Lengua zulú

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Zulu language

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Zulu(called isiZuluin Zulu), is a language of the Zulu

people with about 10 million speakers, the vast majority

over 95%) of whom live in South Africa. Zulu is the most

widely spoken home language in South Africa (24% of the

population) as well as being understood by over 50% of the

population (Ethnologue 2005). It became one of South

Africa's 11 official languages in 1994 at the end of apartheid.

Geographical distribution

Zulu

isiZulu

Spoken in: South Africa

ZimbabweMalawi

Mozambique

Swaziland

Region: Zululand, Durban, Johannesburg

Total speakers: First language - 10 million

Second language - 16 million

Ranking: 70

Languagefamily:

Niger-CongoAtlantic-CongoVolta-Congo

Benue-Congo languagesBantoidSouthernNarrow BantuCentralSouth Central Narrow Bantu

languagesNguniZulu

Official status

Officiallanguage in:

South Africa

Swaziland

Regulated by: Zulu Language Board

Language codes

ISO 639-1: zu

ISO 639-2: zul

ISO 639-3: zul(http://www.sil.org/iso639-

3/documentation.asp?id=zul)

Contents

1 Geographical distribution 2 History 3 Contemporary usage 4 Phonology

4.1 Vowels 4.2 Consonants 4.3 Click consonants 4.4 Tonal

5 Grammar 5.1 Nouns 5.2 Verbs

5.2.1 Simple verb stems 5.2.2 Complex verb stems 5.2.3 Subject prefixes 5.2.4 Object prefixes

5.3 The imperative

5.4 The infinitive 5.5 The present

5.5.1 The participial form 5.5.2 The subjunctive

5.6 The perfect 5.6.1 The stative

5.7 The preterite 5.7.1 The consecutive

5.8 The future I 5.9 Other tenses

6 Phrases

7 Sample text 8 Common place names in Zulu 9 The 'Zulu'/'isiZulu' debate 10 Zulu words in South African English 11 References 12 See also 13 Sources 14 Books 15 External links

15.1 Grammars 15.2 Dictionaries

15.3 Newspapers 15.4 Software 15.5 Literature and culture


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Zulu belongs to the South-Eastern group of Bantu languages (the Nguni group).

The language is widely spoken in KwaZulu-Natal (81% of the province's population are Zulu first language speakers),

Mpumalanga (26%) and Gauteng (21%). It is also spoken in some other African countries, with significant Zulu-

peaking populations in Lesotho and Swaziland. Ndebele, spoken in Zimbabwe, Swazi and the Nguni language

ormerly spoken in Malawi are all closely related to Zulu and developed from nineteenth century Zulu migrant

populations. Xhosa, the predominant language in the Eastern Cape, and Zulu are also mutually intelligible.

HistoryThe Zulu presence in South Africa dates from about the fourteenth century AD. Much like the Xhosa who had moved

nto South Africa during earlier waves of the Bantu migrations, the Zulu assimilated many sounds from the San and

Khoi languages of the country's earliest inhabitants. This has resulted in the preservation of click consonants in Zulu

nd Xhosa, (the sounds are unique to Southern Africa except for the Australian Aborigine Damin ceremonial

anguage) despite the extinction of many San and Khoi languages.

Zulu, like all indigenous Southern African languages, was an oral language until contact with missionaries from

Europe, who documented the language using the Latin alphabet. The first written document in Zulu was a Bible

ranslation that appeared in 1883. In 1901, John Dube (1871-1946), a Zulu from Natal, created the Ohlange Institute,

he first native educational institution in South Africa. He was also the author ofInsila kaShaka, the first novel written

n isiZulu (1933). Another pioneering Zulu writer was Reginald Dhlomo, author of several historical novels of the

9th-century leaders of the Zulu nation: : U-Dingane(1936), U-Shaka(1937), U-Mpande(1938), U-Cetshwayo

1952) and U-Dinizulu(1968). Other notable contributors to Zulu literature include Benedict Wallet Vilakazi and,

more recently, Oswald Mbuyiseni Mtshali.

The written form of Zulu was controlled by the Zulu Language Board of KwaZulu-Natal. This board has now been

disbanded and superseded by the Pan South African Language Board (http://www.pansalb.org.za/) that promotes the

use of all eleven official languages of South Africa.

