Lingala dictionary · browse all
mawa
MA-wa
sorrow / compassion
French: tristesse / compassion
Liwa ya nkoko epesi libota mawa monene.
Grandparent's death brought great sorrow to the family.
La mort du grand-parent a apporté un grand chagrin à la famille.
Sorrow — and the tenderness of feeling it alongside someone. Mawa is sorrow, but also the pity and compassion you feel for another's pain — "nazali na mawa" can mean I am sad, or I feel for you. In times of loss it is the word that names the room. To sit in mawa with a grieving family, saying little, is itself a Congolese way of offering comfort.
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