See Bongo in All languages combined, or Wiktionary
{
"etymology_links": [
[
"*bʊ̀jòngó",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Bantu/bʊ̀jòngó"
],
[
"bongo",
"bongo#Swahili"
],
[
"bongo",
"bongo#Swahili"
]
],
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "sw",
"2": ":der",
"3": "bongo<t:brain>",
"text": "+",
"tree": "1"
},
"expansion": "Etymology tree\nProto-Bantu *bʊ̀jòngó\nSwahili bongoder.\nSwahili Bongo\n[Appendix:Glossary#derived_terms|Derived]] from\", \"terms\" : [ { \"gloss\" : \"brain\", \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Bantu\", \"term\" : \"*bʊ̀jòngó\", \"status\" : \"missing\", \"lang\" : \"bnt-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Swahili\", \"term\" : \"bongo\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"sw\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"derived\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Swahili\", \"term\" : \"Bongo\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"sw\" }\" data-lang=\"sw\" data-title=\"Bongo\">\nDerived from bongo (“brain”).",
"name": "ety"
}
],
"etymology_text": "Etymology tree\nProto-Bantu *bʊ̀jòngó\nSwahili bongoder.\nSwahili Bongo\nDerived from bongo (“brain”). Referring to the difficult conditions during the economic crisis of the 1980s which required one's own wits (having \"big brains\") to survive working in Dar es Salaam, later extended to all of Tanzania.",
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "sw",
"2": "proper noun"
},
"expansion": "Bongo",
"name": "head"
}
],
"lang": "Swahili",
"lang_code": "sw",
"pos": "name",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
{
"kind": "place",
"langcode": "sw",
"name": "Cities in Tanzania",
"orig": "sw:Cities in Tanzania",
"parents": [
"Cities",
"Places"
],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"langcode": "sw",
"name": "Dar es Salaam",
"orig": "sw:Dar es Salaam",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"langcode": "sw",
"name": "Nicknames for cities",
"orig": "sw:Nicknames for cities",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "place",
"langcode": "sw",
"name": "Places in Tanzania",
"orig": "sw:Places in Tanzania",
"parents": [
"Places"
],
"source": "w"
},
{
"_dis": "25 26 13 10 12 13 2",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Pages with entries",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "78 22",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Swahili entries with etymology texts",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "78 22",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Swahili entries with etymology trees",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "82 18",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Swahili entries with etymon",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "85 15",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Swahili entries with incorrect language header",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "92 8",
"kind": "other",
"langcode": "sw",
"name": "Nicknames for cities",
"orig": "sw:Nicknames for cities",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"derived": [
{
"_dis1": "62 38",
"english": "Tanzanian",
"translation": "Tanzanian",
"word": "mbongo"
}
],
"glosses": [
"nickname for Dar es Salaam: the largest city in Tanzania."
],
"id": "en-Bongo-sw-name-3~UFUKEM",
"links": [
[
"Dar es Salaam",
"Dar es Salaam#English"
],
[
"large",
"large"
],
[
"city",
"city"
],
[
"Tanzania",
"Tanzania#English"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(dated) nickname for Dar es Salaam: the largest city in Tanzania."
],
"tags": [
"dated"
]
},
{
"categories": [
{
"kind": "place",
"langcode": "sw",
"name": "Countries in Africa",
"orig": "sw:Countries in Africa",
"parents": [
"Countries",
"Places"
],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"langcode": "sw",
"name": "Nicknames for countries",
"orig": "sw:Nicknames for countries",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"langcode": "sw",
"name": "Tanzania",
"orig": "sw:Tanzania",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
}
],
"glosses": [
"nickname for Tanzania: a country in East Africa."
