waka

Borrowed from Japanese 和歌 (waka), from Middle Chinese 和 (ɣwa), a gloss for 倭 (ʔwa, “Japan”) + 歌 (ka, “song”).

waka (plural wakas or waka)

1. (poetry) A kind of classical Japanese poem.
   • 1962, Philip K. Dick, “The Man in the High Castle”, in Four Novels of the 1960s, Library of America, published 2007, page 122:

     “Hey, look. There's one of those Jap waka poems on the back of this cigarette package.”

Borrowed from Māori waka.

• (New Zealand) IPA^(key): /ˈwʌkʌ/, /ˈwʌkə/
• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈwakə/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒkə, -ʌkə

waka (plural wakas or waka)

1. (New Zealand) A Maori canoe. [from 19th c.]
2. (New Zealand) A broad Maori community consisting of numerous Maori tribes, all sharing common ancestors thought to have come to New Zealand in a particular canoe. (A waka is divided into several iwi.) [from 19th c.]
   • 2003, Michael King, The Penguin History of Aotearoa New Zealand, Penguin, published 2023, page 235:

     On occasion this orientation would extend to wider tribal units […] or even to waka federations such as Tainui, Te Arawa or Mataatua.

• waka gashira

• kawa

Borrowed from Spanish vaca. Cognate with Jaqaru waka.

waka

1. cow

waka

1. body

• Robert Busenitz & Daniel Bradbury (2016). Balantak Dictionary – waka. SIL International.

From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *wakaʀ.

waka

1. root (of plant)

• Blust, Robert; Trussel, Stephen; et al. (2023) “*wakaR”, in the CLDF dataset from The Austronesian Comparative Dictionary (2010–), →DOI

Borrowed from Spanish vaca.

waka

1. cow

waka

1. to fly

waka

1. root

   Synonym: vu

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

• IPA^(key): /ˈwa.ka/, [ˈʋɐ.kə]

waka

1. to flash
2. (stative) sharp

waka

1. (Banawá) to break

• 2007. The UCLA Phonetics Lab Archive. Los Angeles, CA: UCLA Department of Linguistics.

waka

1. Rōmaji transcription of わか

Borrowed from Spanish vaca. Cognate with Aymara waka.

waka

1. cow

Martha James Hardman. (1996) Jaqaru: Outline of phonological and morphological structure, page 74.

waka

1. water

• Maria Sueli de Aguiar, Elementos de descrição sintatica para uma gramatica do Katukina, page 49, 1988

waka

1. romanization of ᠸᠠᡴᠠ

From Proto-Polynesian *waka.

• IPA^(key): /ˈwaka/ [ˈwɐkɐ]

waka

1. boat, canoe
   1. particular large canoes sometimes equipped with sails as continuous across Southeast Asia to Polynesia
   2. (community of several tribes descendant of one particular canoe)
2. (figurative) vehicle or any mode of transport

   wakarere: aeroplane

3. spirit medium

• → English: waka

• “waka” in John C. Moorfield, Te Aka: Maori–English, English–Maori Dictionary and Index, 3rd edition, Longman/Pearson Education New Zealand, 2011, →ISBN.

Borrowed from Spanish vaca.

waka (Raguileo spelling)

1. cow

• Wixaleyiñ: Mapucezugun-wigkazugun pici hemvlcijka (Wixaleyiñ: Small Mapudungun-Spanish dictionary), Beretta, Marta; Cañumil, Dario; Cañumil, Tulio, 2008.

Corruption of English walk.

• IPA^(key): /wàka/

waka

1. to walk

   You go waka sha.

   You're going to walk.

   • (Can we date this quote?), Anthonia Ujene, “Count animals”, in Storybooks African Languages‎^[3]:

     Five Impales and six pigs dey waka go d water.

     Five impalas and six warthogs are walking to the water.

From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *wakaʀ.

waka

1. root (of plant)

• Blust, Robert; Trussel, Stephen; et al. (2023) “*wakaR”, in the CLDF dataset from The Austronesian Comparative Dictionary (2010–), →DOI

From English work.

waka

1. work; labor; job

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

• (Greater Poland):
  • (Southern Greater Poland) IPA^(key): [ˈva.ka]

• Audio:

  (file)

waka f

1. (Southern Greater Poland) old bitch (old female dog)

• Oskar Kolberg (1877), “waka”, in “Rzecz o mowie ludu wielkopolskiego”, in Zbiór wiadomości do antropologii krajowéj (in Polish), volume 1, III (Materyjały etnologiczne), page 32

