NOTES.
The Wambutti knew a donkey and called it “atti.” They say that they sometimes catch them in pits. What they can find to eat is a wonder. They eat leaves.
Bakiokwa language of Indekaru.
Wambutti call their language Ku-mbutti, or that of Bakwa, pronounced Bakkvwa. I fancy Schweinfurth may have been unable to detect the subtle sound of v-w and called his dwarfs Akka.
The Ku-mbutti or Bakkwa, the Bakiokwa or Bukumu, and the Babira, between Kinnena and Kabongé on the Congo, we perceive speak three dialects closely resembling one another, especially the first and last are remarkably similar, yet there is a distance of forest between them of several hundred miles, and the Lindi, Lenda and Ituri rivers separate them.
The Bavira and Babusessé, separated only by the Ituri, both countries being grass land, speak a dialect remarkably alike. Formerly it was one language; but in two generations the Baviras have become corrupted by using daily the Rukobé, or that of the Wahuma. They migrated from the banks of the Ituri, crossed the Ruki, and dwelt among the Wahuma, who are an exclusive and proud people.
The Rukobé or Wahuma have no single word for thanks, but yo simire-kurungi literally means, “I take it to be good of you,” or “I accept it kindly.”
Wahuma, when children, call their father “baba,” equal to our papa; when adults, “tata.”
Wahuma, when children, call their mother “mama,” equal to our mamma; when adults, “man.”
Wahuma, on the other side of the lake, are called Wachwezi.