],
"id": "en-Bongo-sw-name-dMye7IMB",
"links": [
[
"Tanzania",
"Tanzania#English"
],
[
"country",
"country"
],
[
"East Africa",
"East Africa#English"
]
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/ˈɓɔ.ᵑɡɔ/",
"note": "Unguja standard"
},
{
"audio": "Sw-ke-bongo.flac",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/1/13/Sw-ke-bongo.flac/Sw-ke-bongo.flac.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/1/13/Sw-ke-bongo.flac/Sw-ke-bongo.flac.ogg",
"tags": [
"Kenya"
]
}
],
"word": "Bongo"
}
{
"categories": [
"Pages using etymon with no ID",
"Pages with 3 entries",
"Pages with entries",
"Pages with etymology trees",
"Pages with etymon",
"Swahili entries with etymology texts",
"Swahili entries with etymology trees",
"Swahili entries with etymon",
"Swahili entries with incorrect language header",
"Swahili lemmas",
"Swahili proper nouns",
"Swahili terms derived from Proto-Bantu",
"Swahili terms with IPA pronunciation",
"sw:Nicknames for cities"
],
"derived": [
{
"english": "Tanzanian",
"translation": "Tanzanian",
"word": "mbongo"
}
],
"etymology_links": [
[
"*bʊ̀jòngó",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Bantu/bʊ̀jòngó"
],
[
"bongo",
"bongo#Swahili"
],
[
"bongo",
"bongo#Swahili"
]
],
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "sw",
"2": ":der",
"3": "bongo<t:brain>",
"text": "+",
"tree": "1"
},
"expansion": "Etymology tree\nProto-Bantu *bʊ̀jòngó\nSwahili bongoder.\nSwahili Bongo\n[Appendix:Glossary#derived_terms|Derived]] from\", \"terms\" : [ { \"gloss\" : \"brain\", \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Bantu\", \"term\" : \"*bʊ̀jòngó\", \"status\" : \"missing\", \"lang\" : \"bnt-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Swahili\", \"term\" : \"bongo\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"sw\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"derived\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Swahili\", \"term\" : \"Bongo\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"sw\" }\" data-lang=\"sw\" data-title=\"Bongo\">\nDerived from bongo (“brain”).",
"name": "ety"
}
],
"etymology_text": "Etymology tree\nProto-Bantu *bʊ̀jòngó\nSwahili bongoder.\nSwahili Bongo\nDerived from bongo (“brain”). Referring to the difficult conditions during the economic crisis of the 1980s which required one's own wits (having \"big brains\") to survive working in Dar es Salaam, later extended to all of Tanzania.",
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "sw",
"2": "proper noun"
},
"expansion": "Bongo",
"name": "head"
}
],
"lang": "Swahili",
"lang_code": "sw",
"pos": "name",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"Swahili dated terms",
"sw:Cities in Tanzania",
"sw:Dar es Salaam",
"sw:Nicknames for cities",
"sw:Places in Tanzania"
],
"glosses": [
"nickname for Dar es Salaam: the largest city in Tanzania."
],
"links": [
[
"Dar es Salaam",
"Dar es Salaam#English"
],
[
"large",
"large"
],
[
"city",
"city"
],
[
"Tanzania",
"Tanzania#English"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(dated) nickname for Dar es Salaam: the largest city in Tanzania."
],
"tags": [
"dated"
]
},
{
"categories": [
"sw:Countries in Africa",
"sw:Nicknames for countries",
"sw:Tanzania"
],
"glosses": [
"nickname for Tanzania: a country in East Africa."
],
"links": [
[
"Tanzania",
"Tanzania#English"
],
[
"country",
"country"
],
[
"East Africa",
"East Africa#English"
]
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/ˈɓɔ.ᵑɡɔ/",
"note": "Unguja standard"
},
{
"audio": "Sw-ke-bongo.flac",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/1/13/Sw-ke-bongo.flac/Sw-ke-bongo.flac.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/1/13/Sw-ke-bongo.flac/Sw-ke-bongo.flac.ogg",
"tags": [
"Kenya"
]
}
],
"word": "Bongo"
}
Download raw JSONL data for Bongo meaning in Swahili (3.0kB)
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable Swahili dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-09-25 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-09-02 using wiktextract (1a05e46 and e3d6d4e). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.