Article
Glossary of Ndebele terms
December 20, 2006
inkobe: an Nguni dish which mixes together maize, beans or nuts or cow-beans boiled together into a soft stew.
umqombothi: a home-made beer brewed from millet, or sorghum, or finger millet. The degrees of intoxication it induces will depend on number of days of fermentation and the brewer’s skills.
iphalitsha: a thick porridge cooked out of ordinary maize meal.
uMthwakazi: term used by Mzilikazi when addressing his Ndebele nation believed to be the original form of address of the group that left Zululand in 1822.
amadlozi: the guiding spirit of a departed person, also called amathongo, abaphansi (those below), abadala (lit. the elderly).
ubuntu: a guiding philosophy of life emphasising humaneness for the Bantu people of South-Central Africa.
Sidojiwe: flats in Bulawayo built originally to accommodate single men but now used as family accommodation. In consequence they are sometimes used as a symbol or metaphor for over-crowding.
Nqindi: literally a fist: metaphor for warrior.
Zimangele: one of King Mzilikazi’s grandparents on his father’s side.
Kleke: one of the poet, Mlilo’s, nicknames.
Petula: another one of the poet, Mlilo’s, nicknames.
Mfazomithiyo: a communal area in Matabeleland South (Filabusi), its name taken from a mountain with a shape of a pregnant woman. Nkomo, the poet is using the word figuratively.
Mzilikazi Son of Matshobana: Mzilikazi Khumalo first King of the Ndebele, born of Matshobana Khumalo. He died on 16th September 1868.
sjambok: an Afrikaans word for a hide whip used by colonial police and guards for severe punishment, also sometimes used for punishing offenders.
A few terms have escaped translation. It will be useful to explain them here:
umqombothi: a home-made beer brewed from millet, or sorghum, or finger millet. The degrees of intoxication it induces will depend on number of days of fermentation and the brewer’s skills.
iphalitsha: a thick porridge cooked out of ordinary maize meal.
uMthwakazi: term used by Mzilikazi when addressing his Ndebele nation believed to be the original form of address of the group that left Zululand in 1822.
amadlozi: the guiding spirit of a departed person, also called amathongo, abaphansi (those below), abadala (lit. the elderly).
ubuntu: a guiding philosophy of life emphasising humaneness for the Bantu people of South-Central Africa.
Sidojiwe: flats in Bulawayo built originally to accommodate single men but now used as family accommodation. In consequence they are sometimes used as a symbol or metaphor for over-crowding.
Nqindi: literally a fist: metaphor for warrior.
Zimangele: one of King Mzilikazi’s grandparents on his father’s side.
Kleke: one of the poet, Mlilo’s, nicknames.
Petula: another one of the poet, Mlilo’s, nicknames.
Mfazomithiyo: a communal area in Matabeleland South (Filabusi), its name taken from a mountain with a shape of a pregnant woman. Nkomo, the poet is using the word figuratively.
Mzilikazi Son of Matshobana: Mzilikazi Khumalo first King of the Ndebele, born of Matshobana Khumalo. He died on 16th September 1868.
sjambok: an Afrikaans word for a hide whip used by colonial police and guards for severe punishment, also sometimes used for punishing offenders.
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