36 NOTES ON WEST AFRICAN CATEGORIES 



sheep : Ekombe the civet, Dievwa the jackal, Ebulan- 

 sunga the flying squirrel ; the rats Etonga, Etumpu, 

 and Esunjia ; the mouse Etutu. The hornbill Epanji, 

 the pelican Elembe, the whydah bird when not in 

 plumage Eseke, the dove Eyembe. The small juju 

 omen bird Ekuluntietie, the lizard Ekolombo, the 

 cerastes viper Euta, the tadpole Etakangola, the bull- 

 frog Esundu. The snipe fish Eleka, the spider 

 Esangangungu. The carpenter-bee Efungununu, the 

 hornet Dingungu, the blowfly Ekulumbwanji, and the 

 flies Evukunia and Evekwa. Ekonko is the generic 

 name for grasshoppers, and the large one with purple 

 wings is called Ebangia. The caterpillars Ebanda- 

 Nzaji Elamalama belong to this class. The white 

 working ant Ekeketele, and the one that eats it the 

 Elendeji also. 



Category Season of Conception and Germination 

 Class 5 (Lu, pi. Tu). 



This class of prefix gives a collective noun a special 

 and divided sense. Mbu, the sea, an open space, 

 becomes Lumbu, the enclosed space where man keeps 

 his wife. It is the end of one period and the beginning 

 of another, as in fermentation, and so a kind of new 

 birth (Luwutilu}. 



The seed sown moves on to a stage of germination 

 (Luwalumukd), and man, having come in contact or 

 touch (Luviakana) with woman, conception (Luyinita) 

 takes place. 



Most words ending in English in " tion " expressing 



