20 LINGALA WORDS YOU SHOULD KNOW THEIR MEANINGS

Over the last couple of years the Lingala language has gained and continues to gain unprecedented popularity in Kenya. Many Kenyans now can speak fluent Lingala. Some even sing in the langauge! I'm talking about Papa Fololo, Igwe Prezda Bandasson, Awilo Mike of Jamnazi Africa, Fofona Bangali and myself, just to name but a few. Part of the reason for this popularity is: Lingala is easy to learn (For Lingala-Swahili similarities, click here). I mean, it is ridiculously easy. So easy, in fact, it takes just a few months. Forget about the Lingala you hear in songs that's bedeviled with iterations of Lingalized French (Hahah, what does that even mean?). I'm talking about Lingala in its purest form here, the one not polluted with foreign languages. Well, before I bore you to death with detail, I'm happy to present you here with 20 popular lingala words and phrases I thought you could be interested in knowing their meaning. Let's get right into it, shall we?

1.Bolingo Na Ngai. 'Bolingo na ngai' is probably the one phrase you pick out the most from Congolese songs. 'Bolingo' means 'love'. 'Ngai' means "me" or 'I'. Therefore bolingo na Ngai literally means “My love”. The title for Alicios’ song ‘Posa ya Bolingo’ means ‘Thirst for Love’. Posa is the lingala word for thirst. I am aware that in Luo language "bolingo na ngai" means ‘empty handed’ but that is not what it means in Lingala.

2.Pasi. I know what you are thinking, but "pasi" is not an iron box. Pasi literally means ‘pain’. And this is not limited to physical pain but includes the kind of hurt you feel in your heart. When Fally Ipupa sings ‘bolingo esalaka pasi’ in his hit song ‘Associe’ what he means is that "love causes pain". You will also frequently hear ‘pasi elekeli ngai’ or ‘nazalaka na pasi na motema’ which means, literally ‘I’m full of pain’ and ‘I have (a lot of) pain in my heart’ respectively. A little trivia; Bana System (a musical band under the leadership of one Letis Madilu: the late Madilu System's son) released a song in 2017 or thereabout titled "Pasi na Motema" to mourn the passing of Madilu.

3.Posa. I already said that "posa" means thirst (it's sometimes styled as "mposa" for some weird reason). "Posa ya mayi" is thirst for water. Ozoyoka bien?

4.Bandeko. Bandeko is the plural for Ndeko. Ndeko generally means brother (or sister). To make the distintion between brother and sister you’ll often hear ‘Ndeko ya mwasi’ that is sister and Ndeko ya mobali which means brother.  Of course mwasi means ‘woman’ and mobali means man. In the song ‘Letters’ by Franco Luambo Makiadi, part of the chorus goes ‘bandeko na basi yo yo yo, balingaka basi ya bandeko mibali te. Mpo na nini-o yo yo yo?’ Translated literally it means ‘Sisters, they don’t love the wives of their brothers. Why?’ I’ve translated it literally so that you can infer the meanings of the individual words. "Wait", you may object, "loboko ya mobali" means "right hand!"" And you'd be right. The left and right hands in Lingala are denoted "loboko ya mwasi" and "Loboko ya mibali" repectively. But that shouldnt surprise us because a word can have more than one meaning, can't it?

5. Bakulutu. Bakulutu are elder brothers, same as we say ‘Kaka’ in Swahili. But the meaning is much broader than that. It includes elders that are not necessarily the biological brothers of the speaker or more appropriately ‘wazee’.

6. Komesana is a verb that means ‘to get used to’ or ‘to be fond of’. You’ll mostly hear it in love songs. In the song Ngungi (Kinshasa Makambo) by Franco and Tabu Ley, Franco says, “Likambo bamesana na yango bakoki kotika te”, that is, “they can’t stop doing what they’re used to do”.

7.Kolinga is ‘to love’ It is the root word from which we get "nalingi" which means "I love.." and bolingo (love). Nalingi yo means I love you. Nalingi ye means I love him/her. Madilu System asks in his song Ya Jean, “Balingaka moto ndenge nini papa?” translating to, “How do they love someone, papa?”. I know that doesn’t make much sense to you because the meaning is lost in translation. But it is just the voice of a frustrated lover asking the beloved how he (the beloved) would want to be loved/appreciated because she has apparently tried many different ways without success. I overheard in some song an artiste saying, "Kolinga mobali mpona mbongo te." What do you think this means? Please reply in the comments section.

8.Mokolo. Without wasting your time ‘mokolo’ means ‘day’. It is one of the most frequently used word in songs. Igwe Prezida Bandasson sings in one of his songs, ‘Mokolo nini okozonga, papa’ that is, “which day will you return, papa?”  The plural of mokolo is mikolo meaning ‘days’. Tabu Ley sung, ‘Mokolo nakokufa nani akolela ngai?’ that is, ‘The day I will die, who will mourn for me?’ Mokolo can easily be confused with makolo, but the two are rather different. "Makolo" are the "feet" just like maboko are hands.

