this?

   Po ç'është kjo, bi?

   What is this, girl?

Related terms

• bre
• brez
• pra

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Basque

Basque numbers ^(edit)

	20
←  1	2	3  →
Cardinal: bi     Ordinal: bigarren     Multiplier: bikoitz     Fractional: erdi

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bi/

• Audio

  (file)

Numeral

bi

1. two

Declension

Declension of bi (inanimate) indefinite singular plural absolutive bi bia biak ergative bik biak biek dative biri biari biei genitive biren biaren bien comitative birekin biarekin biekin causative birengatik biarengatik biengatik benefactive birentzat biarentzat bientzat instrumental biz biaz biez inessive bitan bian bietan locative bitako biko bietako allative bitara bira bietara terminative bitaraino biraino bietaraino directive bitarantz birantz bietarantz destinative bitarako birako bietarako ablative bitatik bitik bietatik partitive birik - - prolative bitzat - -

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Bislama

Etymology

From English bee.

Noun

bi

1. bee

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Bura

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [bì]

Noun

bì

1. bin for grain storage

References

• 2007. The UCLA Phonetics Lab Archive. Los Angeles, CA: UCLA Department of Linguistics.

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Danish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈb̥iˀ]
• Rhymes: -iː

Etymology 1

From Old Norse bý, from Proto-Germanic *bijō, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰī-.

Noun

bi c (singular definite bien, plural indefinite bier)

1. bee

Inflection

Declension of bi

common gender	Singular		Plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	bi	bien	bier	bierne
genitive	bis	biens	biers	biernes

See also

• hveps c

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Middle Low German bī, from Proto-Germanic *bi (“near, around”). Related to English by and German bei

Adverb

bi

1. by

Usage notes

• Only in certain fixed phrases that are borrowed from German, like stå bi (German beistehen).

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the main entry.

Verb

bi

1. imperative of bie

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Dongxiang

Etymology

From Proto-Mongolic *bi (“I”), compare Mongolian би (bi).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [pi]

Pronoun

bi (Xiaojing spelling بی‎)

1. I (first-person singular personal pronoun)

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Dutch

Etymology

Clipping of biseksueel.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bi/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: bi
• Rhymes: -i

Adjective

bi (invariable, comparative meer bi, superlative meest bi)

1. (colloquial) bisexual

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Finnish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbi/, [ˈbi]
• IPA^(key): /ˈbiː/, [ˈbiː]
• Rhymes: -i
• Syllabification: bi

Noun

bi

1. (colloquial) bi (bisexual)

Declension

Declension of bi (type maa) singular plural nominative bi bit genitive bin biiden biitten partitive bitä biitä accusative bi bin bit inessive bissä biissä elative bistä biistä illative bihin biihin adessive billä biillä ablative biltä biiltä allative bille biille essive binä biinä translative biksi biiksi instructive – biin abessive bittä biittä comitative – biineen

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French

Etymology

From bissexuel, or possibly directly from English bi

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bi/

Noun

bi m or f (plural bis)

1. bi, bisexual person

Adjective

bi (invariable)

1. bi, bisexual

Further reading

• “bi” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

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German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [biː]

• Audio

  (file)

Adjective

bi (not comparable)

1. (informal) bi

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Gothic

Romanization

bi

1. Romanization of 𐌱𐌹

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Guerrero Amuzgo

Adjective

bi

1. green

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Isthmus Zapotec

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈbì]

Noun

bi

1. wind

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Italian

Etymology

From Latin bē (the name of the letter B).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bi/
• Rhymes: -i
• Hyphenation: bì

Noun

bi f (invariable)

1. The name of the Latin-script letter B.; bee

See also

• (Latin-script letter names) lettera; a, bi, ci, di, e, effe, gi, acca, i, i lunga, kappa, elle, emme, enne, o, pi, cu, erre, esse, ti, u, vu, doppia vu, ics, ipsilon, zeta

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Japanese

Romanization

bi

1. Rōmaji transcription of び
2. Rōmaji transcription of ビ

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Kalasha

Etymology

From Sanskrit बीज (bīja), from Proto-Indo-Iranian *bíHȷ́am. Cognate with Konkani बी (bī) and Parachi bīz (“seed-corn”).

