Topics To Be Covered

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The passage discusses learning Zulu pronunciation, greetings, commands, sentence structure, and selected linguistic structures.

The main topics covered in learning Zulu according to the passage are vowels, greetings, commands, copulatives, sentence construction in basic tenses, prepositions, locatives, nouns, possessive constructions, adjectives, and pronouns.

When adding prefixes like na- that start with a vowel, the vowels combine (coalesce) according to rules where a+a=a, a+i=e, and a+u=o.

After successfully completing this training, you will be able to

• properly pronounce Zulu speech sounds, words and sentences

• perform specific speech acts, such as greeting, giving commands and making statements

• produce and understand simple sentences in the three basic tenses, in both positive and negative form

• formulate and answer questions by using selected question words, and

• illustrate a thorough knowledge of the structure and meaning of selected linguistic structures.

Topics to be covered

 Vowels  Prepositions
 How to greet in Isizulu  Locatives
 Commands  Nouns
 Copulatives  Possessive constructions
 Construction of sentences in 3 basic  Adjectives
tenses  What is a pronoun

INTRODUCTION

Zulu, or isiZulu as an endonym, is a Southern Bantu language of the Nguni branch spoken in Southern
Africa. The Zulu people are thought to have migrated to this area along the east coast of Africa and
through central Africa before the 16th century. It is the language of the Zulu people, with about 12
million native speakers, who primarily inhabit the province of KwaZulu-Natal of South Africa. Zulu is
closely related to Xhosa, Swati, and Ndebele.

The Zulu language consist of vowels of different lengths.

Below is the Zulu alphabet and pronunciation.

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1. Zulu alphabet and pronunciation.

2. Vowels
Mostly accompanies a consonant e.g ba, be, bi, bo, bu

vowel
a compares with the English a in bark ubaba (father)

e compares with the English e in letha


red
i compares with the English ee in knee mina
o compares with the English o as in sore bona
u u compares with the English oo in fool fudu

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Vowel coalescence

Because Zulu is an agglutinating language, i. e. a language where morphemes are combined to form a
word, sound changes do occur in order to solve problems as far as the pronunciation and orthography is
concerned. The sound change is known as vowel coalescence. In Zulu two vowels should not appear
next to each other in the same word. To avoid this juxtaposition of vowels, they coalesce (merge) to
form one vowel. This process is known as vowel coalescence. Vowel coalescence can only take place if
the first of the two vowels is an -a-. When the morpheme na- which conveys the meaning of „and‟ or
„(together) with‟ is combined with a noun to form one word, vowels next to each other merge, e.g.

na + abafana > nabafana (and the boys)


na + indoda > nendoda (together with the man)
na + umntwana > nomntwana (and the child).
The rule is:

a+a>a

a+i>e

a+u>o

Examples

na- + amandla > namandla (have strength / be strong)


na- + umusa > nomusa (have kindness / be kind)
na- + isibindi > nesibindi (have courage, i.e. to have a liver)
na- + ubuntu > nobuntu (have humanity / be human)
na- + uvalo > novalo (have fear / be afraid)
na- + ulaka > nolaka (have anger / be angry)
na- + umkhuhlane > nomkhuhlane (have a cold)
na- + ikhanda > nekhanda (have a headache)
na- + inhlanhla > nenhlanhla (have luck)

When na- is used to connect words in sentences it is called the connective na-, e.g. Umfana uhamba
nenja (The boy walks with the dog). Sithenga ikhofi nobisi netiye esitolo (We buy coffee, milk and tea at
the store). When -na- however, is combined with a subject concord it conveys the meaning of 'to have',
e.g. UMandla unemoto (Mandla has a car). Banemali (They have money). When -na- is used as in these
two sentences it is termed the associative copulative. When we use a negative subject concord, no
vowels merge, (na remains as it is), e.g.

Sihamba ngezinyawo ngoba asinamali ukuthenga imoto (We go on foot because we do not have money
to buy a car). Anginandaba! (I do not care, i.e. I do not have a case).

Semi vowels

Semi vowel
y compares with the English y in yet Yebo (yes)

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e compares with the English w in wool Wena (you)