Contemporary usage

English, Dutch and later Afrikaans had been the only official languages used by all South African governments before

994. However in the Kwazulu bantustan the Zulu language was widely used. All education in the country at the high-

chool level was in English or Afrikaans. Since the demise of apartheid in 1994, Zulu has been enjoying a marked

evival. Zulu-language television was introduced by the SABC in the early 1980s and it broadcasts news and many

hows in Zulu. Zulu radio is very popular and newspapers such as isoLezwe (http://www.isolezwe.co.za/), Ilanga

http://www.ilanganews.co.za/) and UmAfrika in the Zulu language are available, mainly available in Kwazulu-Natal

province and in Johannesburg. Recently, the first full length feature film in Zulu (Yesterday) was nominated for an

Oscar.

South African matriculation requirements no longer specify which South African language needs to be taken as a

econd language, and some people have made the switch to learning Zulu. However people taking Zulu at high-school

evel overwhelmingly take it as first language: according to recent statistics [1] (http://www.mail-

rchive.com/[email protected]/msg00412.html) Afrikaans is still over 30 times more popular than

Zulu as asecondlanguage. The mutual intelligibility of many Nguni languages, has increased the likelihood of Zulu

becoming the lingua franca of the Eastern half of the country although the political dominance of Xhosa-speaking

people on national level militates against this really happening. (The predominant language in the Western Cape and

Northern Cape is Afrikaans - see the map below.

n the 1994 film The Lion King, in the Circle of Life song, the phrases Ingonyama nengw' enamabala(English:A lion

and a leopard come to this open place),Nants ingonyama nagithi Baba(English:Here comes a lion, Father) andSiyonqoba(English: We will conquer) were used. In some movie songs, like "This Land", the voice saysBusa Le

Lizwe bo(Rule this land) andBusa ngothando bo(Rule with love) were used too.

Phonology


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One of the most distinctive features of Zulu is the use of click consonants. This feature is shared with several other

anguages of Southern Africa, but is almost entirely confined to this region. There are three basic clicks in Zulu:

c- dental (comparable to a sucking of teeth) q- alveolar (comparable to a bottle top 'pop') x- lateral (comparable to a click one may do for a walking horse)

These can have several variants such as being voiced, aspirated or nasalised so that there are a total of about 15

different click sounds in Zulu. The same sounds occur in Xhosa, where they are used more frequently than in Zulu.

Vowels

Vowels are long when they are the stressed syllable.

Consonants

IPAExample

(IPA)Example(Written)

Meaning Notes

[i] [siza] -siza "help" This vowel is pronounced somewhat like easeinEnglish.

[u] [umuzi] umuzi "village" Somewhat like English vowel in the word loom.

[e] [umgieli] umgibeli "passenger" e ise

when the following syllable contains an "i" or a"u", or final

[] [pa] -pheka "cook" e is everywhere else

[o] [umaoti] umakoti "bride"o is owhen the following syllable contains an "i" or a"u", or final

[] [ggo] ogogo "grandmother" o is everywhere else

[a] [dada] -dada "puzzle" Is pronounced somewhat like mamain English.

labial alveolarpost-

alveolarpalatal velar glottal labial-velar

plosive p p b t t d k k

nasal m n

fricative f v s z h

affricate t d kx

approximant j w

lateral approximant l

lateral fricative

IPA Example (IPA)Example(Written)

Meaning Notes

[m] [umama] umama "my/our mother" This consonant is pronounced as in English.

[n] [unina] unina"his/her/theirmother"

This consonant is pronounced as in nineinEnglish.

[] [ioni] inyoni "bird"This consonant is pronounced as in Frenchvignette.


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[] [igane] ingane "child" This consonant is pronounced as insing.

[p] [ipipi] ipipi"pipe forsmoking"

This consonant is pronounced as inspeech.

[p] [pa] -pheka "cook" This consonant is pronounced as inpin.

[t] [itije] itiye "tea" This consonant is pronounced as in "step".

[t

] [tata

] -thatha "take"

This consonant is pronounced somewhat as in

English "top".

[k] [kumnandi] kumnandi "it is delicious" This consonant is pronounced as in English"skill".

[k] [ukuza] ukuza "to come"This consonant does not exist in English, anejective. [verify]

[k] [ikanda] ikhanda "head"This consonant is pronounced somewhat like cin "cat".