Noun

bi

1. a seed
2. semen
3. moth larva

Related terms

• bíyak

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Kaure

Noun

bi

1. water

References

• C. L. Voorhoeve, 1975. Languages of Irian Jaya Checklist, Canberra: Pacific Linguistics, p.108
• Bill Palmer, editor (2018) The Languages and Linguistics of the New Guinea Area: A Comprehensive Guide, Padua: De Gruyter Mouton, OCLC 1050042990, page 457

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Kurdish

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɪ

Preposition

bi

1. by
2. with

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Low German

Etymology

From Old Saxon bī, from Proto-Germanic *bi.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /biː/

Preposition

bi

1. at, with

   Bi us is dat ümmer Feest.

   With us it's always a party.

2. by

   Wi wahnt in en Huus bi de Meer.

   I live in a house by the lake.

3. around, about (often in combination with üm)

   Dat weer üm bi so'n twintig Johr vör.

   It was about twenty years ago.

Inflection

Pronominal adverbs of bi

preposition	bi
postpositional adv.	bi
+ her (hither)	—
+ düt (this)	hierbi
+ dat (that)	dorbi
+ wat (what)	wobi
+ wat (something)	enerwegens bi
+ nix (nothing)	nargens bi
+ allens (everything)	överall bi

Adverb

bi

1. alongside, with
2. in order to adjust or improve

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Mandarin

Romanization

bi

1. Nonstandard spelling of bī.
2. Nonstandard spelling of bí.
3. Nonstandard spelling of bǐ.
4. Nonstandard spelling of bì.

Usage notes

• English transcriptions of Mandarin speech often fail to distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without the appropriate indication of tone.

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Middle Dutch

Etymology

From Old Dutch bi, from Proto-Germanic *bi.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /biː/

Preposition

bi

1. by, near, around
2. beside, alongside
3. at, with
4. among
5. during
6. by (the work of)
7. because of

Descendants

• Dutch: bij
• Limburgish: bie

Adverb

bi

1. by, near, around

Descendants

• Dutch: bij
• Limburgish: bie

Further reading

• “bi (I)”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
• “bi (II)”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
• Verwijs, E.; Verdam, J. (1885–1929), “bi”, in Middelniederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN

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Middle English

Etymology

From Old English bi, from Proto-Germanic *bi.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbiː/

Preposition

bi

1. by
   • 1407, The Testimony of William Thorpe, pages 40–41

     And I seide, “Ser, in his tyme maister Ioon Wiclef was holden of ful many men the grettis clerk that thei knewen lyuynge vpon erthe. And therwith he was named, as I gesse worthili, a passing reuli man and an innocent in al his lyuynge. And herfore grete men of kunnynge and other also drowen myche to him, and comownede ofte with him. And thei sauouriden so his loore that thei wroten it bisili and enforsiden hem to rulen hem theraftir… Maister Ion Aston taughte and wroot acordingli and ful bisili, where and whanne and to whom he myghte, and he vsid it himsilf, I gesse, right perfyghtli vnto his lyues eende. Also Filip of Repintoun whilis he was a chanoun of Leycetre, Nycol Herforde, dane Geffrey of Pikeringe, monke of Biland and a maistir dyuynyte, and Ioon Purueye, and manye other whiche weren holden rightwise men and prudent, taughten and wroten bisili this forseide lore of Wiclef, and conformeden hem therto. And with alle these men I was ofte homli and I comownede with hem long tyme and fele, and so bifore alle othir men I chees wilfulli to be enformed bi hem and of hem, and speciali of Wiclef himsilf, as of the moost vertuous and goodlich wise man that I herde of owhere either knew. And herfore of Wicleef speciali and of these men I toke the lore whiche I haue taughte and purpose to lyue aftir, if God wole, to my lyues ende.”

