IsiNdebele Names for Wild Animals

Salibonani bangane (hello friends), we hope you are enjoying interacting and learning on the blog here. If you are new, please scroll down to the bottom posts and read your way up. If you would like to help answer questions or ask questions, please do so in the Community Questions tab. There are some new lessons up in the Lesson tab; there are now more than 36 lessons for you to learn Ndebele a bit more formally. We will be adding more lessons regularly. If you spot any mistakes or would like to add something, feel free to comment. 

Lesson 37 should help you to understand verbs that begin with vowels (a,e,i,o or u) and how those verbs are connected so no vowels are next to eachother in isiNdebele.

Lamuhla, we will go over some isiNdebele names for wild animals, as some in the community were asking questions about wild animal names, so you can say Ngifuna ukubona ingwenya (I want to see a croc/ flat dog).

Ingwenya - crocodile

Inyoni - bird (such as imvenduna - hoopoe, insingizi - ground hornbill, comment below if you know more or want to know another bird name in isiNdebele)

Isilwane/ izilwane - lion/s

Ubhejane - rhino

Isidumuka - waterbuck

Ibhalabhala/ amabhalabhala - kudu (a majestic antelope)

Umvundla - rabbit or wild hare

Inyoka - snake

Inhloni/ izinhloni - hedgehog/s

Inungu/ izinungu - porcupine/s (another prickly customer)

Idube - zebra

Inkolomi/ Izinkolomi - tsessebe

Untalo - gecko (one type)

Intshe - ostrich

Inkawu - monkey

Isihwalahwala - colourful tree lizard

Unwabu/ izinwabu - chameleon/s (also colourful but different, also called "hamba bijana" (go slowly's) in the chilapalapa/ fanagalo language derived from isiNdebele)

Imvubu - hippo

Uxamu - water iguana (imbulu is the tree iguana)

Inyamazana - wild animals

Imvubu/ izimvubu - hippopotamus

Ikhankha/ amakhankha - jackal/s

Intundla - giraffe

Insimba - civet cat or genet cat

Umbankwa - lizard

Ingulungundu/ izingulungundu - warthog/s

Ingwe - leopard

Umuhlwa - termite (small but important)

Isibungu - small caterpillar (icimbi/amacimbi are edible caterpillars if you're hungry)

Ihlosi/ amahlosi - cheetah/s

And as a bonus isihlahla (tree) and izihlahla (trees), such as ngumkhomo (it is a baobab tree), and impophoma is a waterfall.

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