• wak'a (Cuzco-Collao)

• IPA^(key): /ˈwa.ka/
  • (Ayacucho) IPA^(key): [ˈwa.ka]
  • (Cuzco-Collao) IPA^(key): [ˈwa.kʼa]

waka

1. sacred
2. (historical) sublime; horrifying

waka

1. an Andean guardian deity

   Near-synonym: willka

2. sanctuary: both natural, like a sacred rock or crevice, and artificial, like a building.
3. (historical) a votive offering

• → Spanish: huaca

Cerrón-Palomino, Rodolfo (2013), Tras las huellas del Inca Garcilaso: el lenguaje como hermenéutica en la comprensión del pasado [Following the footsteps of Inca Garcilaso: Language as hermeneutics in the understanding of the past], Boston: Latinoamericana Editories; CELACP; Revista de Crítica Literaria Latinoamericana, →DOI

Borrowed from Spanish vaca.

waka

1. (Cuzco-Collao) alternative form of baka

waká

1. rattan

• wakka (superseded)

From English walk.^[1] Compare Maroon Spirit Language and Krio waka, Pichinglis wáka, Antigua and Barbuda Creole English and Jamaican Creole waak.

• IPA^(key): /waka/, [wa̠ka̠], [wɑ̟kɑ̟]

waka

1. walk
2. journey
3. method; procedure

waka

1. to walk
   • 1783, C. L. Schumann, Neger-Englisches Wörterbuch [Negro English Dictionary]‎^[4], archived from the original on 8 February 2023:

     dem de wakka wan-wan

     [Den e waka wawan.]

     They walk one after the other.

   • 1959, Trefossa, “Owrukuku ben kari [The owl called out]”, in Ursy M. Lichtveld, Jan Voorhoeve, editors, Creole drum. An Anthology of Creole Literature in Surinam‎^[5], New Haven, London: Yale University Press, published 1975, →ISBN, page 208:

     Busi ben kon tron wan spuku-spuku dungru hipi; i ben kan yere fa dowwatra b' e dropu fadon na den wiwiri, nèlek na dyumbi b' e waka na tap den finga-ede.

     The jungle had become a ghostly dark heap; you could hear how the dewdrops were dripping on the leaves, as if ghosts were walking on tiptoes.

   • 2013 August 15, Maretha du Raan, “[‘]Yehovah ’e tyari a lai fu mi ala dei’ [Every day, Jehovah carries my burden]”, in A waktitoren‎^[6], Selters-Taunus: Wachtturm-Gesellschaft (Christian Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses), retrieved 5 February 2026, page 9:

     Di mi gebore na ini 1956, mi ben abi wan siki na den senwetitei fu mi bakabonyo. Dati meki mi no ben man waka bun èn mi ben kisi tra siki tu.

     When I was born in 1956, I had an illness in the neural cord of my spine. Because of that, I couldn't walk properly and I got other illnesses too.

2. to travel
3. (figurative) to go (well), to work (properly), to function, to run
   • 1952, Paula Velder, transl., “Midzomernachtsdroom [Midsummer Night's Dream]”, in Michiel van Kempen, Een geschiedenis van de Surinaamse literatuur. Deel IV. De geschreven literatuur van 1923 tot 1975 [A history of Surinamese literature. Part IV. Written literature from 1923 to 1975]‎^[7], Paramaribo: Okopipi, translation of A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare, published 2002, page 96:

     Effi à pré no wakka boen, / Ano meki ie las' ie bro, / Dink dan datti ie bin djonko / En à kon joe leki visjoen

     [Efi a prei no waka bun, / a no meki yu lasi yu bro / denki dan dati yu ben dyonko / èn a kon yu leki fisyun]

     If the play didn't go well, / didn't make you lose your breath, / just think that you were slumbering / and it came to you like a vision

• Aukan: wáka
• Saramaccan: wáka

waka (Sundanese script ᮝᮊ)

1. yet (thus far; in negative imperative use, asking for an action to be delayed.)

   Synonym: wara

   Ulah waka dibéré!

   Don't give it to him just yet!