Descendants

• English: by

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Mirandese

Verb

bi

1. first-person singular preterite indicative of ber: I saw.
   • 2011, Ana Afonso, L Princepico Chapter 1:

     Quando you tenie seis anhos, bi ua beça ua eimaige mi guapa nun lhibro subre la floresta birge que se chamaba "Stórias Bibidas".

     • 1948 translation by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

       Once when I was six years old I saw a magnificent picture in a book, called True Stories from Nature, about the primeval forest.

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North Frisian

Noun

bi f

1. (Mooring) bee

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Nzadi

Pronoun

bǐ

1. we (first-person plural pronoun)

See also

Nzadi personal pronouns

	singular	plural
1st person	mǐ`	bǐ
2nd person	yǎ`	byɛ̌n
3rd person human	ndé	bɔ̌
3rd person nonhuman	nɔ̌	mɔ̌

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Old Dutch

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *bi.

Preposition

bī

1. by, near
2. at, with

Descendants

• Middle Dutch: bi
  • Dutch: bij
  • Limburgish: bie

Further reading

• “bī”, in Oudnederlands Woordenboek, 2012

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Old English

Alternative forms

• be

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *bi (“near, by, around, about”), q.v.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /biː/

Preposition

bī

1. by, near, around, to, in, at, upon, about, with
2. of, from, about, touching, concerning
3. by, for, because of, after, through, according to, in comparison with
4. beside, out of

Descendants

• Middle English: bi
  • English: by, English: bye

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Old High German

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *bi, whence also Old English bi.

Preposition

bī

1. by
2. at

Descendants

• Alsatian: bii
• German: bei
• Vilamovian: by
• Yiddish: בײַ‎ (bay)

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Old Saxon

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *bi, whence also Old English bi.

Preposition

bī

1. by, near, to
2. beside

Descendants

• Low German: bi, by

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Portuguese

Adjective

bi (plural bi, comparable)

1. bisexual (sexually attracted to persons of either sex)

Synonyms

• bissexual

Noun

bi m, f (plural bis)

1. bisexual (bisexual person)

Synonyms

• bissexual

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Scots

Preposition

bi

1. by

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Scottish Gaelic

Etymology

From Old Irish bí (imperative singular of at·tá), from Proto-Celtic *buyeti, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH-

Verb

bi (past bha, future bidh, verbal noun bhith)

1. be, exist

Inflection

Infinitive	a bhith
Imperative	bi
Present participle	a' bhith
Past participle	air a bhith

	Present tense	Past tense	Future tense	Conditional
Basic form	tha	bha	bidh/bithidh	bhithinn/bhiodh/bhiomaid
Dependent form	bheil	robh	bi	bithinn/biodh/biomaid
Impersonal form	thathar	bhathar	bithear	bhiteadh/bhite

Related terms

• beò

Mutation

Scottish Gaelic mutation
Radical	Lenition
bi	bhi
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

See also

• is

References

• “bi” in Edward Dwelly, Faclair Gàidhlig gu Beurla le Dealbhan/The Illustrated [Scottish] Gaelic-English Dictionary, 10th edition, Edinburgh: Birlinn Limited, 1911, →ISBN.

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Serbo-Croatian

Verb

bi

1. second-person singular aorist of biti

   On bi tamo jučer. (archaic)

   He was there yesterday.

2. third-person singular aorist of biti

   On bi u školi tad. (archaic)

   She was at school then.

3. (colloquial, conditional) aorist of biti; would

   Ja bi također išao da mogu. ― I would go as well if I could.

   Je li bi htio ići s nama? ― Would you like to go with us?

   Ivana bi htjela ići s nama. ― Ivana would like to go with us.

   Mi/Oni bi voljeli jednog dana posjetiti Japan. ― We/They would like to visit Japan one day.

   Voljeli bi jednog dana posjetiti Japan. ― We/They would like to visit Japan one day.

