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
- E. I. O. U.
A – Aha! E – Egg I – Ink O – Oh! 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.
- ………………………………………………………………………………….
- ………………………………………………………………………………….
- ………………………………………………………………………………….
Write the words you hear in the order they come:
- ………………………………….. 6. ………………………………….
- …………………………………. 7. ………………………………….
- ……………………………………. 8. ………………………………….
- ……………………………………. 9. ………………………………….
- …………………………………….. 10. ………………………………….
Read the following vowels and record yourself:
- U E A I O 7. nunusela
- I A O U E 8. Sabisa
- Boleka 9. Celani
- Idolo 10. Ugogo
- Babonani 11. Balekani
- Sawubona 12. Yebo