Consonants

Consonants
f is the same as the English f in fix Umfula river
v compares with the English v in vetenarian vala
sh compares with the English sh in sharp Shaya hit
tsh compares with the English ch cheque Tshela telltsha - tshala plant
tshe - tshela tell tshu -
isitshudeni student
th compares with the English t in tea Thatha take the - thela pour
thi - thinta touch
t compares with the Afrikaans t in 'tog' but has an abrupt sharp Intombi/girl ti - itiye tea
pronunciation
ph compares with the English p in pin Pheka cook
p compares with the English p in speak but has an abrupt sharp Impi/war
pronunciation.
kh compares with the English c in cat Isikhathi/time
k k compares with the Afrikaans k as in 'kop' but has an abrupt Inkunzi/ bull
sharp pronunciation
g compares with the English g in gun ugogo
n compares with the English n in neat inkomo/cow
ng compares with the English ng in singer. ingane
ny compares with the English ng in singer. inyama
d compares with the English d in duck amadoda/men
bh compares with the English b in boy ibhola
h compares with the English h in hand hamba/go
hl hlaba/stab hlala /sit
dl dlala dlula
j compares with the English j as in joy jabula/ rejoice
b bi - biza call ba - baleka run away be - beka put down bo - bona see
bh bhe - bhema smoke bhu - ibhuku book bho - ibholoho bridge
d da - idada duck de - deka lay a table do - udonga wall
dl dla - dla eat dlu - edlula pass dle - idlelo pasture
f fa - faka put in fi - fika arrive fu - funda learn
g ge - geza wash gi - gibela ride go - goba bend
gw gwa - ugwayi tobacco gwi - gwinya swallow gwe - ingwenya crocodile
h ha - hamba walk ho - hola earn he - uhela hawk
hl hlo - hlola check hla - hlala sit down hle - hleka laugh hlu - hlupha bother
j ja - igeja hoe ji - jika turn jo - iJozi Johannesburg ju - juluka sweat
v va - vala close ve - vela appear vi - vimba stop vu - vula open

w we - wena you wo - wona it wa - phiwa be given


k ka - ikati cat ki - ikilasi class ko - isikolo school ka - kahle good ku - kuphela only
ki - kithi with us ka - nika give ku - ukuhamba to walk ki - kwakithi at our place

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kh kha - khala -cry khu - khula grow khe - khetha choose kho - khona be there
l la - landa fetch le - lenga hang lu - lutho nothing
m ma - umama my mother mi - mina I/ me mo - mosa waste
mb mba - imamba mamba mbe - imbewu seed mbi - intombi girl mbo - imbobo hole
mp mpi - impilo life mpo - umpompi tap mpe - impela really
mf mfa - umfana boy mfu - umfundisi preacher mfi - umfino vegetables mfe - imfene baboon fa -
imfaduko dish cloth mfi - imfiliji mouth organ
mv mvu - imvu sheep mve - imvelo nature mva - imvali gate-keeper
ndl ndla - indlala hunger ndle - indlela path ndlo - indlovu elephant ndlu - indlu house
ng nga - ngani why nge - ngenhla upper side ngi - iNgisi Englishman nge - ngena enter ngo - ingozi
danger ngu - ingubo blanket
nhla nhla - inhlanhla luck nhle - inhle is good nhlo - inhloko head
nk nka - inkabi ox nko - inkosi king nku - inkunzi bull
mny mnya - omnyama which is black mn - mningi it is much
nsi nsi - insimu field nsu - usuku day nse - insephe springbuck
nta nta - intaba mountain nte - intethe locust
nto - into thing
ntsh ntshe - intshe ostrich ntshi - ujantshi railway ntsho - ntshontsha steal
ny nya - inyama meat nye - ezinye some nyo - inyoka snake
nz nza - inzalo offspring nzi - amanzi water nzu - inzuzo profit
gc gci - gcina end gca - gcagca marry gce - igceke yard
gcw gcwa - gcwala becomes full gcwe - gcwele is full
gqa gqa - ugqayinyanga gate-keeper gqi - ngoMgqibelo on Saturday gqo - gqoka dress
qh qha - qha no qhe - qhela give way qhu - qhubeka proceed
nqa nqa - nqamula cut off nqe - isinqe buttocks nqo - inqola wagon nqu - nquma cut
xh xho - isiXhosa Xhosa language xhu - xhuma jump xha - unoxhaka mouse-trap
xhi - ixhiba traditional Zulu kitchen
nx nxe - ukunxele left nxu - nxusa beg nxi - isinxibi beggar
gx gxo - isigxobo pole gxu - gxuma join gxa - umgxala crow-bar

HOW TO GREET

Greeting:

The most important and effective way to reach out to a person is to greet him/her in his/her own
language. In true Zulu tradition greeting is a very important procedure. It is a structured encounter and
it is considered ill-mannered not to greet either a friend or a stranger in passing. One should always
greet. Ubuntu (humanity towards others) plays a prominent role in the African culture. It is therefore
not sufficient to merely say “Sawubona!” You should also take the time to enquire about the other
person’s well-being: “Unjani?” Greeting one person in the plural form is an indication of respect as well
as inquiring about the person’s family members. In Zulu the greeting always stays the same whether it
is morning, noon or night.

Who greets first?

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Normally, the person who arrives somewhere is supposed to greet those present first but according to
Zulu custom the junior person should greet the senior person first. Should it happen that two people
arrive at the same place simultaneously, e.g. if they meet in town, it does not matter who greets first.

Forms of address:

When greeting a person older than yourself (more or less your parents’ age), baba 'father' would be
used for a man and mama 'mother' for a woman. For greetings of people of your grandparents’ age
mkhulu, 'grandfather', and gogo‘grandmother’ are used as forms of address. Greeting someone of your
own age you would address her as sisi, 'sister', and bhuti, 'brother' for the male counterpart.

