tembea
verb
to walk.
Use it for walking, including going for a walk.
Origins
The word’s earlier history is still under review.
Sources3
A. C. Madan, Swahili-English Dictionary (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1903), PDF page 252.
Uses kutembea in a discussion of someone’s ability to walk. Historical evidence; not a survey of current Kenyan speech.
Edward Steere, A Handbook of the Swahili Language as Spoken at Zanzibar (London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1884), PDF page 233.
Lists tembea and enda tembea for taking a walk. Historical Zanzibar evidence.
University of Kansas Open Language Resource Center, University of Kansas Kiswahili Glossary (University of Kansas Open Language Resource Center), tembea glossary rows.
Gives -tembea as “to walk”.
Examples
Ninatembea kila asubuhi.
I walk every morning.
Watoto wanapenda kutembea bustanini.
Children love to walk in the park.
Alitembea polepole kuelekea sokoni.
He walked slowly towards the market.
Tutaenda kutembea ufukweni kesho.
We will go for a walk on the beach tomorrow.
Je, unaweza kutembea umbali mrefu?
Can you walk a long distance?
Mzee huyo anatembea kwa fimbo.
That old man walks with a stick.
Tunatembea pamoja kila asubuhi.
We walk together every morning.
Usitembee gizani peke yako.
Don’t walk alone in the dark.
Tulitembea kwa saa mbili kabla ya kufika.
We walked for two hours before arriving.
