mzuka
noun
a ghost, apparition, or spirit.
Use mzuka for a ghost or apparition; the class 3/4 plural is mizuka.
Forms
- mizuka
- noun class 3/4 plural
Origins
Mzuka continues reconstructed Proto-Sabaki *muzyuka, “apparition.” Related coastal forms carry senses such as ghost, spirit, and apparition; some southern Mijikenda communities later developed the specialized senses “nature spirit” and “shrine.”
Sources3
David P. Bresnahan, Inland from Mombasa: East Africa and the Making of the Indian Ocean World (Oakland: University of California Press, 2025), Appendix 3, printed 151; PDF 166.
Reconstructs Proto-Sabaki *muzyuka as a class 3/4 apparition noun and distinguishes that history from later southern Mijikenda nature-spirit and shrine meanings.
Charles Sacleux, Dictionnaire Swahili-Français (Paris: Institut d’Ethnologie, 1939), printed 658; PDF 340.
Independently records regional spirit senses and the lexical association with -zuka; its narrower ritual meanings are not treated as the default Swahili sense.
A. C. Madan, Swahili-English Dictionary (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1903), printed 271; PDF 297.
Records the class 3/4 noun and its apparition, ghost, and spirit senses, associating the word with sudden appearance.
Examples
Alisema aliona mzuka usiku.
They said they saw a ghost at night.
Hadithi hiyo ni kuhusu mzuka.
That story is about a ghost.
Watoto waliogopa mzuka katika hadithi.
The children were afraid of the ghost in the story.
Mzuka ulitokea ghafla katika ndoto yake.
A ghost appeared suddenly in their dream.
Watu walizungumza kuhusu mizuka.
People talked about ghosts.
Nilidhani nimeona mzuka.
I thought I saw a ghost.
Walisema nyumba hiyo ina mzuka.
They said that house has a ghost.
Hakuna mzuka hapa.
There is no ghost here.
Picha hiyo inaonyesha mzuka.
That picture shows a ghost.