[g] [ggo] ogogo "grandmother" This consonant is pronounced somewhat like ingo, but fully voiced.

[] [uaa] ubaba "my/our father" This consonant is pronounced with implosion.

[b] [bala] -bhala "write" This consonant is pronounced more or less as inEnglish bed, but fully voiced.

[d] [idada] idada "duck" This consonant is pronounced more or less as inEnglish duck, but fully voiced.

[f] [ifu] ifu "cloud"This consonant is pronounced more or less as inEnglishfun.

[v] [vala] -vala "close" This consonant is pronounced as in English very.

[s] [i

si

su] isisu "stomach" This consonant is pronounced as in Englishsay.[z] [umzuzu] umzuzu "moment" As in English "zoo"

[] [iumi] ishumi "ten" This consonant is pronounced as in Englishshall.

[] [amba] -hamba "go" This consonant is pronounced as in Englishahead.

[h] [ihai] ihhashi "horse"This consonant is pronounced as in Englishhand.

[l] [lala] -lala "sleep" This consonant is pronounced as in English leaf.

[] [ala] -hlala "sit"This consonant is pronounced as in Welsh

Llanelli.

[] [a] -dla "eat" This consonant is voiced form of .

[t] [utani] utshani "grass" This consonant is pronounced as the Englishchin.

[] [uu] uju "honey"This consonant is pronounced as the English

jump.

[kx, k,

kl][umklmlo] umklomelo "prize" This consonant varies by speaker.

[j] [ujise] uyise "his/her/theirfather"

This vowel is pronounced as inyesin English.

[w] [wla] wela "cross" This vowel is pronounced as in wallin English.


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Click consonants

Tonal

Like the great majority of other Bantu and African languages, Zulu is tonal; that is, the same sequence of consonants

nd vowels can have different meanings when said with a rising or falling or high or low intonation. Yet, as in nearly

ll other such languages, it is conventionally written without any indication of tone. As a rough rule of thumb, drop

he voice on the next-to-last syllable of each word, and lengthen that syllable as well.

Grammar

Some of the main grammatical features of Zulu are:

Constituent word order is Subject Verb Object. Morphologically, it is an agglutinative language. As in other Bantu languages, Zulu nouns are classified into

fifteen morphological classes (orgenders), with differentprefixes for singular and plural. Various parts of speech thatqualify a noun must agree with the noun according to itsgender. These agreements usually reflect part of the originalclass that it is agreeing with. An example of this is the useof the class 'aba-':

Bonke abantu abaqatha basepulazini bayagawula.

All the strong people of the farm are felling (trees).

Here, the various agreement that qualify the word 'abantu' (people) can be seen in effect.

Example (IPA) Example (Written) Meaning Notes

[] [iii] icici "earring"

[] [uua:za] ukuchaza "to explain"

[g] [isi

gi:no] isigcino "end"

[] [iwawa] incwancwa "sour corn meal"

[] [i

osi] ingcosi "a bit"

[!] [i!a!a] iqaqa "polecat"

[!] [i!ude] iqhude "rooster"

[g!] [um

g!ilo] uMgqibelo "Saturday"

[!] [i

!la] inqola "cart"

[!] [i!ndo] ingqondo "intelligence"

[] [io] ixoxo "frog"

[] [uuasa] ukuxhasa "to support"

[g] [uu

ga] ukugxoba "to stamp"

[] [i

a] inxeba "wound"

[] [i

e] ingxenye "part"

Provinces of South Africa in which Zulu is spokenas a home language by a significant proportion of

the population


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Its verbal system shows a combination of temporal and aspectual categories in their finite paradigm. Typicallyverbs have two stems, one for Present-Indefinite and another for Perfect. Different prefixes can be attached tothese verbal stems to specify subject agreement and various degrees of past or future tense. For example, in theword uyathanda("he loves"), the Present stem of the verb is -thanda, the prefix u-expresses third-personsingular subject and -ya-is a filler used in short sentences.

Suffixes are also put into common use to show the causative or reciprocal forms of a verb stem.

Most property words (words which are encoded as adjectives in English) are represented by things calledrelatives, such is the sentence umuntu ubomvu("the person is red"), the word ubomvu(root -bomvu) behavessimilarly to a verb and uses the agreement prefix u-, but there are subtle differences, for example, it does not usethe infix -ya-.

