mbilikimo

Swahili

Etymology

Thought to be from mbili (“two”) + kimo (“height”).

Walsh quotes Rebmann: "literally the two-measuring, i.e. twice the measure from the middle finger to the elbow, which of course is an exaggeration, but they are no doubt a diminutive race of men."[1]

Pronunciation

  • Audio (Kenya):(file)

Noun

mbilikimo class I (plural wabilikimo class II)

  1. pygmy, dwarf

References

  1. ^ Walsh, Martin (2016) “Pygmy tales: tall stories about short people in East Africa”, in Kenya Past and Present‎[1], volume 43, pages 49-60
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