Usage notes

• In colloquial Serbo-Croatian, bi is commonly used in place of other aorist forms when forming conditional of biti in both singular and plural if the subject is deducible from context (usually from the conjugated form of the verb). That is, bi is a shared shorthand for bih, bismo, biste and biše.

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Solon

Etymology

From Proto-Tungusic *bi. Cognate with Evenki би (bi), Manchu ᠪᡳ (bi).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bi/

Pronoun

bi

1. I

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Southern Ndebele

Etymology

From Proto-Nguni *-bí, from Proto-Bantu *-bɪ́ɪ̀.

Adjective

-bí

1. bad
2. evil
3. ugly

Inflection

This adjective needs an inflection-table template.

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Spanish

Adjective

bi (invariable)

1. bi (bisexual)

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Swazi

Etymology

From Proto-Nguni *-bí, from Proto-Bantu *-bɪ́ɪ̀.

Adjective

-bí

1. bad
2. evil
3. ugly

Inflection

Adjective concord, tone H
	Modifier	Copulative
1st singular	lengimubi	ngimubi
2nd singular	lomubi	umubi
1st plural	lesibabi	sibabi
2nd plural	lenibabi	nibabi
Class 1	lomubi	mubi
Class 2	lababi	babi
Class 3	lomubi	mubi
Class 4	lemibi	mibi
Class 5	lelibi	libi
Class 6	lamabi	mabi
Class 7	lesibi	sibi
Class 8	letimbi	timbi
Class 9	lembi	imbi
Class 10	letimbi	timbi
Class 11	lolubi	lubi
Class 14	lobubi	bubi
Class 15	lokubi	kubi
Class 17	lokubi	kubi

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Swedish

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -iː

Etymology 1

From Old Swedish bī, bȳ, from Old Norse bý, from Proto-Germanic *bijō, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰī-.

Noun

bi n

1. bee

Usage notes

• More rare spellings of the definite forms are bit/bits (singular) and bien/biens (plural). However, the spellings in the inflection box are the most common.

Declension

Declension of bi
	Singular		Plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	bi	biet	bin	bina
Genitive	bis	biets	bins	binas

See also

• bålgeting c
• geting c

Etymology 2

Adjective

bi

1. (informal) bisexual

Etymology 3

Adverb

bi (not comparable)

1. (in some fixed expressions) by

Related terms

• stå någon bi

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Tok Pisin

Etymology

From English bee.

Noun

bi

1. bee

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Turkish

Numeral

bi

1. Contraction of bir.

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Vietnamese

Etymology

Borrowed from French bille.

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [ʔɓi˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [ʔɓɪj˧˧]
• (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [ʔɓɪj˧˧]

Noun

(classifier cục, hòn, viên) bi

1. a marble (spherical ball)

   bắn bi

   to shoot marbles

2. (billiards, snooker) a ball

   bi cái

   a cue ball

3. (slang) a ball (testicle)

   Á! Dập bi tao rồi!

   Ow! Mah bawlls pahpped!

Derived terms

• bút bi (“ball-point pen”)
• bi cái (“cue ball”)

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Volapük

Conjunction

bi

1. because

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Welsh

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /biː/

Noun

bi f (plural biau)

1. The name of the Latin-script letter B.

Mutation

This word cannot be mutated.

See also

• (Latin-script letter names) llythyren; a, bi, ec, èch, di, èdd, e, èf, èff, èg, eng, aetsh, i/i dot, je, ce, el, èll, em, en, o, pi, ffi, ciw, er, rhi, ès, ti, èth, u/u bedol, fi, w, ecs, y, sèd ^{(Category: cy:Latin letter names)}

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Xhosa

Etymology

From Proto-Nguni *-bí, from Proto-Bantu *-bɪ́ɪ̀.

