uMabhengwaneI was humbled to read the awesome work done in Xitsonga about Mathematics Terminology, and inspired to write this blog. I’m still researching different ways of talking about geometry and rates of change, but numbers are things with which I am familiar. I teach the same lesson in many different ways, depending on whom I’m […]
I just read that the SABC will no longer show footage of violent protests. I almost have no words. I understand that there might be issues around showing violence in general, but there is also the imperative to report accurately on what is happening in South Africa every day. It happens in many many parts of […]
I arrive at my lesson a little early, and catch my student unawares. While he gets his mind in order, and I unpack my stuff, I offer him tea. Yes, I know I’m the guest – but I make myself at home wherever I go. Boarding-school vibes. I say: ufuna nhloboni yethiye? He understands the […]
I couldn’t help but see you, on my drive home. There, the size of a building, is the message in yellow and black and green. And there you are, your face many times its actual size, staring out. I could see you, but I presume that you couldn’t see me. Unlike many political adverts, such […]
I recently wrote a post on the DA’s election posters, looking specifically at their choice of imifakela (borrowed words) in their Zulu campaign. I was rather disparaging of the ANC’s efforts, as I had not yet seen anything from them in any vernacular. The other day, I went for a walk in my neighbourhood. As […]
This is one area in which isiZulu is fundamentally different from isiLungu. In isiLungu, there are tendencies toward creating compound verb-forms using prepositions (partially in the isiJalimani family (verander, income ensovoorts), but also in isiLatini (perfacere, inducere etcetera) and isiGiliki (katabaino, periphrazo kai ta loipa). These verb-forms are quite often paired up with a prepositional […]
For the first part of this week, I momentarily forgot how old I was. I thought I was going to be turning 33 today. I have no idea why I made this error, but it stuck with me unquestioned through Monday and into Tuesday. When I realised, on Wednesday morning, it was as though I […]
The source of this latest meditation on Proverbs or Izaga ngesiZulu is a proverb that runs amaqili awakhelani the cunning do not build next to one another It falls under Nyembezi’s classificiation of Ukwethembeka nokungathembeki – Honesty and Dishonesty. The first sub-section of these proverbs is Inkohliso (Deception), which I’ve dealt with grammatically in another […]
I understand it now. When you’re faced with guilt, the automatic response is complete and utter denial. That explains Mr Shifty’s (aka Msholozi’s) actions of late. He’s issuing a programmatic response in accordance with this bit of wisdom, this isaga. Here’s how it works. First, icala (3.2.2-8.9): anything wrong, deserving of complaint; a defect. a […]
It was with some surprise that I heard the news – uKhongolose is intending to charge Malema with treason. Surprise turned to curiosity (of course) about the linguistic aspects of the word. Treason. Firstly, the technical term for the charge (in Latin, of course) is maiestas. As a legal concept, it’s as old as the […]
uMabhengwane