My life has been very busy, but I thought I would squeeze in a little post of educational variety if any of you care. I find it interesting to find various etymologies and I want to be good at other languages besides English. You’d be surprised by some origins used in English alone.
Goober: It comes from the Kikongo word “Nguba” which means peanut.
Tango: You thought that was a Spanish word? Nope! It’s literally the Lingala and Kikongo word for “time”. When the slaves were in Argentina and Uruguay, some of them were from the Congo and remembered some of their musical and dance traditions. Those moments would be addressed as “Kongo ya tango” which means Congo time in those languages.
Safari: It’s not just about a specific kind of tourism or environment. That comes from the Swahili word for “travel”.
Voodoo: That form of magic is an Anglicized version of the Ewe (pronounced Ye-we, a language spoken in Togo, Benin, and some parts of Ghana) word Vodo which means “spirit” or “ghost”.
Okra: That food comes from the Igbo word Okuru.
Jenga: I’m sure you all have played that game with the wooden blocks at some point, right? The name of the game comes from “Kujenga” which means “to build” in Swahili. I legitimately didn’t know that until weeks ago!
See, I don’t always have angry posts as of recently.
Tag Archives: Igbo
Ospreyshire Origins: Art Theft series (Benin, Nigeria, Senegal)
Benin Lyrics:
[Yoruba]
O ti ja aworan wa
Mase paro ki o so pe o se awon ohun-oso wonti
Awon ile iso re je awon ewon
Je ki a je ki eyi se alaye si o
[French]
Rends-nous notre art maintenant!
Nigeria Lyrics:
[Igbo]
I bu ihe nleda anya
[Yoruba]
Nitori ti o ji wa aworan
[Hausa]
Bidajen kayan tarihin ku ya sa aka kama su. I ghotara?
You better return what’s ours!
Senegal Lyrics:
[Wolof]
Luy sa tiis?
Am nga tere xewoonu Afrig?
Yeena ngi saacee yi
[French]
Comprends maintenant?
Vous ne possedez pas notre histoire!
Here’s a triple header for the Art Theft series! These were challenging songs to write lyrics and Art Theft: Benin was actually an Ospreyshire first for me. That was the first poem I wrote that contained absolutely no English words in it! The Senegal one was even tougher because I really had to work on my Wolof since you can’t use Google Translate or any easy online sources for example. Fortunately, I bought a book on a whim that has words and phrases in Senegal’s native language.
These three countries among others in Africa are quite ticked and rightfully so. Their art, crafts, and artifacts have been looted by Europe. They’re held in museums in that continent and these African nations are suing these countries to get their stuff back. To add insult to injury, some of these nations are giving things back…as LOANED items. No, I don’t want to see loans whether temporary or permanent. You stole them, so you give them back to these nations! I really hope these nations get full returns on their art.
Here are some videos from Dr. Mumbi about the matter:
Even Dr. Y. had some choice articles about this situation:
Europe’s Largest Museums to “Loan” Looted Benin (Nigerian) Artifacts back to Nigeria
Bronze Cockerel from Benin Kingdom to be returned to Nigeria
France urged to change heritage law and return looted art to Africa
Wouldn’t it also be crazy if this situation was featured in a mainstream movie even though a character is portrayed as the bad guy for wanting the artifacts back? Oh, wait… Side note: Notice how Benin is mentioned in this clip.
Say what you will about Killmonger, but he was absolutely right about his questions involving the curator’s “ancestors” and that’s historical fact even though Wakanda doesn’t exist.
Here’s another random fact: I’m also part Beninese and I have a tiny bit of Senegalese in my DNA from my mom’s side. #ForTheCulture
The Beninese flag is from Wikipedia.
The Nigerian flag image is from Wikipedia.
The Senegalese flag image is from Wikipedia.
All videos from the Dr. Mumbi show are from Dr. Mumbi’s YouTube channel.
The museum scene is from Black Panther and is property of Marvel Studios.
Ospreyshire's Realm 