Nouns

The Zulu noun consists of two essential parts, the prefix and the stem, though the prefix can be analysed further.

Using the prefixes, nouns can be grouped into noun classes, which are numbered consecutively, to ease comparison

with other Bantu languages. So, for example, the nouns abafana(youth) and abangane(friend) belong to Class 2,

haracterised by the prefix aba-, whereas isibongo(surname) and isihahla(tree) belong to Class 7, characterised by

he prefix isi-.

Each noun class has a well-defined grammatical role, as well as a more loosely defined semantic one. The

grammatical number of the noun, whether singular or plural, is determined by the prefix; thus, all noun classes can be

organised into singular and plural pairs. For example, all nouns of Class 7 (prefix isi-) have plurals from Class 8

prefix izi-).

Examples:

Classes 14 (ubu-) and 15 (uku-) form an exception to this rule, as they have no corresponding plural classes (if

necessary, plurals of Class 14 are formed from class 6. nouns of Class 15 have no plural forms).

Furthermore, the class of the noun determines the forms of other parts of speech, i.e. verbs, adjectives, etc - their

prefixes are derived from those of the substantive classes, and will be in agreement with them.

Examples:

umfana omkhulu (large youth)isihlahla esikhulu (large tree)

n terms of semantics, groups of similar nouns belong to similar noun classes. For example, names and surnames are

only found in class 1a. Designations of persons which are derived from verbs (eg. singer, from sing) are commonly in

lass 1, abstract concepts (eg. beauty) in class 14, loanwords in classes 9 and 5, and nouns derived from the infinitives

of verbs (eg. eating, from eat) in class 15.

The following table gives an overview of Zulu noun class, arranged according to singular-plural pairs.

Singular Plural

umuntu (man) abantu (men)

ugogo (grandmother) ogogo (grandmothers)igama (name) amagama (names)

inhlanzi (fish) izinhlanzi (fish)

Class Singular Plural

1/2 um(u)-1 aba-2, abe-3

1a/2b u- o-

3/4 um(u)-1 imi-2


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um-replaces umu-before monosyllabic stems, eg. umuntu(man).

aba-and imi-replace ab-and im-respectively before stems beginning in a vowel, eg. abongameli(president).

abe-occurs only in rare cases, eg. in abeSuthu(the Sotho) or abeLungu(the Whites, the Europeans).

ame-occurs only in one instance, namely amehlo(eyes) the plural of iso(eye; originally: ihlo).

isi-and izi-replace is-and iz-respectively before stems beginning with a vowel, eg. isandla/izandla(hand/hands).

The placeholder Nin the prefixes iN-and iziN-for m, nor no letter at all, i.e. in classes 9 and 10 there are three

different prefixes, though only one per noun stem. Examples:

N- = i-: imali (money)

N- = im-: impela (truth)

N- = in-: inhlanzi (fish)

Rare, see above.

Verbs

n contrast to the noun, the Zulu verb has a variable number of components, which are arranged in sequence accordingo a defined set of rules. Examples of these include:

a subject prefix (SP), which agrees with the subject of the sentence a temporal morpheme, which indicates the tense of the verb an object prefix (OP), which agrees with the object of the sentence the verb stem (VS), which carries the underlying meaning of the verb a suffix, which can signify various aspects of the verb (eg. tense or modality)

The verb stem and the suffix are always present, but the other parts are optional, ie their presence depends on the

unction of the verb in the sentence.

Simple verb stems

Simple verb stems are ones to which no suffixes are attached that would alter the basic meaning of the verb. Examples

nclude:

Complex verb stems

Complex verb stems are derived from simple verb stems by attaching various suffixes, thus changing the meaning.

5/6 i- ama-, ame-4

7/8 is(i)-5 iz(i)-5

9/10 iN-6 iziN-6

11/10 u- iziN-6

14 ubu- (ama-)7

15 uku-

-w- to fall

-dl- to eat

-enz- to make, to do

-nqamul- to break [something]

-os- to cook, to roast

-siz- to help


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Thus, we can take the stem -enz(to make, to do) and apply a few common suffixes to get different shades of meaning.