Sawubona or Sakubona can be used at any time of the day or night to greet one person,

Unjani? Kunjani? Usaphila na? are different ways of saying 'how are you?' Ngikhona, Ngisekhona and
Ngisaphila mean

Sala kahle! (You (singular) stay well!) Usale kahle! (You (singular) stay well!). This is regarded as a more

polite form of saying goodbye.

GREETINGS

Hello! (to one person Sawubona!


Hello! (to more than one person) Sanibonani!
How are you? (to one person) Unjani?
How are you? (to more than one person) Ninjani?
I am well. Ngikhona, ngiyaphila.
We are well. Sikhona, siyaphila.
Goodbye! Stay well! (to one person) Sala kahle!
Goodbye! Go well! (to one person) Hamba kahle!
Stay well! (to more than one person) S Salani kahle!
Goodbye! Goodbye! Go well! (to more than one Hambani kahle!
person)
Good night! Ulale kahle/ ulale kamnandi!
See you soon. Siyobonana masinyane.
See you later. Siyobonana emva kwesikhashana.

COURTESIES

Thank you. Ngiyabonga.


Thank you very much. Ngiyabonga kakhulu/ ngibonga kakhulu.
Please. Ngicela ...
You are welcome. Kubonga mina
Excuse me, what did you say? Uxolo, utheni?
Excuse me. Uxolo.
It doesn't matter. Akunandaba
Sorry, excuse me. Ngiyaxolisa uxolo
It's my pleasure. Kubonga mina
Yes Yebo

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No Cha/Qha
I don’t know Angazi
I don’t understand Angiqondi
Please repeat Ngicela uphinde
I don’t know. Angazi.
I don’t understand Angiqondi.
Please repeat. Ngicela uphinde.
Please talk slower. Ngicela ukhulume ngokunensa/ ngicela ukhulume
kancane.
Will you please write it down. Ngicela ukubhale phansi.

Make use of the given parts or words to complete the following greetings. Remember to address the
person(s)directly:

Isibonelo: ------saphila na (uRose)?

Usaphila na Rose?

Exercise

a) Sa………..bona (uKhabo)! (f) Hamba-- kahle (abafana)!

(b) Sanibona…………(amakhosikazi)! (g) Sala-- --hle (odadewethu)!

(c) U--phila na (uThandeka)? (h) Ngikhona. Wena -sa-----na?

(d) Uhamb- kahle (uThoko)! (i) Si--phila. ---- nisaphila na?

(e) Usal- kahle (uDeleni)!

Commands

Expressing commands

Commands in Zulu are aimed at a person with lower or equal status. It may sometimes be better to use
polite requests. One finds positive commands and negative commands.

Positive commands

You will notice that it is very easy to form positive commands, i.e. if you tell someone what to do. You
actually already encountered commands when we discussed the greeting forms, e.g. Hamba kahle and
Salani kahle, etc. A command can be directed to one person, e.g. Hamba mfana (Go boy).
In this case, only the stem of the verb (-hamba) is used. The doctor for instance says, Phuza umuthi
ntombi ! (Drink the medicine girl!). In the singular the verb stem (here -phuza) is used as it is without a
concord together with the direct address – vocative
A command can also be directed to more than one person, e.g. Hambani bafana (Go boys).
In the plural command -ni is added to the verb stem (-hamba > -hambani) together with the direct
address e.g. Phuzani umuthi zintombi! (Drink the medicine girls!).
In the case of vowel verb stems, y- is added to the stem, e.g. Yenza itiye Lindi! (Make tea Lindi!)

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Yosani inyama bafana (Braai the meat boys!). A direct command can only be given if the addressee(s)
(person(s) commanded) is/are equal or lower in status as the speaker (person who gives the command).
If the person commanded happens to be of a higher status the plural form of the command will be used,
e.g. Ngenani Mnumzane Sibiya (Enter Mr Sibiya).
Verb stems such as -osa and -enza, which commence in vowels, form commands by attaching y- in front,
e.g.

Yedlula esitolo sezincwadi (Pass the book Yedlulani esitolo sezincwadi (Pass
store). the book store).

Yosa inyama Jabu (Roast the meat Jabu). Yosani inyama boJabu (Roast the meat Jabu and
company).

Yenza umsebenzi mfundi (Do the work Yenzani umsebenzi bafundi (Dothe work pupils).
pupil).

Negative commands

If someone tells you not do something or what you must not do, e.g. Singular: Ungavuli umlomo! (Do
not open your mouth! / You must not open your mouth!)

Plural: Ningavuli imilomo! (Do not open your mouths! / You must not open your mouths!)

To express this type of negative command, follow the pattern:

subject concord u- (singular) or ni- (plural) + -nga- + the verb which ends in –i.

One can also tell a person or persons what not to do or where not to go by means of musa(ni) + uku- +
the verb which ends in –a, e.g.

