kambu

Makasar

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-South Sulawesi *kambu (“heart, pith; gist”). Compare Buginese ampung (“pith, marrow”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkambu/, [ˈkʰãm.bu]
• Hyphenation: kam‧bu

Noun

kambu (Lontara spelling ᨀᨅᨘ or 𑻠𑻤𑻴, definite kambua, 3rd person possessive kambunna)

1. the inner part; interior; inside
2. (botany) pith; marrow (of palms or trees)

Derived terms

affixations

• akkambu
• nikambu
• pakambu
• pakkambu

compounds and phrases

• bone kambu
• gogosoʼ kambu
• jukuʼ kambu
• kambu palapa
• makkambu kayu
• mate kambu
• ponto nikambu
• sikuyu kambu

Further reading

• Cense, A. A. (1979), Makassaars-Nederlands woordenboek [Makasar-Dutch dictionary], 's-Gravenhage: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN, pages 279-280

West Ambae

Noun

kambu

1. fire

References

• Tryon, D. T. (1976), New Hebrides languages: An internal classification (Pacific Linguistics; C-50)‎^[1], Canberra, ACT: Pacific Linguistics, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University kaᵐbu
• Saurov Syed and Aly Turrell, Bipartite negation in Nduindui: Empirical generalisations and theoretical challenges (2025) kambu