ngui

See also: nguí and ngửi

Huli

Numeral

ngui

1. fifteen

   ngui ki : 15*2 i.e. 30

   ngui tebo : 15*3 i.e. 45

   ngui ngui : 15*15 i.e. 225

   nguini angi : on the fifteenth day

Usage notes

Huli is the only known language with a pentadecimal (base-15) numeral system.

Further reading

• Nicholas J. Goetzfridt, Pacific Ethnomathematics: A Bibliographic Study (2008, →ISBN), page 129
• Laurence Goldman, Child's play: myth, mimesis and make-believe (1998, →ISBN), page 59:

  Huli chart the movement of the moon (ega) in two blocks of fifteen days. The standardised depiction is given as follows:

  Hombene angi hontbene ibule

  On the twelfth day it will come out on top

  halene angi hale howa hama ibule

  on the thirteenth day it will come silently listening

  dene angi de howa yalu ibule

  on the fourteenth day having opened its eyes, the moon will come

  nguini angi ngui higi bu yalu ibule

  on the fifteenth day with squinted nose it will come

  (on days 16-24 the moon is 'on top of the hill' (dindi hombene))

Kikuyu

Etymology

Hinde (1904) records kui and ngiti as equivalents of English dog in “Jogowini dialect” of Kikuyu.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ᵑɡú.íꜜ/

As for Tonal Class, Benson (1964) classifies this term into Class 7 with a disyllabic stem, together with njata, and so on.

• (Kiambu)

• (Limuru) As for Tonal Class, Yukawa (1981) classifies this term into a group including biribiri, cibũ (“chief”), gĩkabũ (pl. ikabũ), gĩtara, ithanwa, ithandũkũ, kĩng'aurũ, mũthigari, mũthũ, mwatũka, mbũkũ, ndigithũ, njata, rũbutu (pl. mbutu), thaburia, and so on.

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

ngui class 9/10 (plural ngui)

1. dog

   Synonym: ngitĩ

See also

• mbwe, njũi

References

• “ngui” in Benson, T.G. (1964). Kikuyu-English dictionary, p. 313. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
• Muiru, David N. (2007). Wĩrute Gĩgĩkũyũ: Marĩtwa ma Gĩgĩkũyũ Mataũrĩtwo Na Gĩthũngũ, p. 10.

Mizo

Adjective

ngui

1. sad, depressed, blue