9.Mosusu. Mosusu just means ‘another’. Therefore moto mosusu is another person. Mokolo mosusu is another day and likambo mosusu is another issue. Remember this popular line by Madilu System? ‘Ntago mosusu ezali oyo ya nsuka. Oyo etikali na kati ya elanga…’ He was speaking of a rose flower. Translation: ‘May be it is the last one. The only one remaining in the garden. Depending on the noun class, mosusu can sometimes be rendered "lisusu" for example, mboka lisusu (another country). In fact I should have said up there "likambo lisusu" instead of likambo mosusu." No big difference though, it's just grammar.

10.Mokili Many Swahili speakers would imagine that mokili means brains or wits. Far from it. Mokili means ‘Earth’ or ‘World’. ‘Mokili oyo etonda makambo ebele’ Is a popular Igwe Bandason verse. It means ‘This world is full of problems’. One can say, "mokili oyo eza mboka na biso te" that is, "this world is not our home". I was recently informed by someone that in Siaya (Kenya), many people take the word mokili to mean "money". This can be attributed to a miss-understanding of Ochieng' Kabaselleh's song "Piny Dunia Mokili" which may have led people to think that Kabaselleh meant to say that money is indispensable in life. To the contrary, the title of that song is just one word translated in three languages: Luo, Swahili and Lingala.

11.Konyokola is ‘to mistreat’ or ‘persecute’. You probably hear it in Ferre Gola’s song titled ‘Vita Imana’ where Ferre Gola sings, ‘Mpo nini naminyokola nzoto na ngai pamba..?’ that is, ‘Why am I mistreating my body (myself) for nothing…?’ Fronco Luambo lamented in 'Matata ya Muasi na Mibali': Nzambe apesi ngai lisumu nabotaka basi, bandeko, banyokolo bana ya bato..’ That is: God cursed me so that I give birth to girls, my brothers, they will mistreat other people’s sons... And just to make this clear "pamba" doesn't mean 'cotton' like it does in Swahili. It actually means, 'naught, empty or nothing'. "Maboko pamba" which is a title of one of Ferre Gola's songs means "empty handed".

12.Mibali is just the plural of mobali. Mobali is man, mibali men. But as I have already alluded to above, it can also mean "right" as in, right hand. Madilu System sung in Eau Benite, "Balobi kaba na loboko ya mobali ya mwasi amona te.." which translates to, "they say that an offering on the right hand, the left shouldn't see." Loboko (hand) is singular for maboko (hands).

13.Mpo na nini Is the lingala phrase for asking why. It simply means ‘why?’ Mpo na nini makambo mabe esalamaka/ekomelaka batu malamu - why do bad things happen to good people? Extra Musica in their popular gig ‘Losambo’ ask, “Ah, Nzambe Tata, yo okeli ngai nsima ya biloko biso ya nse. Yo opesi moto mayele koleka biloko nionso yo okela. Mpo na nini, ngai te?” Translating roughly to ‘Ah, God my father, you created all things. You gave man more wisdom than everything else you created. Why not me?’

14.Nzambe is God. Nzambe na ngai means ‘My God’. Nzambe apambola yo means ‘God bless you’.

15.Nzoto is the body. Nzoto na ngai is ‘my body’.

16.Makambo is a big word. I can’t think of any Lingala song in which it is not mentioned. It can mean anything from issue, problem to crisis. Makambo is the plural of Likambo. When Madilu System in Sansa ya Papier asks, “Likambo nini Nzambe asala biso mibali tosalelaka basi…?” He is simply asking why God created men to work while women enjoy the fruits thereof.

17.Malamu means ‘good’ or ‘well’. It is also the reply to such greetings as, Ndenge nini (How are you?), Nsango nini? (Habari/What news?) or Ozali malamu? (Are you well?). Nzambe aza malamu means ‘God is good’.Kende malamu literally means "go well" but can be more appropriately translated to "goodbye". And then there's "tikala malamu" which literally means "remain well" but can also mean "goodbye".

18. Motema is the heart. "Motema na ngai" means "my heart". Koffi Olomide once sung, “Motema ya moi lelo ekomi ndako ya mawa” translated, “My heart has nowadays become the house of sorrow". Do not get confused by word "moi", it's french. 'Motema pembe' means 'white heart' or 'a pure heart'. Pembe is the colour white, moindo is black.

19. Ndako is home. When Otieno Small sings ‘Zonga na ndako’ he doesn’t mean to say ‘Crawl on your buttocks’ as a Swahili speaker may interpret it. It actually means “Come back home”. Do not confuse between ndako and mboka. While ndako is used mostly to mean "house" or "home", mboka generally refers to "home area or country". You'll remember in the song 1200 letter, Franco says in one part, "Mikanda nazwi (or nazui) ya basi ya mabala na mboka Cameroun", and later again, "mikanda nazwi ya basi ya mabala na mboka Togo"... well, he meant, "I have letters from the married women of the country Cameroon/Togo.." "nazwi" means "I've got", "I have", or "I received". "Mabala" are marriages, and "mikanda" are letters, just as it is in Swahili. So, you can say, "nawuti na mboka Kenya" which means, "I'm from the country Kenya".

20.Sekele. Last and equally least we have this word which means secret. It is actually a corruption of the French word “secret.” In faulte ya Visa Madilu System sung, "Sekele na ngai ya bomwana eza nde na sac a main na yo.." which means, "the secret of my childhood is in your handbag." Makes sense?