The following is a collection of Bao-related terms and expressions mostly recorded on Zanzibar (Tanzania), but including a few words from Lamu (Kenya) and other places as well.
Swahili - English[]
- akheri
- (lit. "border", "limit") see hatima
- amua bilisi
- to try one's luck
- bana bao
- (lit. "to squeeze bao") to prevent that the opponent enters his back row
- bao (pl. mabao (also mibao))
- (lit. "board" and also "goal" in soccer) 1. the game of Bao; 2. a Bao board
- bao hamna
- see hamna
- bao kiswahili (or bao la kiswahili)
- occasionally used to distinguish Bao from other mancala games (first by de Z. Hall 1953)
- bawo
- (a Swahili borrowing used in Yao, Malawi, for: bao (1)
- bingwa
- (lit. "expert", "specialist") 1. (grand)master; 2. expert; 3. champion
- Chama cha Bao
- (lit. "Bao Society") an umbrella organization of Bao clubs in Tanzania (founded in 1966)
- cheza kamari
- to play for money, gamble
- chumba
- (lit. "room") synonymous to shimo
- duru
- (lit. "turn", "rotation") round(s)
- enda mrima kusini
- ("going to the southern coast") playing without knowing where the move ends
- endelea
- (lit. "to keep on") continuing the move in another lap
- fani
- skill (de Voogt 1995)
- fundi
- (lit. "expert", "someone skillful") master
- ghala
- (lit. "store") large hole to store the seeds used in the namu stage
- gosa
- to end one captured seed in an endhole
- hamna (or bao hamna)
- (lit. "there is nothing inside") winning by capturing all opponent's kete in his front row
- hatima (also misspelled as khatima)
- (lit. "end", "conclusion") foresight
- hizi zetu
- (lit. "those our") reserving threatened kete of the opponent in the mtaji stage, so that they may not lifted (a pecularity at the Kenya coast (Townshend 1982)
- hodari
- (lit. "capable", "clever", "strong") skilled (used to describe excellent play)
- kete
- (lit. "cowrie") counters (originally only used for cowrie shells; see also komwe and solo)
- khatima
- see hatima (de Voogt 1995)
- kichwa (pl. vichwa)
- (lit. "head") first or ultimate hole in the front row
- kikao
- (lit. "residence") meeting place of bao clubs
- kimbi
- (perhaps related to kimbia or mbio meaning respectively "run away" and "very fast" (Townshend 1982)) ultimate and penultimate holes on either end of the front row (the ultimate holes are also known as vichwa); note that according to de Voogt only the penultimate holes are called kimbi
- kinamuzi
- seed that plays namua
- kitakimbi
- to attack a kimbi
- kitakomwe
- 1. special trap (not specified; de Voogt 1995); 2. play of seeds with one seed hidden in the palm; 3. incorrect term for toboa
- komwe
- seeds of the mkomwe (Caesalpinia bonduc) used as counters in Lamu (see also kete)
- kubwa ya mpango
- (lit. "big one of the plan") see nyumba
- kula
- (lit. "eat") to capture seeds
- kupanda (also kupanga)
- (from panda, "to arrange") initial position
- kuu
- (lit. "eminent", "bigger") synonymous to nyumba (used on Lamu)
- lala
- (lit. "to sleep") stopping a move
- lengo
- goal
- ligi
- league
- mali yetu
- (lit. "our wealth" (Townshend 1982)) safe seeds in the outer row
- mantiki
- (lit. "logic") Bao talent (gift of understanding Bao)
- mashindano ya Bao
- Bao tournament
- mbele
- (lit. "in front") front row
- mchezaji
- player
- mchezo
- game
- mji
- (lit. "city") synonymous to nyumba
- mkononi
- (lit. "in the hand") a victory in the namua stage
- mtoano
- knockout system in tournaments
- mshindaji
- 1. winner; 2. champion
- mtaji (pl. mitaji)
- (probably from tajiri: "getting rich") 1. second stage of the game; 2. hole with enough kete to capture (in the mtaji stage); 3. a capturing move
- mtego
- (lit. "mine", "trap") 1. combination; 2. trap
- mwalimu
