Appendix

A - B

Abantu - people or a person

aka - Bwana for sun

aka-yosi - sunbird

anda - egg

ata - Bwana for drinkable freshwater

aza-enji-umthi - tree that transforms from green to orange, the bark valued as a softener for animal hides

benzi-kusela - males who choose to stay with the females

bubinzwana - a beast that walks on two legs like a human (unknown hominid)

Bwana - people or a person (same meaning as Abantu or Mantel)

C - H

embi-kulunge - getting good from something bad, or the opposite, depending on inflection

gongthwana - grub(s)

guka-ombe - stringed bow for shooting tiny spears (bow and arrow)

gwe-lanzi - swift swimming fish with big teeth, good to eat, found in Zambezi River

hagu - any type of pig

hagu-okwe - warthogs

hagu-unda - bushpigs

I

ibe-bonakalio - how a hunter becomes invisible, as in unseen or unnoticed

ichi - the great salt lake from which the Bwana rose (today’s Makgadikgadi Pan)

ichi-Bwana - people of the salt lake

Ichi-sikalo-ata - the endless lake of freshwater (today’s Lake Malawi)

ikanabe - males matched at birth as companions

iliwi-kelele - a place next to the big rocks for serious talking

ipiso - Mantel word of great meaning, generally a warning from one’s ancestors

ipyane-isiga - dugout canoe

ir-hamka - monster, or any unknown, scary beast

isiga-ubhak-wila - raft for harvesting shellfish

isiga-wila - raft for calm waters, typically using papyrus

isipo-bomi - bringer of life: a title of tribute for mothers

isipo-gazi - rock uniquely dense and strong and knappable to a razor edge (silcrete or flint)

isipo-kee! - ancestor, spirit, ghost or a reference to a previous generation

izik-ikiz - master of masters

izik-kosa - master of sinew, bone, wood and rock

J - L

kafila-yosi - bee-eater (African hummingbird)

kazi - lizard

kazi-wenya-anda - a lizard that eats crocodile eggs

keri stick - all purpose tool, equal part boomerang and digger

laba-ini - females born during the same cycle, raised together

layit-umlilo - fuel for fire; all dried material good for burning: wood, dung, palm leaves, dried grass, etc.

laza - blue or blue coloring

linwelewana - hairless climbers (hominid, based on Homo Naledi)

lobo-yaka - the rainy and warm part of the yearly cycle

M - N

Mantel - person, or people in the Mantel language

mantel - Abantu word for forest

ma-bomi - twins

nandi - Bwana for something tasty

nesibindi - Bwana word for warrior

O - T

sek-unda - edible fruit (used to identify multiple edible sources)

sek-igambu - edible roots (used to identify multiple edible sources)

shatsheli-lambo - the greatest river (The Zambezi River)

sika-yaka - the dry and cool part of the yearly cycle

sikalo - something infinite or endless (or just an easier way to say waka-waka-waka)

soseji-umthi - trees that grow enormous, gourd-like fruits much loved by elephants (Kigelia africana)

U

ubhak-unda - harvesting shellfish, including mussels, snails, crabs, clams, etc.

ula-konto - spear designed for throwing, carved by an izik-kosa

ulala-vuka - sleep to awake

ulala-umthi-vuka - trees budding (generally at the start of lobo-yaka)

ulala-yalo-vuka - plants budding (plants that are not trees)

Ulanga - sun, the male child of Umawa

Ulayo - wind, female child of Uwama

Umawa - land and rock

umthi - tree

unda - something good to eat

Uleza - a salted lake, lost daughter of Uwama, an Abantu legend now believed to be ichi-Bwana

unwe - Bwana word for finger

unwe-umthi - trees similar to a palm, with delicious fruit shaped like fingers

usek-umthi - trees with poisonous dates

Uwama - the ocean (to an Abantu, the bringer of life or the mother of all living things)

V - W

vubu - hippo

vulu-ula-alu - singing in the rain

vuka-ulala - awake to sleep

vuka-umthi-ulala - trees losing their leaves (generally at fall)

vuka-yalo-ulala - plants that are losing their flowers

waka - used to indicate 10 or fingers or both hands

waka-waka - many or lots (more than 10 and less than 100)

waka-waka-waka - hundreds or thousands or too numerous to count

wenya - crocodile

wila - dive into or float on water, depending on usage

wini-nesisa - something very good, such as delicious food, sexual pleasure, moments of pure happiness

X - Z

yaka-yaka - the full seasonal cycle (one year)

yalo - any type of plant (but not a tree)

yana - child

Yanga - moon (male child of Ulanga)

yenkomo-gomane - water buffalo testicles

yolumkono - Mantel word meaning half human, half beast (same hominid as the bubinzwana)

zi-iz-kusela - a female who becomes a hunter

zoba-upay - to draw, paint, sketch shapes on wood or rock or in the sand