Singular negative commands Plural negative command


Musa ukungena esangweni (Do not enter at the Musani ukungena esangweni (Do not enter at the
gate). gate - plural).
Musa ukubanga umsindo (Do not make a noise). Musani ukubanga umsindo (Do not make a noise –
plural).

Copulatives

While Zulu does have a copula verb -ba (“to be”), it is not used in the present indicative. Instead, various
ways of expressing the copula exist in this case, depending on the part of speech that is used as the
predicative. In the other tenses and moods, the appropriate form of -ba is used. The copulative form
also has a negative form. It is formed as in verbs, by prefixing a-. The copula of the copulative of
identification in Zulu is ngi and not nga or ng- or ngu as generally accepted. The most widely used
classification of copulatives is the one based on the kind of information these words convey. Poulos and
Msimang (1998), state that in isiZulu for instance, four main categories into which copulatives can be
sub-divided, namely,

(i) identifying copulative

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(ii) descriptive copulative

(iii) locational copulative

(iv) associative copulative.

The copulative form of a noun expresses equation or identity. It is formed by prefixing the copulative
particle (also called the identifying prefix) to the full form of the noun. The copulative particle is ngu-
when the noun prefix begins with u-, o- or a-, or when prefixed to the second and third person singular
pronouns yena and wena. But it in some instances it is wu- for some nouns. When the noun begins with
i-, or for the remaining pronouns (including demonstratives), the copulative particle is yi-. The particle
drops its vowel when followed by another vowel (as is the case with most nouns).

This copulative form can be used on its own to make an indefinite sentence in the present tense,
translating roughly to "it's (word)".

Ngumuntu. — It's a person.


Yimi. — It's me.
Nguwe. — It's you.
Ngamanzi. — It's water.

When used to equate something to something else, or to say that one thing is a kind of something else,
the subject concord is prefixed to the copulative form.

Inja iyisilwane. — A dog is an animal.


Ikati liyisilwane. — A cat is an animal.
Izilwane zingabantu. — Animals are people.
Ngingumfazi. — I am a woman.
Ungumuntu. — (S)he's a person.
Bangabantu. — They're people.

But when the noun classes of the two words are the same, the subject concord is left out.

Umfana ngumuntu. — The boy is a person.


Indoda yinkosi. — The man is a king.
Abafazi ngabantu. — Women are people.
Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu. — A person is a person because of people.

In the negative, the shortened form without the subject concord may not be used; the indefinite form
with "it" is formed with the cprefix ku-.

Akungumuntu. — It's not a person.


Akuyimi. — It's not me.

Scholars, such as Poulos and Msimang (1998), dispute the view that copulative predicates with
agreement morphemes are “personal” and those without agreement morphemes are “impersonal”.
They argue that the prefixation and non- prefixation of the agreement morpheme to the copulative

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predicate carries no semantic difference (i.e., their meaning is the same). Consider the following isiZulu
examples they give in this regard.

IsiZulu

(Umukhwe yisotsha / uyisotsha. ‘My father-in-law is a soldier.’

Aboni ngamagwala / bangamagwala. ‘Sinners are cowards.’

Ibhubesi yisilwane / liyisilwane. ‘A lion is a (wild) animal.’

Ukufa wubuthongo / kuwubuthongo. ‘Death is sleeping.’

3. Construction of sentences in 3 basic tenses


Present Tense

YA is similar to the English suffix -ING. It appears after the subject concord and before the object
concord and verb. We can write a complete sentence with YA in it. If a word comes after the verb, we
usually remove YA.

I am thanking (thank you) -- ngiyabonga


We are playing – siyadlala
Present tense positive
Ya
Ngiyaphuza (I drink)
Siyafunda (we study)

•when words follow - no YA

Ngiphuza iwayini (I drink wine)

Sifunda isizulu (I study zulu)

SA is similar to the English word STILL. It appears after the subject concord and before the object
concord.
We can write a complete sentence with SA in it. We never use SA and YA at the same time.

I am still learning -- ngisafunda


We are still well – sisaphila

The Past tense

When we want to say something happened, we usually only need to change the verb ending.
There are two ways to change the verb into past tense:

1. Change the A at the end of the verb to E. E is similar as the suffix ED in English
2. Change the A at the end of the verb to ILE. ILE is similar as the suffix was or were in English

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If a verb ends in E, the sentence is incomplete. Something needs to follow the verb.

I studied at Wits -- ngifunde eWits

If a verb ends in ILE, the sentence is complete. Nothing must follow the verb.

