cheka
verb
to laugh; to smile.
Cheka is the bare stem, and kucheka is its infinitive. With a person as its object, it can also mean laughing at or making fun of someone.
Forms
- kucheka
- infinitive
- chekesha
- causative · make someone laugh
- chekwa
- passive · be laughed at
- chekana
- reciprocal · laugh together or at one another
Origins
Cheka is an inherited Bantu verb with deep roots in Swahili rather than a later loanword. Older Swahili dictionaries already capture its familiar range, from laughing and smiling to laughing at someone.
Sources3
M. Haspelmath and U. Tadmor, World Loanword Database · Swahili profile (Max Planck Institute / Lexibank, 2009), Swahili profile; forms.csv (-cheka).
Lists Swahili -cheka as an earlier Bantu verb with no evidence for borrowing.
A. C. Madan, Swahili-English Dictionary (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1903), 66, alphabetical entry: Cheka.
Records cheka for laughing, smiling, and grinning, with object and derived forms for ridicule and amusement.
Edward Steere, A Handbook of the Swahili Language as Spoken at Zanzibar (London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1884), 204, 215, 288.
Records kucheka as “to laugh,” cheka as “laugh,” and chekea as “laugh at.”
Examples
Anacheka kwa furaha.
She is laughing happily.
Watoto walicheka sana.
The children laughed a lot.
Usinicheke.
Do not laugh at me.
Kucheka ni afya.
Laughing is good for your health.
Nilicheka niliposikia hadithi hiyo.
I laughed when I heard that story.
Kwa nini unacheka?
Why are you laughing?
Tulicheka pamoja jana.
We laughed together yesterday.
Alinitazama akacheka.
She looked at me and smiled.
Alinicheka mbele ya marafiki.
She laughed at me in front of my friends.
