Hello,
Welcome to the third issue of the Lughayangu newsletter. If you do enjoy the content, please do not forget to share it with your friends.
We have some good news. We will be launching the interview section in two weeks. We have a lot of interesting personalities with educative stories lined up!
How Did Africa Get its Name?
Africa is the second-largest and second-most-populous continent in the world. It is also considered the cradle of humankind. So it only makes sense to assume that the indigenous people may have had a local name for it. Where did the name Africa come from?
According to most scholars, the original name of the continent was Alkebulan which translates to “mother of mankind,” or “the garden of Eden.”
There is no universal explanation as to how Africa got its name. However, there are several theories by numerous scholars. The most popular one is that the name came from Roman invaders, who named it after the Berber tribe, who lived in the Carthage area (present Tunisia).
The Hometeam History is certain that the name Africa originated from the Romans who called their northern African province Africa. He further states that the Romans had acquired it from the Arabs and Berbers who lived in the Maghreb (present NorthAfrica).
Check out their youtube video linked above to get a deep understanding of the topic.
Mirambo the Nyamwezi Warlord
Mtyela Kasanda, also known as Mirambo (which means corpses), was a Nyamwezi warlord between 1860 to 1884. He created the largest state by area in East Africa during his tenure and is one of the most important figures in Nyamwezi history.
Mirambo started as an ivory and slaves trader. He then used the money from the trade to acquire firearms and organized armies that mainly consisted of teenage orphans.
Using his newly acquired power plus his brilliant military tactics, he toppled the traditional monarchy of the kingdom of Urambo and installed himself as ntemi (king).
In the 19th century, he revolutionized Tanzania by uniting the many Nyamwezi states and gained over the Swahili Arab trade routes in East Africa between 1876 and 1880.
Afriwetu team have done an awesome and entertaining narration of the story of Mirambo in one of the episodes in their podcast. Afriwetu is one of the best podcasts ever as far as pre-colonial African stories are concerned.
The Evolution of Numbers in Kiswahili
The names of numbers in Swahili has evolved over the years due to factors such as religion, trade, colonisation and governance and technology.
Arabic has had the most influence on the original Bantu Swahili language structure of numbers due to centuries of trade with natives at the East African coast. For simplicity and perhaps uniformity in the syllabic pattern of the numbers, Bantu words for numbers such as six, seven, hundred, thousand and the multiples of ten between twenty and ninety, were replaced with Arabic words.
In the early Swahili dialect, six (sita) was tandatu, seven (saba) was fungate, nine (tisa) was kenda and the tens were formed by putting makumi before the multiplier digit e.g. Makumi matatu for 30 and makumi manne for 40.
The snippet is part of an informative article by Nasra O. Bwana published on the Historiya website.
Karyenda and the Royal Burundi Drummers
The karyenda is a traditional Burundian drum that was the main symbol of the King (Mwami)and had semi-divine status representing fertility and regeneration. The king interpreted the beatings of the karyenda into rules that governed the kingdom. After gaining independence from Belgium in 1962, the Karyenda was the national flag symbol and court of arms until it was replaced in 1966 when Burundi became a republic.
PROVERB OF THE WEEK
Cha mfupi chiriwa ni mure.(Digo)
Translation: Something belonging to a short person, is eaten by a tall person.
Meaning: It encourages long-term planning and vision. The best-executed plans are those that factor in the future and changing seasons, not just instant gratification.
WORD OF THE WEEK
Bladifakin (Sheng)
Meaning: Someone who has lowered their standards or become foolish.
Example: Naona umeanza kuwa mtu bladifakin.
Translation: I see you have started becoming foolish.
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Special thanks to Stephanie for editing this issue.
Have a great week, and thanks for reading. - Mike
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