We (were) married -- sishadile

According to most grammarians the past tense is characterised by two suffixes, each appropriate to a
syntactic environment: the short form (-e) terminates the verb stem when the clause is followed by an
adverb/ adverbial phrase, whilst the long form (-ile) is usually, but not exclusively, found in clause
terminal position. There are, however, contexts where the short form can occur in a clause terminating
the sentence whilst the long form can occur in non-terminating clauses (see examples below). If the a-
past tense according to Posthumus’s (1990) diagram refers to remote past events then the past tense
logically refers to recent past events, but, as his diagram suggests, there is an overlap between these
two forms; in fact they can co-occur in adjacent phrases and can refer to the same time, as the following
example shows: ‘Nafunda ndawonye. Okungahlukene ukuthi nikhule ndawonye nabo (abantu
abamnyama).’ [You studied together. What is (thus) not different is that you grew up together with
them (black people).] (Makhambeni 2006).

Like the a-past tense, the past tense can refer to recent past events (Sibiya 2002:8): ‘Ya ndoda, ngize
kuwe’. NguMahlangu lona obhavumula ngolaka, […] [‘Yes Sir3, I have come to you.’ This is Mahlangu
shouting in anger.

Unlike the a-past tense, the past tense is not used in any great measure to narrate. What then are its
distinguishing features in narrative discourse? In the first place it may express events that do not feature
as seminal events, especially in the short form. Secondly, it is an expression of the stative; thus,
whenever a state needs to be expressed, the ‘past tense’ suffixes, either –e or –ile, can be used, as in the
following example: Umpintsheke kanjani namuhla? Khona ngimpintshekile, njengoba wazi nawe ukuthi
sesizobhala. How pressed/ busy are you today?] [Well, I am pressed/ busy, as you know we will be
writing. […]] (Makhambeni 2006).

In Zulu there are also two kind of past tense, namely the recent past and the remote past tense, also
referred to as the ‘A-past tense’ because of the way this is formed. Positive: It either has an ‘–e’ ending
and this is because the verb is not the last word in the sentence or the ‘-ile’ when nothing follows the
verb.
e.g. Umama uhambe nobaba. Mum went with dad.
Umama nobaba bahambile. Mum and dad went (they left).

For the remote past tense, the ‘-a-’ is used and this is the only indication of the past tense and NO
change happens to the verb ending. The only change is the subject concord changing to ‘a’. Class 1, 1a, 3
and third person singular subject concord changes from ‘u-’ to ‘wa- (as a result of the two vowels u + a +
wa) (Remember it this way: ‘u’ takes ‘w’ and this when said, sounds similar.
The subject concord ‘i-’ changes the ‘ya-’(as a result of the two vowels i+ a = ya) (Remember it this way:
‘i’ takes ‘y’ and this when said, sound similar.

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‘e.g. Umama wahamba nobaba. Mum had gone with dad (more than three days ago)
e.g. Inja yadla ukudla. The dog has eaten the food.
All the other classes only use the consonant + a, e.g. Ikati ladla ukudla. The cat has eaten the food. The
subject concord is ‘lu-’ and ‘ku-’ respectively. The negative for both the recent as well as the remote past
tense is the same, namely the verb ending ‘- nga’ and it is not influenced by words following or not
following the verb in the recent past tense.
e.g. Obaba abahambanga

The future tense

ZO is similar to the English word WILL.

It appears after the subject concord and before the object concord. We can write a complete sentence
with ZO in it. If a word comes after the verb, we do not need to remove ZO.

I will study -- ngizofunda


I will study at Wits -- ngizofunda eWits

As indicated by Posthumus (1990), isiZulu does not have a morpheme exclusively indicative of the
future; even so, many isiZulu grammarians speak of the ‘future tense’ (Poulos & Msimang 1998);
Taljaard & Bosch 1998; Van Eeden 1956). Speakers often distinguish between a definite and an
indefinite future, as the following example illustrates: ‘Ngiyobuya ngize ngapha ngizosho ukuthi sihambe
kanjani.’ [I will (at some time) come back here and will (surely) say how we faired] (Makhambeni 2006).

The primary semantic function of the aspects zo or yo is to indicate (definite or indefinite) immanence,
translated as ‘coming to [verb]/going to [verb]’. The clearest proof that zo or yo do not primarily mark
tense is the fact that they can occur in a tenseless mood (such as the infinitive) and that they can occur
with other tenses. See https://quizlet.com/za/197516450/zulu-tenses-rules-flash-cards/

4. Prepositions
Prepositions are used in almost every sentence. They can be a great tool to link words with each other.
For example by simply knowing how to use "to", "with", "from", "after" you can expand your
conversation scope. In short, a preposition describes a relationship between words in a sentence, for
example: I agree with you.

In front of ngaphambi Against Ngokuphikisana ne


Behind ngemuva And kanye
Before ngaphambi
After ngemva As (similar to) Njenge
Inside ngaphakathi Between phakathi
With no- But kodwa
Without ngaphandle For ye-
Outside ngaphandle From kusukela
On top of Ngaphezulu In e-
Under ngaphansi Instead of Esikhundleni se
About (in regards to) mayelana Near Kuseduze

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Of Ye So Ngakho
Or Noma To Ithiphu
Since Kusukela

5. Locatives
As you know by now questions such as kuphi? or -phi? (where?) require the names of places or location
as answers. Therefore words which indicate place are termed locatives. Depending on the context,
locatives could be translated with „at‟, „in‟, „to‟, or „from‟. It is very important to know locatives since
they can improve your communication skills. In most cases locatives are formed from nouns, in the
following ways as explained below: When locatives are formed ku- is put before such nouns and the
initial vowel of the noun is dropped, e.g.

ku(u)mfana > kumfana (at the boy)


u(u)Themba > kuThemba (to Themba)
ku(a)bafana > kubafana (at the boys).