Eg.:

Subject prefixes

n Zulu, a subject prefix corresponds to the subjective case of English personal pronouns, such as Ior he. Unlike

personal pronouns, however, Zulu subject prefix cannot stand alone, but must be attached to a verb. Zulu does possess

set of independent personal pronouns; however, these are only used to emphasise the subject to whom they refer.

An example with the subject prefix si-and the personal pronoun thina(both meaning we):

There is a unique subject prefix for each grammatical person and each noun class.

The non-initial subject prefixes (SP-) are used when a further prefix is attached to the SP, for example in the negativeof certain tenses.

Object prefixes

n Zulu, the object prefix is used to designate the direct object or indirect object of a verb (formal Zulu does not

distinguish between these two cases). Just like the subject prefixes, object prefixes cannot stand independently, but

must be attached to a verb stem. Independent personal pronouns can be used in conjunction with object prefixes aswell, serving, again, to shift the emphases of the sentences.

Examples with the OP -m-(him/her/it) und the personal pronoun yena(him/her/it):

-enz- to make, to do

-enzan- to do something together

-enzek- to be doable i.e. possible

-enzel- to do something for someone

-enzis- to bring someone for doing something

-enziw- to be made, to be done

Sihamba manje. Weare going now.

Thinasihamba manje. Weare going now.

initial SP

Person Singular Plural

1st ngi- si-

2nd u- ni-

Class Singular Plural1/2 u- ba-

1a/2b u- ba-

3/4 u- i-

5/6 li- a-

7/8 si- zi-

9/10 i- zi-

11/10 lu- zi-

14 bu-15 ku-

non-initial SP-


1st -ngi- -si-

2nd -wu- -ni-

Class Singular Plural1/2 -ka- -ba-

1a/2b -ka- -ba-

3/4 -wu- -yi-

5/6 -li- -wa-

7/8 -si- -zi-

9/10 -yi- -zi-

11/10 -lu- -zi-

14 -bu-15 -ku-

Ngimbona. I see him.


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There is a unique object prefix for each person and noun class.

The imperative

Formation of the imperative:

The only exception to this is the common verb stem -z-, to come, whose singular and plural imperative forms are

ozaand wozanirespectively.

Examples:

The infinitive

Formation of the infinitive:

Aff.: uku - (OP) - VS - aNeg.: uku - nga - (OP) - VS - i

Ngimnika isipho. I give hera gift.

Ngimbona yena. I see him.

Object prefixes


1st -ngi- -si-

2nd -ku- -ni-

Classe Singular Plural

1/2 -m- -ba-

1a/2b -m- -ba-

3/4 -wu- -yi-

5/6 -li- -wa-

7/8 -si- -zi-

9/10 -yi- -zi-

11/10 -lu- -zi-

14 -bu-

15 -ku-

without object with object

Singular: (yi) - VS - a OP - VS - ePlural: (yi) - VS - ani OP - VS - eni

without object with object

Stem Singular Plural Singular Plural

-dl- Yidla!

eat!

Yidlani!

eat!

Yidle (inhlanzi)!

eat it(the fish)!

Yidleni (inhlanzi)!

Eat it(the fish)

-enz- Yenza!

Do

Yenzani!

Do!

Kwenze!

Do this!

Kwenzeni!

Do this!

-siz- Siza!

Help!

Sizani!

Help!

Msize!

Help him!

Msizeni!

Help him!


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Examples:

Several sound changes occur, when two vowels occur together. These include:

Furthermore, the suffi -awill be found with verb stems which end in w, never -i.

The present

Formation of the present tense:

Aff.:SP - (ya) - (OP) - VS - aNeg.:a - SP-- (OP) - VS - i

The form -ya-is found when:

the verb is the last word in the sentence the verb contains an object prefix, and the object follows the verb the speaker wants to emphasise the factuality of the statement.

Examples:

The participial form

Formation of the participle form:

Aff.:SPP- (OP) - VS - aNeg.:SPP- nga - (OP) - VS - i

Verb stem Infinitive Meaning

-w- ukuwa to fall

ukungawa not to fall

-dl- ukudla to eat

ukungadli not to eat

ukuyidla to eat it (e.g. inhlanzi, the fish)

ukungayidli not to eat it

-enz- ukwenza to do

ukungenzi not to do

-os- ukosa to roast

ukungosi not to roast

-nga- -ng- before vowels

uku- uk- before o

uku- ukw-before other vowels - this sound change occurs automatically in speech.

