Songo dictionary

The following is a collection of Songo-related terms and expressions.

Fang - English[]

abo: (lit. "foot") the first (or right-most) hole
abôm: hole with more than 13 seeds
akutu: hole with more than 19 seeds
beba: draw
benku: a game ended by disqualification of a player
bidua: tempi
e bé Songo: to put the captures in groups of 5 back into the player's holes (after the game had ended) in order to count them
e salan Songo: to achieve a draw
e té abôm: to pick up the seeds before sowing them
e toé: to move a singleton
e wôé abôm: to add a seed to a hole, thus render it unable to capture immediately
e wôé môt e Songo: to win a game of Songo
e wua mimbaň: to sow
e yin: to accumulate
eken: a victory by at least 5 seeds
ezaň: a tree whose seeds are often used as counters
esila: to sow into the opponent's first hole in order to capture its contents lateron
mbaň: (plural: "mimbaň") counter
mbek: (board
nda: (lit. "house") hole
nlô: (lit. "head") the last (or left-most) hole
nti: master
olam: trap with a sacrifice
songo: (lit. "pebble") 1. the name of the game; 2. counter [but not used during the game]
yinda: (or yindi) to defend the contents of a hole by adding a fifth seed