However u- of ku- is dropped, e.g. k(u)obaba > kobaba (with father and company).

As you already know the initial vowel of the noun is replaced with an e- with some nouns and place
names and the ending of the word remains unchanged, e.g.
umnyango > emnyango (at the door)
ihhovisi > ehhovisi (at the office)
ibhange > ebhange (at the bank)
ikhemisi > ekhemisi (at the chemist)
ilabhulali > elabhulali (at the library)
iKapa > eKapa (in the Cape)
iDandi > eDandi (at Dundee)
iNingizimu Afrika > eNingizimu Afrika (in South Africa).

With some nouns the initial vowel is replaced with o-, e.g.
ulwandle > olwandle (at the sea).

The initial vowel is replaced with e- or o- while the ending -ini is also added to nouns, resulting in the
final
vowel -a of the noun changing to -e due to the merging of vowels
(a- + -ini- > -eni), e.g.

Intaba ini > entabeni (at the mountain)

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Iklasi ini > eklasini (in the class)
Utshani ini > otshanini (in the grass)
Ubisi ini > obisini (in the milk)
Isikolo ini > esikoleni (at school)
iposiini > eposini (at the post office)
isilahaini > esilaheni (at the butchery)
ibholaini > ebholeni (at soccer)

Vowel merging takes place and the semi-vowel -w- is inserted in order to prevent vowels occurring next
to each other, e.g.
ikamelo + -ini > ekamelweni (in the room)
but
izulu + -ini > ezulwini (in heaven)
An exceptional place name is

iTheku > eThekwini (Durban).


In the formation of some locatives, labial sounds become palatal sounds, a process known as
palatalisation, e.g.

m > ny : intamo > entanyeni (in the neck)


mb > nj : ithambo > ethanjeni (in the bone)
ph > sh : iphupho > ephusheni (in the dream)
b > tsh : ingubo > engutsheni (in the blanket)
bh > j : isobho > esojeni (in the soup).

The locative prefix kwa- is prefixed to the name or surname of a person to indicate „the place /
homestead of‟. When kwa- is used to form such locatives, the initial vowel of the noun
is dropped, e.g.

kwa(u)Zulu > kwaZulu (at the place of Zulu - Zululand)


kwa(u)Buthelezi > kwaButhelezi (at the place of Buthelezi)
kwa(u)Mkhize > kwaMkhize (the homestead of the Mkhize's).

We do find a few basic locatives which contain pha- such as phansi (at the bottom / beneath), phezulu
(at the top), phambili (in front), phakathi (inside), phandle (outside). However, there are
some other basic locatives which do not contain pha- such as phesheya (on the other side / overseas),
emuva (behind) and eceleni (at the side). These are actually true locatives which do
not make use of prefixes or suffixes. These locatives sometimes combine with the kwa-possessive
concord to express the notion of exact location, e.g.

Izinkwa ziphambili kwamashalovu


(The breads are kept at the front of the shelves)
Izingane zidlala emuva kwesikolo
(The children are playing behind the school).

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Locatives cannot only be formed from nouns but also from pronouns, mostly by means of the locative
prefix ku- , e.g.
wena > kuwena/ kuwe (to you)
yena > kuyena / kuye (at him/her)

Yet, there are exceptions to the above rule, e.g.


mina > kimina / kimi (at me)
thina > kithina / kithi (to us)
nina > kinina/ kini (at you).

If you look at the sentences below, you will notice that there is an s between the subject concords u-
and zi- and the locative prefix e-. This s is used to separate the vowels of the subject concord and the
locative prefix (e-) and is therefore called the pre-locatives. This type of sentence that contains 'is' or
'are' is thus known as a copula .
Ushukela usekhishini (The sugar is in the kitchen).
Ziphi izithelo? (Where is the fruit?)
Zisephaketheni (The fruit is in a packet).

6. Nouns
Proper names are taken from some object or incident in common life, thus: Untaba comes from intaba,
a moun- tain; Ubalekile signifies "she has run away." There are very few nouns expressing the
abstractions of mind, or spiritual things. Every noun consists of two parts: the initial, and the radical. The
initial, whether a single letter or a syllable, is that part of the noun, which, in a modified form, re-
appears in the beginning of all adjectives agreeing with it; from which also its pronoun is derived; and by
which the number, class, and condition of the noun are determined. The rest of the noun is called the
radical, or root. For example: um is the initial, and fazi the root, of the noun urnfazi, a woman; in the
initial, and to the root, of the noun into, a thing. This initial element has sometimes been called a prefix.
It

Nouns in the Zulu have four cases,: the Nominative, the Genitive, the Accusative, and the Locative.

