Skip to main content
Lake Tanganyika

Lake Tanganyika

5.4
A freshwater lake in central Africa that is the world's longest
  • proper noun
  • /leɪk tæŋəˈnɪkiə/
translation icon : Lago Tanganica
  • Many unique species of fish are found only in Lake Tanganyika.

So Gombe was in Tanzania on Lake Tanganyika.

Examples

  • Tourists often visit Lake Tanganyika for its scenic beauty and biodiversity.

  • The explorers sailed across Lake Tanganyika during their expedition in Africa.

  • I visited Lake Tanganyika last summer.

  • Have you ever seen Lake Tanganyika?

  • Many unique species of fish are found only in Lake Tanganyika.

  • The explorers sailed across Lake Tanganyika during their expedition in Africa.

  • Tourists often visit Lake Tanganyika for its scenic beauty and biodiversity.

Synonyms

Tanganyika
vsLake Tanganyika
3 7.4

A very long freshwater lake in central Africa between Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of the Congo

has identical meaning but includes the word for the body of water

Surface Forms

Morphology

lake + Tanganyika

This is a straightforward place-name formed by the generic noun 'lake' plus the proper name 'Tanganyika'; if a learner knows both constituents they can readily infer it denotes the lake called Tanganyika. The compositional naming pattern (generic term + specific name) is cross-linguistically common, so the meaning is immediately understandable to learners who know the parts.

Etymology

Lake Tanganyika may come from local words tanga and nyika, where tanga is said to mean 'to sail' and nyika 'open land' in some regional languages. The name makes you picture a very long, wild lake people crossed by boat, so it fits the large freshwater lake we know today.