Lugungu Dictionary Sep 2012

of equivalent English
words that can be used to
describe the Lugungu
meaning. These are listed
separated by commas
ending with a semicolon.
Sometimes, after the
semicolon a further
explaining phrase is given
that serves to expand the
definition.
In the first example given
above, The Lugungu word, ‘ku̱si̱i̱ma’, only has one meaning. Sometimes however,
words have multiple meanings. These multiple meanings are called senses and they
are indicated in the dictionary by sense numbers. Each sense begins with a number
followed by a dot. The various senses in an entr y have distinct meanings, but they
are all related in some way. That is why they are given numbers and listed under a
single Lugungu headword.
Occasionally you will notice
that the headword is
immediately followed by a
small lowered number. The
lowered number is used to
distinguish what we call
homonyms. Homonyms are
words that have the same
spelling but are unrelated in
meaning.
Words that describe things are called nouns and are indicated with n. as the part of
speech. When you want to look up a Lugungu noun you should look for the
singular form of the noun. E.g., in the example above, a bundle of things is listed
with the Lugungu headword ‘mutwaru’, not ‘mitwaru’. If there is a plural form it
will be listed after the singular form and preceded with the label Pl:. In some few
instances the plural form is more common and will be listed as the headword. If
there is a singular form, then it will be preceded with the label Sg:
Sometimes a meaning is
figurative, and not literal. It
may be a metaphor or an
idiom. In these cases after
the sense number you may
find the label Metaphor. or
Idiom. A metaphor indicates
that this sense uses the
Lugungu word in a way that
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