uso
noun
face; surface. The plural is nyuso.
Body-part face by default; also the facing surface of an object.
Origins
Uso is the ordinary Swahili word for a face, with plural nyuso. Historical grammars use it as a clear noun-class example, and the comparative record treats it as unborrowed.
Sources3
M. Haspelmath and U. Tadmor, World Loanword Database · Swahili profile (Max Planck Institute / Lexibank, 2009), Swahili profile; forms.csv (uso).
Lists Swahili uso for the face with no evidence for borrowing.
A. C. Madan, Swahili-English Dictionary (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1903), descriptive phrases with uso.
Attests uso in face and appearance descriptions.
Edward Steere, A Handbook of the Swahili Language as Spoken at Zanzibar (London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1884), alphabetical entry: Uso.
Records Uso as a face and nyuso as faces.
Examples
Uso wake unang'aa.
Her face is shining.
Nawa uso.
I wash my face.
Nyuso zao zilifurahi.
Their faces were happy.
Alificha uso wake.
He hid his face.
Uso wa saa unang'aa.
The face of the clock is shiny.
Ana uso mzuri.
She has a beautiful face.
Usinichome uso.
Do not burn my face.
Nyuso za watoto zilicheka.
The children’s faces laughed.
Nimeona uso wake wazi.
I saw his face clearly.