Uyahamba. He is going.

Uhamba kusasa. He is going in the morning.

Akahambi. He is not going.

Uyangisiza. He is helping me.

Ungisiza namhlanje. He is helping me today.

Akangisizi. He isn't helping me.

Usiza uyise.Uyamsiza uyise.

He is helping his father.


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n the participial form, the subject prefixes u-, ba-and a-of the classes 1, 1a, 2, 2b and 6 become e-, be-and e-

espectively. The participial form is used, among others:

to indicate simultaneity in subordinate clauses with certain conjunction. with certain auxiliary verbs.

Examples:

The subjunctive

Formation of the subjunctive:

Aff.:SCS- (OP) - VS - e

Neg.:SCS- nga - (OP) - VS - i

n the subjunctive, the subject prefix u-of classes 1 and 1a becomes a-. The subjunctive is used

in wishes and polite requests in sequences of requests with certain auxiliary verbs

Beispiele:

The perfect

The perfect tense the recent, although what is meant by 'recent' depends on the speaker. In the colloquial language, the

perfect is often preferred to the preterite.

Formation of the perfect:

Aff.:SP - (OP) - VS - e/ile

Neg.:a - SP-- (OP) - VS - anga

The long form in -ileis found when the verb is the last word in the sentence or clause, otherwise the short form in -eis

used, with the -e-accented.

Examples:

The stative

A range of Zulu verbs indicate a change of state or a process, which tends towards some final goal (cf. inchoative

verbs). To indicate that this final state has been achieved, the stative verb, which is related to the perfect, is used.

Ukhuluma edla. He talks while he eats(Eating, he talks).

Ngambona engasebenzi. I saw that he was not working

Ngamtshela ahambe. I told him he should go.

Woza lapha uzamefuthi! Come here and try itagain!

Umane ahleke. He only laughs.

Sihambile. We went.

Sihambe izolo. We went yesterday.

Asihambanga. We did not go.

Asimbonanga. We have not seen them.


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Formation of the stative:

Aff.:SP - VS - ile

Neg.:a - SP-- VS - ile

Examples:

Note that the form verbs with certain endings, the ending -ileis not used. These are:

This is a unique case, namely the irregular passive -bulaw-from -bulal-.

The preterite

The preterite is used to indicate the distant past, the past preceding the perfect, and as a narrative perfect.

Formation of the preterite:

Aff.:SP + a- (OP) - VS - a

Neg.:a - SP-- (OP) - VS - anga

n the affirmative, because of the merger of the of the SP with a following ain the spoken language, the following

ubject prefixes result for the preterite:

Uyafa. He died,

Ufile. He is dead.Ngiyalamba. I am becoming hungry.

Ngilambile. I am hungry.

Siyabuya. We are turning back.

Sibuyile. We have returned.

Verb stem Stative

-al-, -el- -ele

-an-, -en- -ene

-am-, -em- -eme

-ath-, -eth- -ethe

-as-, -es- -ese

-aw-1 -ewe


1. nga- sa-

2. wa- na-

Class Singular Plural

1/2 wa- ba-

1a/2b wa- ba-

3/4 wa- ya-

5/6 la- a-

7/8 sa- za-

9/10 ya- za-

11/10 lwa- za-

14 ba-


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Examples:

The consecutive

Formation of the consecutive:

Aff.:SP + a- (OP) - VS - aNeg.:SP + a- nga - (OP) - VS - a

The consecutive is used to describe a sequence of consecutive events in the preterite, and differs from it only in the

negative.

Examples:

The future I

Formation of the future tense I:

Aff.:SP - zo - (OP) - (ku) - VS - a

Neg.:a - SP-- zu - (ku)- (OP) - VS - a

The marker of the future tense is the infix zo-in the affirmative and the corresponding -zu-in the negative. The form

s constructed from the auxiliary verb uku-za(or with the auxilairy uku-ya) and the infinitive of the verb. So, ngiza

ukusiza(I am coming to help) = ngizosiza(I will help), or, alternatively ngiya ukusiza(I am going to help) =

ngiyosiza(I will help) - English (as well as French and others) has had a similar development, whereby the verb to go

has become the marker of the future tense. To form the negative, the auxiliary verb is negated and then merged with

he following verb, thus angizi ukusiza= angizusiza. In the case of monosyllabic verb stems, as well as those that

begin with vowels, the prefix -ku-is added to the stem - this becomes -k-before oand -kw-in front of other vowels.