Nominative case expresses simply the name of a thing, and is always accompanied by a pronoun, which
is the direct subject of the verb, as: izinyoni zi ya kala, the birds sing, literally, (the) birds they do sing.

Genitive noun

Genitive case denotes the relation of property or possession. The particle significant of this relation is
the letter a, which is preceded by the euphonic letter of the governing noun. This particle a, prefixed to
the noun governed, coalesces with the initial vowel of that noun, a + u becoming o, and a + i becoming
e.* But when the initial vowel of the word governed is a, e, or o, the genitive vowel a is absorbed in
them. It has been already remarked, that to show the dependence of the genitive case, and to promote
the precision and euphony of the language, a part of the initial of the governing noun, called the
euphonic letter, is taken out and prefixed to the noun governed

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Locative case is used to point out the place of existence, or of action. It denotes the place where a thing
is or is done, and to or from which an action proceeds. It is generally formed by changing the initial
vowel of the noun into e, and the final vowel into eni or ini, as: umhlaba, the earth, emhlabeni, in, on
the earth; isandla, the hand, esandle- ni, in the hand; ilizwe, the country, elizweni, in the country.

Noun Prefix
Umu -- um Umuntu “person” umfundisi “teacher/preacher
Aba/ abe Abantu-- persons
u- Udokotela-
o- odokotela
Umu-um Umuthi-tree umfula-river

Proper Nouns: uBongani > Bongani, uCeliwe > Celiwe.

(b) Common Nouns: indoda > ndoda (a man) (man!)

inkôsi > nkôsi (a chief/king) (chief/king)

umalume > malume (my uncle) (uncle)

7. Possessive constructions
As one can notice, the first part of the Possesive refers to the ‘possesion’, where as the
second part refers to the ‘possesor’.
e.g. Ubaba (possesion) w + ami (possesor). ‘u-’ + ‘a-’ = ‘w-’ = wami (The dad of mine = My dad)

First, second and third person:

Singular Plural

my - -ami our - -ethu


your - -akho your - -enu
his / her - -akhe their - -abo

: When one refers to ‘their’ in Zulu, one has to remember that the possesor or
possesion can be in different classes and it is not always the third person
plural.
Inja yabo. ‘The dog of their’ or ‘Their dog’.
Inja yezingane. ‘The dog of the children’ or ‘The children’s dog’.
Inja yazo (izingane). This is cannot be translated as ‘yabo’ (their) .

noun subject Possessive formative


Umu- u- a wa
Aba- ba- a ba
Umu- u- a wa
Imi- i- a ya
Ili- li- a la

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Ama- a- a a
Isi- si- a sa
izi zi a za
in i- a Ya
izin zi- a za
U(lu) Lu- a lwa
ubu bu a ba
uku ku a Kwa
pha ku a Kwa
ku ku a kwa

1. umfana (u+a>wa) wami (my boy)


2. imizi (i+a>ya) yabo (their houses)
3. abazali (ba+a>ba) bami (my parents)
4. izinkomo (zi+a>za) zabo (their cattle)
5. uluthi (lu+a>lwa) lwabantwana (the children's stick)
6. ukudla kwezingane (the chilcren', food)
7. izingane zabo(na) ~abo (their children)
8. incwadi 'yami(na)yami (my book)

Some kinship terms that are regarded as possessives that have no possessive concord and possessive
stem.

e. g • umfowethu (my brother)

umkami (my \-life) umntanami (my child)

uyise (his father) umntanakhe (his child)

8. Adjectives
bi (bad, ugly) fuphi I - fusha I fisha - fishane and fushane
hIe (beautiful) (short)
sha (new, young) khulu (big, great)
dala (old) ncane I - nci I - ncinyane (small)
de (long, tall)

Examples of Adjectives
1. [umuntu [omude J (a tall person) 7. [isihlalo [esisha) ] (a new chair)
2. [abantu [abadala] ] (old people) 8. [izitsha [ezinkulu] ] (big dishes)
3. [umuzi [omkhuluJl (a big house) 9. [inkawu [embi]] (an ugly monkey)
4. [imithi [emide] ] (tall trees) 10. (izinti [ezimfuphill (short sticks)
5. [ikhanda [elincanell (a small head) 11. [uphondo [olude] ] (a long horn)
6. [amantombazane [amahle]] (beautiful girls) 14. [ubuso [obuhleJ I (a beautiful face)

Some authors such as include quantities in their list which are not adjectives.
bili (two)

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thathu (three)
ne (four)
hIanu (five)
ningi (much, many

