Last week SAFM held an interesting discussion on the preservation and promotion of indigenous languages in South Africa. Radio presenter, Stephen Grootes, debated the issue with Dr Thabo Ditsele, Linguistic PHD student at UCT; Senior lecturer in African Languages at UCT, Dr Tessa Dowling; and Professor Sihawu Ngubane, Head of African Languages and Linguistics at UKZN, and former … Read more
Esikhathini esidlule sabhala ngekhasi likaFacebook eliphethwe ngumkhangisi oqavile,uMelusi Tshabalala. UMelusi wayesezibophezele ekubhaleni iphosti nsuku zonke egxile olimini lwesiZulu, kumbhalo ngamunye ubheka igama elihlukile. Nakuba indlela uMelusi ayenza ngayo ijabulisa kakhulu, kodwa umqondo uqhamuke ngenxa yento ebaluleke kakhulu – esechithe iminyaka engamashumi amabili emkhakheni wezokukhangisa uMelusi wayekholelwa ekuqedeni ukungahlonishwa ngokuphelele izilimi zomdabu zase-Afrika. Imali eningi itshalwa … Read more
Njengoba kunezinkinga ezinkulu ekufundiseni abakhulumi isiNgisi njengolimu lwabo lokuqala ukuthi befunde ngolimi okungelona ulimi lwabo lwebele, noma ukuqonda imigomo yezinhlobonhlobo ezahlukena yezibalo ngesiNgisi, kanjalo noSolwazi Franco Frescura waseNyuvesi yaKwaZulu Natali ububonile ubunzima echaza amagama abalulekile esiNgisi nesiBhunu kubafundi bakhe basenyuvesi abakhuluma isiZulu. I-Illustrated Glossary of Southern African Architectural Terms yaqala yaveza isidingo sokuxhumana ngempumelelo nabafundi … Read more
Being the multicultural mixing pot that it is, South Africa has more than its fair share of colloquialisms that to an outsider would sound a little peculiar! Over the years we’ve written a number of articles on the different isiZulu slang words that have entered popular culture, but now there’s a one-stop shop which includes … Read more
If you want to get your feet tapping this morning then do yourself a favour and watch the Ndlovu Youth Choir perform their version of Ed Sheeran’s, Shape of You. Sung predominantly in isiZulu, the choir’s take on the song features all of South Africa’s eleven official languages, as well as the skilful flute playing of … Read more
Newly launched isiZulu publishing company, Kwasukela Books, came about as a result of both a love of reading, and the realisation that the publishing opportunities for authors of indigenous language books was severely restricted in South Africa. English literature student Wade Smit, 23, from the University of Cape Town, established Kwasukela Books after having spent time working … Read more