"

3 Isahluko 1: Imisindo yesiZulu nokubingelela – Zulu Sounds and greetings

By the end of this chapter you will be able to do the following:

  • à read words written in isiZulu even if you don’t know what they mean;
  • à correctly write some Zulu words you hear being spoken;
  • à pronounce the soft zulu click sounds;
  • à exchange greetings with someone you do not know in a culturally appropriate manner;
  • à ask what another person’s name is and say what your name is.
  • à Sing the ‘Sanibona’ song.

Zulu Sounds

Let’s meet the 5 vowels

  1.            E.                        I.                       O.                         U.

AAha!      EEgg                 IInk                  OOh!       U – shoe

 Let’s meet the basic consonants

B – Baby                                                     Ba be bi bo bu

C – Soft click                                               Ca ce ci co cu

D – Dust                                                     Da de di do du

F – Fantastic                                               Fa fe fi fo fu

G – Game of good girls                                Ga ge gi go gu

H – High hope helps.                                   Ha he hi ho hu

J – Just Judge                                            Ja je ji jo ju

K – Skeleton                                                Ka ke ki ko ku

L – Lazy Love Loses                                     La le li lo lu

M – More move mom                                   Ma me mi mo mu

N – Never nag a nanny                                Na ne ni no nu

P – Spell spar & spoon                                Pa pe pi po pu

Q – Qala iqaqa                                            Qa qe qi qo qu

R – Red Rice                                                Ra re ri ro ru

S – Sing a song sister                                  Sa se si so su

T – Step stoop & stop                                  Ta te ti to tu

V – Voice of Victory                                     Va ve vi vi vu

W – Ways of wisdom                                   Wa we wi wo wu

X – uXaba noXulu                                      Xa xe xi xo xu

Y – Yebo – Yes!!!!                                         Ya ye yi yo yu

Z – Zulu Zebras in Zoos                              Za ze zi zo zu

 Aspirated consonants

Bha             bhe              bhi              bho                       bhu

Cha             che             chi              cho                       chu

Kha             khe             khi              kho                       khu

Pha              phe             phi              pho                       phu

Qha             qhe              qhi              qho                       qhu

Sha             she              shi              sho                       shu

Tha              the              thi               tha                       thu

Tsha           tshe             tshi             tsho                      tshu

 Consonants preceded by ‘m-’

Mba                      mbe             mbi              mbo                      mbu

Mfa                       mfe              mfi               mfo                      mfu

Mpa                      mpe             mpi             mpo                      mpu

Mva                       mve             mvi             mvo                      mvu

 

 

‘G’ and click

Gca             gce              gci               gco              gcu

Gqa             gqe              gqi               gqo              gqu

Consonants with ‘-l-’

Dla              dle               dli                dlo               dlu

Hla              hle              hli               hlo               hlu

Kla              kle              kli               klo              klu

Consonants preceded by ‘n-’

Nca              nce              nci               nco              ncu

Nda            nde              ndi              ndo              ndu

Ndla            ndle             ndli             ndlo             ndlu

Nga             nge              ngi               ngo              ngu

Nhla            nhle            nhli            nhlo            nhlu

Nja              nje              nji              njo              nju

Nka             nke             nki              nko             nku

Nqa              nqe              nqi              nqo             nqu

Ntsha           ntshe          ntshi           ntsho          ntshu

Nta              nte              nti               nto              ntu

Nxa             nxe              nxi              nxo             nxu

Nya             nye              nyi              nyo             nyu

Nza             nze              nzi              nzo              nzu

Consonants with ‘-w-’

