Some curious chilapalapa words

Salibonani mngan'ami (Hello/ I see you my friend)

Today I would like to introduce you to the distinct language of chilapalapa, as used in some parts of Zimbabwe. Chilapalapa is a mixture of isiNdebele, English (isiNgisi) and some chiShona. It is not officially a language. There are some interesting words in Chilapalapa, and here are a few:

"come-come"= rain or izulu e.g. ucabanga ukuthi come-come lamhla?- you think it will rain today?
"sure"= good/ okay e.g. Unjani umngane? (How're you friend?)- Ye, sure sure
"faka"= to put  e.g. Faka zonke- put it all (faka is actually isiNdebele too, and is pronounce 'farga')
"now-now"= in a little bit of time
"sure" or "sure-sure"=ok, I'm fine etc
"mdududu"=motorbike (think about the sound a motorbike makes- it is like du-du-du)
"imota"=motorcar
and even sometimes "iflying machina" for aeroplane


Ok, so let's now look at some useful isiNdebele words:
ucabangani?= you think what (u-cabanga-ni) or what do you think?
ukuthi= that  e.g Ucabanga ukuthi...?- Do you think that...?
Ngizakuhamba/ sizakuhamba- I will go/ we will go
Nsukuzonke= everyday (nsuku-day, zonke- all/every)
Angikathali= I don't worry/ care (a...i makes a word negative) (ngi=I, kathala=worry/care)
Awukathali?= you don't mind/ care?
Uwenzani (or just wenzani)?= What are you doing? or What is he/she/it doing?

About food:
Amanzi= water
Ukudla= food
Nginatha amanzi/ uchago= I drink water/ milk
Ngidla amatamatisi/ inyama/ amabhida/ isinkwa/ isitshwala= I eat tomatoes/ meat/ vegetables/ bread/ pap or sadza
Ngiwomile= I'm thirsty
Ngilambile= I'm hungry
Ngidiniwe= I'm tired.

If you put "u" instead of "ngi" in the above phrases, you can change the meaning from e.g. ngi-diniwe (I am tired) to udiniwe (you/he/she is tired) which can even be a question e.g. ulambile? - Are you hungry?

Sure bangane, ngilambile khathesi (now), ngizakudla amabhida lesinkwa

Your body in Ndebele- some vocab

Abangane bami (my friends), here is some vocabulary for isiNdebele body parts:

Amehlo= eyes
iqondo = brain/ mind
isandla = hand 
ikhanda = head
amhlophe = shoulders
isifuba = chest
isisu = stomach
amadolo = knees
umlomo = mouth
isibhunu = bottom
amabele = breast
amazinyo = teeth (thanks to kymmiisha for the comment)
inyawo = foot
(ibhola lenyawo therefore means "football")

Sizakubona kusasa (we'll see eachother tomorrow). Thanks for the comments bakithi, the corrections were made.

Good, Bad and Ugly in Ndebele

Hawu, linjani abangane? Today I am posting some vocabulary, how to say the following words:


kuhle (sibili)= good (very)
umnandi= nice
ubuhle= pretty
umubi= ugly, bad

Ngizakubona kusasa (I'll see you tomorrow)

Ndebele Pronounciation

The majority of isiNdebele is quite easy for English language speakers to pronounce. The alphabet is Roman, but there are some letters which are noticeably pronounced differently. These include "click" sounds such as:

1. c which is a soft click so not as sharp as the q sound. It is pronounced with your mouth slightly open horizontally and when your tongue is on the roof of your mouth just behind your top front teeth and then you slide your tongue quickly backwards
2. x which is pronounced with your mouth open in an O shape and your whole tongue is on the middle roof of your mouth and you drop your bottom jaw and tongue to produce a slightly wet sound which lasts longer than the sharp q click or the soft c click. Alternatively the side of your mouth can be open.
3. q which is pronounced as a sharp click when your tongue is quickly hit or pulled from the roof of your mouth.

• The q sounds perhaps like a sharp tap on a hard surface as opposed to 
• the x sound which sounds like a something being pulled from a light suction e.g. the sound a shoe makes as it is freed from mud, or 
• the c sound which perhaps sounds like the noise crickets (insects) make. 

I am just trying to describe the sounds the best I can there.

These are the main 3 click sounds in isiNdebele- the sharp Q, the soft wet X, and the medium, soft C, is how I like to think of it.

       

Some Ndebele animals names

Unjani umngane? Let us look at some names of common animals we may want to describe in isiNdebele:

indlovu= elephant
udube= zebra
inja= dog
umangoye= cat
inyoni (izinyoni)= bird (birds)
impisi= hyena (one of my favourite words)
ubabhemi= donkey
isilwane= lion
imvu= sheep
imbuzi= goat
inkomo (izinkomo)= cow (cows)
ingulube= pig
tshongololo= centipede
inkukhu= chicken

Enjoy learning isiNdebele here. Feel free to look around on other tabs on this blog, to ask or answer questions or answer them in the Community Questions tab, or to contact us at northernndebeleblog@gmail.com.

Prefixes- beginning a verb/action

Unjani umngane (How are you, friend)? You may have gathered from the last post, that there are different prefixes/ beginnings for I, you, you plural, we, they etc. This is similar to the French conjugation beginnings/ prefixes, but generally the verbs stay the same in isiNdebele. Here is an example:

Ngi= I, whereas Si= we

so ngiyaphila= I am fine, whereas siyaphila= we are fine

The prefixes are:

Ngi= I
u= you(singular), he or she
si= we
li= you (plural)
ba= they

So using a common verb, hamba= go, we have:

ngihamba=I go
uhamba= you (sing.), he or she goes
sihamba= we go
lihamba= you (plural) go
bahamba= they go

Until next lesson, hambani kahle abangane. Feel free to look around on other tabs on this blog, to ask or answer questions or answer them in the Community Questions tab, or to contact us at northernndebeleblog@gmail.com.

Basic Northern isiNdebele phrases

Salibonani, today we will go over about 8 basic isiNdebele phrases to get you started:

Salibonani- hello (or literally "we have seen eachother")
Unjani (linjani)?- how are you (you plural)?
Ngiyaphila (siyaphila)- I am fine (we are fine)
Ngikhona (sikhona)- I am fine (we are fine) [literally means "I am here"] 
Unjani wena?- How are you? (response)

Yebo- yes
Hayikhona/ hayi/ hayibo- no, nope, no way

Ngiyabonga (siyabonga)- I thank you (we thank you)

Hamba kahle- go well/ good bye (said by the person staying behind)
Sahle kahle- stay well/ good bye (said by the person leaving the place)

Welcome, samkele

Welcome to www.NorthernNdebele.blogspot.com

This is a site for anyone interested in picking up some words in the isiNdebele language from Zimbabwe, or "Northern Ndebele". This is a language spoken by people in Southern Africa. This site just has some basic language, and does not in any way entirely cover the huge amount of isiNdebele vocabulary and grammar. Have fun abangane (friends). Please start with the posts at the bottom of the "Home" tab as this is the beginning, and then work your way to the newest posts. If you would like to learn Ndebele more formally, look at the "Lessons" tab for lessons.