• "waka" in Maman Sumantri; Atjep Djamaludin; Achmad Patoni; R.H. Moch. Koerdie; M.O. Koesman; Epa Sjafei Adisastra. (1985), Kamus Sunda-Indonesia [Sundanese-Indonesian Dictionary] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Department of Education and Culture of the Republic of Indonesia

Inherited from Proto-Sabaki *-aka ~ *-waka, from Proto-Bantu *-jàka. Cognate with Giryama -aka and Ngazidja Comorian -aha ~ -waha.^[1]

According to Lodhi, from *-wala +‎ -ka (stative).^[2]

• Audio (Kenya):

  (file)

-waka (infinitive kuwaka)

1. to burn, be in flames
2. to shine

Conjugation of -waka
Positive present -nawaka Subjunctive -wake Negative -waki Imperative singular waka
Infinitives
Positive kuwaka Negative kutowaka
Imperatives
Singular waka Plural wakeni
Tensed forms
Habitual huwaka Positive past positive subject concord + -liwaka Negative past negative subject concord + -kuwaka
Positive present (positive subject concord + -nawaka) Singular Plural 1st person ninawaka/nawaka tunawaka 2nd person unawaka mnawaka 3rd person m-wa(I/II) anawaka wanawaka other classes positive subject concord + -nawaka
Negative present (negative subject concord + -waki) Singular Plural 1st person siwaki hatuwaki 2nd person huwaki hamuwaki 3rd person m-wa(I/II) hawaki hawawaki other classes negative subject concord + -waki
Positive future positive subject concord + -tawaka Negative future negative subject concord + -tawaka
Positive subjunctive (positive subject concord + -wake) Singular Plural 1st person niwake tuwake 2nd person uwake muwake 3rd person m-wa(I/II) awake wawake other classes positive subject concord + -wake
Negative subjunctive positive subject concord + -siwake Positive present conditional positive subject concord + -ngewaka Negative present conditional positive subject concord + -singewaka Positive past conditional positive subject concord + -ngaliwaka Negative past conditional positive subject concord + -singaliwaka
Gnomic (positive subject concord + -awaka) Singular Plural 1st person nawaka twawaka 2nd person wawaka mwawaka 3rd person m-wa(I/II) awaka wawaka m-mi(III/IV) wawaka yawaka ji-ma(V/VI) lawaka yawaka ki-vi(VII/VIII) chawaka vyawaka n(IX/X) yawaka zawaka u(XI) wawaka see n(X) or ma(VI) class ku(XV/XVII) kwawaka pa(XVI) pawaka mu(XVIII) mwawaka
Perfect positive subject concord + -mewaka "Already" positive subject concord + -meshawaka "Not yet" negative subject concord + -jawaka "If/When" positive subject concord + -kiwaka "If not" positive subject concord + -sipowaka Consecutive kawaka / positive subject concord + -kawaka Consecutive subjunctive positive subject concord + -kawake
Object concord (indicative positive) Singular Plural 1st person -niwaka -tuwaka 2nd person -kuwaka -wawaka/-kuwakeni/-wawakeni 3rd person m-wa(I/II) -muwaka -wawaka m-mi(III/IV) -uwaka -iwaka ji-ma(V/VI) -liwaka -yawaka ki-vi(VII/VIII) -kiwaka -viwaka n(IX/X) -iwaka -ziwaka u(XI) -uwaka see n(X) or ma(VI) class ku(XV/XVII) -kuwaka pa(XVI) -pawaka mu(XVIII) -muwaka Reflexive -jiwaka
Relative forms General positive (positive subject concord + (object concord) + -waka- + relative marker) Singular Plural m-wa(I/II) -wakaye -wakao m-mi(III/IV) -wakao -wakayo ji-ma(V/VI) -wakalo -wakayo ki-vi(VII/VIII) -wakacho -wakavyo n(IX/X) -wakayo -wakazo u(XI) -wakao see n(X) or ma(VI) class ku(XV/XVII) -wakako pa(XVI) -wakapo mu(XVIII) -wakamo Other forms (subject concord + tense marker + relative marker + (object concord) + -waka) Singular Plural m-wa(I/II) -yewaka -owaka m-mi(III/IV) -owaka -yowaka ji-ma(V/VI) -lowaka -yowaka ki-vi(VII/VIII) -chowaka -vyowaka n(IX/X) -yowaka -zowaka u(XI) -owaka see n(X) or ma(VI) class ku(XV/XVII) -kowaka pa(XVI) -powaka mu(XVIII) -mowaka
Some forms not commonly seen in modern Standard Swahili are absent from the table. See Appendix:Swahili verbs for more information.

• Verbal derivations:
  • Causative: -washa (“to set something on fire”)

waka

1. giant armadillo, Priodontes maximus

• Lizot, Jacques (2004), Diccionario enciclopédico de la lengua yãnomãmɨ‎^[8] (in Spanish), Vicariato apostólico de Puerto Ayacucho, →ISBN