Cwa            cwe             cwi

Chwa          chwe           chwi

Dwa            dwe             dwi

Dlwa           dlwe            dlwi

Ndwa          ndwe           ndwi

Gwa            gwe             gwi

Gcwa           gcwe            gcwi

Jwa             jwe              jwi

Kwa            kwe             kwi

Khwa          khwe           khwi

Lwa             lwe              lwi

Ngwa           ngwe           ngwi

Ngcwa         ngcwe         ngcwi

Nhlwa         nhlwe          nhlwi

Nkwa          nkwe           nkwi

Nwa            nwe             nwi

Njwa           njwe            njwi

Nqwa           nqwe           nqwi

Ntwa           ntwe            ntwi

Nzwa           nzwe           nzwi

Qwa            qwe             qwi

Swa             swe             swi

Shwa           shwele         shwi

Thwa           thwe            thwi

Xwa            xwe             xwi

Zwa             zwe             zwi

 

Consonant sounds

‘Bh’ sound as in Book/ Ball/ Bus

Bhala – write

Ibhasi – bus

Bheka – look/ look after/ take care of…

Ibhizinisi – business

Ibhola – ball

Ibhubesi – lion

‘B’ sound as in Baby

Bala – count

Beka – put down / place something…

Bika – report

Bona – see

Busisa – bless

 

‘Ph’ soung as in pull/ paper/ people

Phaka – serve or place food in plates

Pheka – cook

Phila – live/ be well

Phola – cool down

Phuza – drink

 

‘P’ as in spar/ spell/ spin/ spot/ spoon

Ipasi – ID document

Ipeni – pen

Posa – mail a letter or a package

Ipuleti – plate

 

Th’ as in tick/ talk/ take/ tool

Thatha – take

Thenga – buy

Ithikithi – ticket

Thola – find/ get

Thula – be silent/be quiet

 

‘T’ as in start/ stamp/ steal/ stop/ stool

Itamati – a tomato

Telema – whine

Itiye – tea

Totoba – walk slowly

Isitulo – chair

 

‘Kh’ as in car/ case/ key/ call/ cool

Khala – cry

Khetha – choose

Khipha – take out

Khoha – pay

Khuluma – talk

 

‘K’ as in scar/ scale/ skip/ scope/ school

Kama – comb (comb hair)

Iketela – kettle

Kikiza – ululate

Isikole – school

Inkunzi – bull

‘Hl’ produced by making a gentle blow of air through the molar teeth on one side of the mounth

Hlala – sit / stay

Hleka – laugh

Hlola – check/ examine/ test/ peep/ peek

Isihlalo – chair (chair is isitulo too)

Ubuhlungu – pain

‘Dl’ produced by making a voiced blow of air through the molar teeth on one side of the mounth. Unlike the voiceless ‘hl’

Dlala – play

Dlamini – one of the surnames

Isidleke – a nest

Indlulamithi – giraffe

‘C’ as in attempting to remove something stuck in your upper front teeth or expressing sympathy. It is produced with the tongue behind the upper front teeth.

Cela – ask

Icici – earing

Icebo – idea/ plan

Cula – sing

‘X’ sound like when encouraging a horse to giddy up. It is produced by sucking the sucking with a soft snap through the back-molar teeth on one side of the mouth.

Ixoxo – frog

Xoxa – chat

Xolisa – apologise

Uxolo – peace and harmony

‘Q’ a strong popping sound with the tongue against one’s palate

Qala – start

Iqaqa – skunk

Iqanda – egg

Qeda – finish

Iqolo – back

Umsebenzi

Write the vowels you hear in the order they come.

  1. ………………………………………………………………………………….
  2. ………………………………………………………………………………….
  3. ………………………………………………………………………………….

Write the words you hear in the order they come:

  1. ………………………………….. 6. ………………………………….
  2. …………………………………. 7. ………………………………….
  3. ……………………………………. 8. ………………………………….
  4. ……………………………………. 9. ………………………………….
  5. …………………………………….. 10. ………………………………….

Read the following vowels and record yourself:

  1. U E A I O 7. nunusela
  2. I A O U E 8. Sabisa
  3. Boleka 9. Celani
  4. Idolo 10. Ugogo
  5. Babonani 11. Balekani
  6. Sawubona 12. Yebo

License

Sifunda IsiZulu eMelika 1 Copyright © by bsdlamin. All Rights Reserved.