maswa

Sranan Tongo

Alternative forms

masuwa (archaic)
masoewa (superseded)

Etymology

From Kari'na masiwa (“wooden fish trap”),^[1] Lokono masoa (“fish trap woven from reeds”), and probably from Kongo ma-swá (“netting, mesh”), from Proto-Bantu *-cUa (“grass”).^[2]

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /maˈswa/, [ma̠ˈswa̠], [mɑ̟ˈswɑ̟]

Noun

maswa

fish trap
- 1936, Melville J. Herskovits, Frances S. Herskovits, Suriname folk-lore‎^[1], New York: Columbia University Press, page 456:
  Fɩsi pasa maswa, ma a no pasa ɛ̨ŋ dɛdɛ.
  [Fisi psa maswa, ma a no psa en dede.]
  The fish escaped the fish trap, but it didn't escape its death.

Descendants

Aukan: masúa
Saramaccan: masúa
→ Dutch: masoewa

References

^ J. van Donselaar (2013), Nicoline van der Sijs, editor, Woordenboek van het Nederlands in Suriname van 1667 tot 1876 [Dictionary of the Dutch Language in Suriname from 1667 to 1876], Amsterdam; The Hague: Meertens Instituut/Nederlandse Taalunie, →ISBN, page 146
^ Norval Smith (2015), “A preliminary list of probable Kikongo (KiKoongo) lexical items in the Surinam Creoles”, in P. Muysken, N. Smith, editors, Surviving the Middle Passage: The West Africa-Surinam Sprachbund, Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton, →ISBN, page 443

[1] J. van Donselaar (2013), Nicoline van der Sijs, editor, Woordenboek van het Nederlands in Suriname van 1667 tot 1876 [Dictionary of the Dutch Language in Suriname from 1667 to 1876], Amsterdam; The Hague: Meertens Instituut/Nederlandse Taalunie, →ISBN, page 146

[2] Norval Smith (2015), “A preliminary list of probable Kikongo (KiKoongo) lexical items in the Surinam Creoles”, in P. Muysken, N. Smith, editors, Surviving the Middle Passage: The West Africa-Surinam Sprachbund, Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton, →ISBN, page 443

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