Examples:

Other tenses

Other forms, such as the pluperfect, the future II, the progressive forms or the conjunctive forms are somewhatomplicated. They are formed with single or double uses of the auxiliary verb -ba-, to be, but in practical usage are

bbreviated further.

Phrases

15 kwa-

Sahamba. We went.

Asihambanga. We did not go.

Asimbonanga. We did not see them.

Wavuka wagqoka wahamba. He woke up, dressed, and went out.

Wabaleka wangabheka emuva. He ran away and did not look back.

Ngizokuza. I will come.

Angizukuza. I will not come.

Ngizokwakha. I will build

Angizukwakha. I will not build.

Ngizomsiza. I will help him.

Angizumsiza. I will not help him.


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The following is a list of phrases that can be used when visiting a region where the primary language is Zulu.

Sample text

From the preamble to the South African Constitution)

Thina, bantu baseNingizimu Afrika,Siyakukhumbula ukucekelwa phansi kwamalungelo okwenzeka eminyakeni

yadlula;Sibungaza labo abahluphekela ubulungiswa nenkululeko kulo mhlaba wethu;Sihlonipha labo abasebenzela

ukwakha nokuthuthukisa izwe lethu; futhiSikholelwa ekutheni iNingizimu Afrika ingeyabo bonke abahlala kuyo,

ibumbene nakubasingafani.

Translation:

We, the people of South Africa, Recognize the injustices of our past; Honor those who suffered for justice and

reedom in our land; Respect those who have worked to build and develop our country; and Believe that South Africa

belongs to all who live in it, united in our diversity.

Common place names in Zulu

Zulu place names usually occur in their locativeform, which combines what would in English be separateprepositions with the name concerned. This is usually achieved by simply replacing the i- prefix with an e- prefix (for

xample, 'eGoli' translates literally as 'to/at/in/from Johannesburg' when iGoli is simply Johannesburg), but changes in

he name can also occur (see Durban below). The locatives are given in brackets.

South Africa - iNingizimu Afrika / uMzansi Afrika Durban - iTheku (eThekwini)

Sawubona Hello,to one person

Sanibonani Hello,to a group of people

Unjani? / Ninjani? How are you (sing.)? / How are you (pl.)?

Ngisaphila / Sisaphila I'm okay / We're okay

Ngiyabonga(kakhulu)

Thanks (a lot)

Ngubani igamalakho?

What is your name?

Igama lami ngu... My name is...

Isikhathi sithini? What's the time?

Ngingakusiza? Can I help you?

Uhlala kuphi? Where do you stay?

Uphumaphi? Where are you from?

Hamba kahle / Salakahle

Go well / Stay well(used as goodbye)

Hambani kahle /Salani kahle

Go well / Stay well, to a group of people

Eish!Wow!(No real European equivalent, used in South African English) (you could try a semi-expletive, such as oh my Godor what the f*ck. It expresses a notion of shock and surprise)

Hhayibo No! / Stop! / No way!(used in South African English too)

Yebo Yes

Cha No

Angazi I don't know

Ukhuluma isiNgisina?

Do you speak English?

Ngisaqala ukufundaisiZulu

I've just started learning Zulu


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Johannesburg - iGoli (eGoli) Cape Town - iKapa (eKapa) Pretoria - iPitoli (ePitoli) Pietermaritzburg - uMgungundlovu (eMgungundlovu) Ladysmith - uMnambithi (eMnambithi) Overseas - phesheya

The 'Zulu'/'isiZulu' debate

The Zulu language is called 'isiZulu' in Zulu, 'isi-' being the prefix associated with languages (e.g., isiNgisi = English,siXhosa = Xhosa, isiBhunu = Afrikaans, isiJalimane = German, etc.).

The root wordZulucan take many other forms in Zulu, each with a different meaning. Here is a table showing how

he meanings of two roots -Zuluand ntu- change according to their prefix.