- (Bao) teacher; honorable title for strong players and also for honorable people, as Julius Nyere, the first president of Tanzania (and Bao sponsor, although the mwalimu title is not related to this fact)
- mwamuzi
- referee
- namu
- 1. first stage of the game; 2. store (only some boards, de. Z. Hall 1953); 3. seeds played in the namu stage (Ingrams 1921)
- namua (also nemo, namu, ng'amua or kunamua)
- (from namua, "to get out of a trap" (Townshend 1982)) to play the namu stage
- nemo
- see namu (on Lamu; Boyd 1977, Townshend 1982)
- ng'amua
- see namua (de Voogt 1995)
- nyuma
- (lit. "rear", "behind") back row
- nyumba
- (lit. "house") square hole
- piga tanji
- to attack several houses at the same time
- piganisha nyumba
- to have both houses under attack
- profesa
- (lit. "professor") (grand)master
- rejesha bao (also rudisha bao)
- to undo moves in Bao
- rusha kete
- to throw kete
- safari
- (lit. "to travel") destroying the nyumba by continuing a mtaji sowing from it
- sanaa
- (lit. "artwork") skillful play
- shimo (also kishimo; pl. vishimo)
- (lit. "hole", kishimo "little hole") pit
- shindano (often used in plural, mashindano)
- competition, tournament
- solo (also spelled soo by Ingrams and de Voogt)
- seeds of the msolo (Caesalpinia cristata) employed as counters (term still used on Pemba; see also kete)
- sukuma wakati
- casual play (Townshend 1982)
- takasa (also kutakasa)
- see takata
- takasia (also kutakasia)
- to play without capturing and forcing the opponent to play without capturing, after which it is possible to capture (see also takata)
- takata (also kutakata)
- (lit. "to purify", "to clean") a move without capture
- takatia (also kutakasia)
- see takasia
- tanga mtini
- (lit. "to climb a tree") not knowing where one's move is going to end (see also enda mrima kusini)
- tapisha bao
- (lit. "to vomit bao) to play an elaborate gambit
- tega
- to trap
- tegua
- 1. to neutralize traps; 2. to play a counter-trap
- toboa
- a special opening move (now obsolete in Zanzibar)
- tobwe
- 1. novice; 2. fool
- utitiri
- (lit. "chicken lice") a particular combination involving the play of singletons in the front row
- vunja lengo
- (lit. "to break the goal") to obstruct the opponent's strategic goals
- weka
- to be in control of the opponent's game
- ya huko Africa
- typically African (a characteristic attributed to Dao in Kenya in contrast to dama ("Draughts") which is viewed as of Islamic Arab origin (Townshend 1982)
- zamu
- turn (in a game)
Bao Sayings[]
- "Bao linakawilia."
- "Bao doesn't end quickly." (de Voogt 1995)
- "Bao mguu wa shetani."
- "Bao is a leg of the devil". - Meaning: Bao is tricky! (de Voogt 1995)
- "Mtaji mmoja."
- "One mtaji." - Said to a player who is hesitating, although there is just one move he can do. A similar, but more colorful expression exists in Omweso: "Nkuyege zigulya!" - "Hurry up or the white ants will eat the board!")
- "Nimeshakumiliki."
- "I have (already) ruled you." - see weka. (de Voogt 1995)
- "Haya cheza."
- "Ok, play!" - when a player signals that a very long move has now ended. - (Townshend 1982)
References[]
- Bautista i Roca, V.
- Personal Experiences on Zanzibar. Tanzania (short periods in 1997, 1998 and 1999).
- Boyd, A. W.
- The Game of Bao - Lamu Style. In: MILA 1977 (1979); 6 (1): 81-89.
- Ingrams, W. H.
- Zanzibar: Its History and People. Frank Cass & Co., London (England) 1921, 257-259.
- Townshend, P.
- Bao (Mankala): The Swahili Ethic in African Idiom. In: Paideuma 1982; 28: 175-191.
- Voogt, A. J. de.
- Limits of the Mind: Towards a Characterisation of Bao Mastership. CNWS Publications: Leiden (Netherlands) 1995.
- Yale Program in African Languages
- The Kamusi Project. Internet Living Swahili Dictionary. Yale (USA) 1995-2005.
Copyright[]
© Wikimanqala.
By: Ralf Gering & Víktor Bautista i Roca.
Under the CC by-sa 2.5.