Adjective

-bí

1. bad
2. evil
3. ugly

Inflection

Adjective concord, tone H
	Modifier		Copulative
	positive	negative	positive	negative
1st singular	endimbi	endingembi	ndimbi	andimbi
2nd singular	ombi	ongembi	umbi	awumbi
1st plural	esibabi	esingebabi	sibabi	asibabi
2nd plural	enibabi	eningebabi	nibabi	anibabi
Class 1	ombi	ongembi	mbi	akambi
Class 2	ababi	abangebabi	babi	abababi
Class 3	ombi	ongembi	mbi	awumbi
Class 4	emibi	engemibi	mibi	ayimibi
Class 5	elibi	elingelibi	libi	alilibi
Class 6	amabi	angemabi	mabi	awamabi
Class 7	esibi	esingesibi	sibi	asisibi
Class 8	ezimbi	ezingezimbi	zimbi	azizimbi
Class 9	embi	engembi	imbi	ayiyimbi
Class 10	ezimbi	ezingezimbi	zimbi	azizimbi
Class 11	olubi	olungelubi	lubi	alulubi
Class 14	obubi	obungebubi	bubi	abububi
Class 15	okubi	okungekubi	kubi	akukubi
Class 17	okubi	okungekubi	kubi	akukubi

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Zaghawa

Noun

bi

1. water

References

• Ehret, Christopher (2001) A Historical-Comparative Reconstruction of Nilo-Saharan (SUGIA, Sprache und Geschichte in Afrika: Beihefte; 12)‎^[1], Cologne: Rüdiger Köppe Verlag, →ISBN.

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Zhuang

Pronunciation

• (Standard Zhuang) IPA^(key): /pi˨˦/
• Tone numbers: bi¹
• Hyphenation: bi

Etymology 1

From Proto-Tai *piːᴬ (“year”). Cognate with Thai ปี (bpii), Northern Thai ᨸᩦ, Lao ປີ (pī), Lü ᦔᦲ (ṗii), Shan ပီ (pǐi), Tai Nüa ᥙᥤ (pi), Ahom 𑜆𑜣 (pii), Bouyei bil.

Classifier

bi (old orthography bi, Sawndip forms 𭯌, 𭽨, 𭙂)

1. year

   Synonym: nienz

2. year old

Derived terms

• bide
• bigeq
• bi'gyai
• bi'gyaihaenx
• bihaenx
• bimoq
• binaengz
• bineix
• bi'nyinh
• birawz
• biriengh
• hopbi

 

Etymology 2

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Verb

bi (old orthography bi)

1. (intransitive) to swing; to sway; to rock
2. (transitive) to swing; to rock; to wag
3. to swing (on a swing)

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Zou

Noun

bi

1. thatch

References

• http://www.languageinindia.com/feb2013/zouphonologyfinal.pdf

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Zulu

Etymology

From Proto-Nguni *-bí, from Proto-Bantu *-bɪ́ɪ̀.

Adjective

-bí

1. bad
2. evil
3. ugly

Inflection

Adjective concord, tone H
	Modifier		Copulative
	positive	negative	positive	negative
1st singular	engimubi	engingemubi	ngimubi	angimubi
2nd singular	omubi	ongemubi	umubi	awumubi
1st plural	esibabi	esingebabi	sibabi	asibabi
2nd plural	enibabi	eningebabi	nibabi	anibabi
Class 1	omubi	ongemubi	mubi	akamubi
Class 2	ababi	abangebabi	babi	abababi
Class 3	omubi	ongemubi	mubi	awumubi
Class 4	emibi	engemibi	mibi	ayimibi
Class 5	elibi	elingelibi	libi	alilibi
Class 6	amabi	angemabi	mabi	awamabi
Class 7	esibi	esingesibi	sibi	asisibi
Class 8	ezimbi	ezingezimbi	zimbi	azizimbi
Class 9	embi	engembi, engeyimbi	imbi, yimbi	ayiyimbi
Class 10	ezimbi	ezingezimbi	zimbi	azizimbi
Class 11	olubi	olungelubi	lubi	alulubi
Class 14	obubi	obungebubi	bubi	abububi
Class 15	okubi	okungekubi	kubi	akukubi
Class 17	okubi	okungekubi	kubi	akukubi

Derived terms

• -bana
• isibi
• okubi
• ububi