Some prefer to call Zulu isiZulu in English as per the Zulu name for the language. This is similar to the practice of

alling Swahili Kiswahili, but many languages are not called by their native names in English, like German (which is

Deutsch in German) and Japanese (which is Nihongo in Japanese).

Zulu words in South African English

South African English has absorbed many words from the Zulu language. Others, such as the names of local animals

impalaand mambaare both Zulu names) have made their way into standard English. A few examples of Zulu words

used in South African English:

Muti(from umuthi) - medicine Donga(from udonga) - ditch (udonga actually means 'wall' in Zulu) Indaba- conference (it means 'an item of news' in Zulu) inDuna- chief or leader Shongololo(from ishongololo) - millipede Ubuntu- compassion/humanity

References

See also

Zulu (the ethnic group) Shaka Zulu List of Zulu first names Nguni culture Bantu language Tsotsitaal - a Zulu-based creole language spoken in Soweto Swadesh list of Zulu words

Prefix -zulu -ntu

um(u) umZulu(a Zulu person) umuntu(a person)

ama, aba amaZulu(Zulu people) abantu(people)

isi isiZulu(the Zulu language) isintu(culture, heritage, mankind)

ubu - ubuntu(humanity, compassion)

kwa kwaZulu(place of the Zulu people) -

i(li) izulu(the weather/sky/heaven) -

pha phezulu(on top) -

e ezulwini (in, at, to, from heaven) -


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UCLA Language Materials Project

Sources

UCLA Language Materials Project (http://www.lmp.ucla.edu/) - Zulu (http://www.lmp.ucla.edu/Profile.aspx?LangID=23&menu=004)

Books

Dent, G.R. and Nyembezi, C.L.S. (1959) Compact Zulu Dictionary. Pietermaritzburg: Shuter & Shooter. ISBN0-7960-0760-8

Dent, G.R. and Nyembezi, C.L.S. (1969) Scholar's Zulu Dictionary. Pietermaritzburg: Shuter & Shooter. ISBN0-7960-0718-7

Doke, C.M. (1947) Text-book of Zulu grammar. London: Longmans, Green and Co. Doke, C.M. (1953)Zulu-English Dictionary. Johannesburg: Witwatersrand University Press. ISBN 1-86814-

160-8 Doke, C.M. (1958)Zulu-English Vocabulary. Johannesburg: Witwatersrand University Press. ISBN 0-85494-

009-X Nyembezi, C.L.S. (1957)Learn Zulu. Pietermaritzburg: Shuter & Shooter. ISBN 0-7960-0237-1 Nyembezi, C.L.S. (1970)Learn More Zulu. Pietermaritzburg: Shuter & Shooter. ISBN 0-7960-0278-9 Wilkes, Arnett, Teach Yourself Zulu. ISBN 0-07-143442-9

External links

Ethnologue report on Zulu (http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=zul) South African Languages -- IsiZulu (http://salanguages.com/isizulu/) A short English - isiZulu - Japanese phraselist (http://zipangz.homestead.com/untitled4.html) incl. sound file

Grammars

Sifunda isiZulu! (http://www.newt.clara.co.uk/isizulu/) Funda Manje! (http://www.geocities.com/funda_manje/)

Dictionaries

isiZulu.net Zulu - English Online Dictionary (http://isizulu.net/) Zulu - English Dictionary (http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org/definition/Zulu-english/)

Newspapers

Isolezwe (http://www.isolezwe.co.za/)

Software

Spell checker for OpenOffice.org and Mozilla (http://translate.org.za/content/view/1610/54/), OpenOffice.org(http://translate.org.za/content/view/17/32/), Mozilla Firefox web-browser(http://translate.org.za/content/view/1611/54/), and Mozilla Thunderbird email program(http://translate.org.za/content/view/1612/54/) in Zulu

Translate.org.za (http://translate.org.za/) Project to translate Free and Open Source Software into all the officiallanguages of South Africa including Zulu

PanAfrican L10n wiki page on Zulu (http://www.panafril10n.org/wikidoc/pmwiki.php/PanAfrLoc/Zulu)

Literature and culture

KwaZulu-Natal Literary Map (http://literature.kzn.org.za/lit/index.html)

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zulu_language"Categories: Agglutinative languages | Bantu languages | Languages of South Africa | Nguni languages | Tonal


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Lengua zulú

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