Mzungu
Mzungu (pronounced "Mmm-zoo-ngooo") is the Swahili word for "Person of European Descent". Literaly translated it means ' white person'.The term was used by Africans to describe early European explorers. It is commonly used in most Bantu languages of east, central and southern Africa especially in Kenya and Tanzania. The plural form of Mzungu is Wazungu. [1][2][3]
| Language | singular | plural | possessive |
|---|---|---|---|
| Swahili in East Africa | Mzungu | wazungu | kizungu |
| Luganda in Uganda | Muzungu | Bazungu | Kizungu |
| Chichewa in Malawi | Muzungu | Azungu | Cizungu |
| Chinyanja in Zambia | Muzungu | Bazungu | Chizungu |
| Kinyarwanda in Rwanda / Kirundi in Burundi | Muzungu | Abazungu | kizungu |
| Bemba in Zambia and Democratic Republic of Congo | Musungu | basungu | chisungu |
| Sena in Mozambique | Muzungu | azungu |
The possessive Kizungu or chizungu translated literally means "of the aimless wanderers". It has now come to mean "language of the aimless wanderers" and more commonly English, as it is the language most often used by Wazungu in East Africa. However it can be used generally for any European Language. To distinguish between English and other European languages kiingereza in Swahili or chingeleshi in Bemba are used and are simply Africanized version of the word English by Epenthesis. Wachizungu, Bachizungu etc "literally things of the aimless wanderers" have come to mean the Western culture, foods and lifestyle.
The etymology of the word stems from a contraction of words meaning "one who wanders aimlessly,"(From swahili words zungu, zunguzungu, zunguka, zungusha, mzungukaji-meaning to go round and round) and was coined to describe European explorers, missionaries and slave traders who traveled through East African countries in the 18th century.
Mzungu is preferred because Central and East Africa people do not link people of European origin to the "white" color. This is because the concept of color coding ethinicities is not a part of their culture. Actually they consider people of European origin to be reddish or pinkish. [4][5]For instance in Kinyarwanda and Kirundi European people are also known as rutuku which means red.
[edit] Similar Swahili terms
- Chinese are called "Mchina" or "Wachina" (plural). The term generally is used to refer to all Asians from the Far East unless the nationality is known, then M+nationality is used. Example: Mkorea, Mjapanese.
- Arabs are called "Mwarabu" (singular), "Waarabu" (plural)
- Indians are called Mhindi (singular), Wahindi (plural)
Muzungu is also commonly used wide spread in Kenya whereas this country do use the term not only meaning "Aimless wanderer" but also "white person".
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ http://h-net.msu.edu/cgi-bin/logbrowse.pl?trx=vx&list=H-Africa&month=0209&week=c&msg=uECVFD0d2hUUL52mu7rZqg&user=&pw=
- ^ http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Tanzania/Zanzibar/Zanzibar-City/blog-209050.html
- ^ http://www.janissarystomp.com/stomp/notas.html
- ^ http://books.google.com/books?id=zvStk744jOsC&pg=PA157&lpg=PA157&dq=european+pink+people+in+africa&source=bl&ots=iBasnlQkoO&sig=ngUi7-8OYKVh4s-LmipZ1_g6kjw&hl=en&ei=F371S6jZMMyvrAeX4s3VCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CAgQ6AEwATge#
- ^ http://www.ac.wwu.edu/~culture/segall.htm
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