Abantu abaningi bafike ukumbona iMichael Jackson (Many people came to see Michael Jackson).
UMichael ugqoke ihhembe elihle elimhlophe (Michael wore a beautiful white shirt). The underlined
words above function similarly to those known as „adjectives‟ in English, and can literally be translated
as „who‟, „which‟ or „that‟, i.e. „people who are many‟, „a shirt which is beautiful‟ and „a shirt which is
white‟. However, in Zulu these qualifiers are called adjectives or relatives. They are distinguished in this
manner because the adjectives make use of adjective stems and the relatives make use of relative
stems. The adjective and relative stems are brought into agreement with the nouns they qualify by
means of the adjective and relative concords respectively. Let us first consider adjective stems in Zulu:

khulu (big) -sha (new/ young/ fresh) -thathu (three) -bi (bad/ ugly)
-ncane (small) -dala (old)
-ningi (much/many) -ngaki (how many?) -ne (four) -hle (good/ beautiful)
-de (long/ high/ tall) -bili (two) -hlanu (five) -fuphi/ fushane/ fishane (short

Basic adjective prefix prefix concord

umu-/ u- : a- + -mu- > om(u)- izi- : a- + -zi- > ezin(m)-


aba-/ o- : a- + -ba- > aba- in(m)- : a- + -n(i)- > en(m)-
umu- : a- + -mu- > om(u)- izin(m)- : a- + -zin- > ezin(m)-
imi- : a- + -mi- > emi- ulu- : a- + -lu- > olu-
ili- : a- + -li- > eli- ubu- : a- + -bu- > obu-
ama- : a- + -ma- > ama- uku- : a- + -ku- > oku-
isi- : a- + -si- > esi-

Some examples of adjectives making use of the adjective concord attached to the adjective stem are:

Kufike abantu abaningi eGoli (Many people arrived in Johannesburg).

Amakhosikazi amahle apheke ukudla okuningi (The kind women cooked much food).

Bazogeza imoto yabo entsha (They will wash their new car).

The following points need to be remembered when we make use of the adjective concord:

We use the full concord omu- when an adjective stem, such as - sha, to which it is attached, contains
one syllable, e.g.

Baqala umsebenzi omusha (They start a new job).

However, we use the shortened concord om- when an adjective stem, such as -khulu, to which it is
attached, is polysyllabic (contains more than one syllable), e.g.

Kuzoba nomshado omkhulu (There will be a big wedding).

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The classes izi-, in(m)- and izin(m)- retain the nasal in their concords, e.g.

UMichael ugqoke izingubo ezinhle (Michael wore beautiful clothes).

The n in these prefixes mentioned above causes the adjective stem to change as follows:

-sha > -tsha


-hle > -nhle (the t is not written but pronounced “enhle‟)
-khulu > -nkulu
-bi > -mbi
-fushane > -mfushane.

Some examples are:

Sithenge imoto entsha (We bought a new car).


Insizwa enkulu isebenza egalaji (A big young man works in the garage).
Abafuni ukuzwa izindaba ezimbi (They do not want to hear bad news).
The adjective stem -ngaki? can communicatively be used in the posing of questions, e.g.
Kukhona amadoda amangaki edilini? (How many men are at the party?)
Edilini kunamadoda amathathu (At the party there are three men).

9. What is a pronoun
Igama elimela ibizo emshweni

umu- : yena isi- : sona


aba- : bona izi- : zona
u- : yena / wona in(m)- : yona
o- : bona izin(m)-: zona
umu- : wona ulu- : lona
imi- : yona ubu- : bona
ili- : lona uku- : khona

ama- : wona

Examples/ Isibonelo

Uyamazi uLindi? (Do you know Lindi?)


Yebo, ngiyamazi yena (Yes, I know her).
USipho uthenga amazambane na? (Does Sipho buy potatoes?)
Yebo, uthenga wona (Yes, he buys them).
Cha, uthenga zona izithelo (No, he buys it fruit).

The demonstrative pronoun


The demonstrative pronoun is used to convey the notion of „this‟ „that‟ and „yonder‟ in Zulu. When
you introduce people to one another the demonstrative pronouns come in very handy because they are
actually pointers, i.e. pointing at persons or things:

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(i) The position near the speaker is the first position, which can be translated by 'this' or 'these', e.g.
Phindi, nguDudu lo (Phindi, this is Dudu).
Lezi zincwadi zifike namuhla (These letters arrived today).
Le khompyutha yami ayisebenzi kahle (This computer of mine doesn't work well).
(ii) The position near the addressee is the second position, which is can be translated by „that‟ or
„those‟. This position is usually the first position which ends in -o, e.g.

Leyo mali ngiyayifuna manje (That money, I need it now).


Lowo mhlangano uzoba ngo-12 (That meeting will be at 12h00).
Sizokwenza lezo zinto ezimbili (We shall do those two things).

REFERENCES

Makhambeni, N., 2006, Sidla ingqatho nefutho, Afritude, Groenkloof.

Posthumus, L.C., 1990, ‘Time reference in Zulu’, South African Journal of African Languages 10(1), 22–28.

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