inyanga – the moon
Category Archives: IsiXhosa
IsiXhosa lolunye lweelwimi zaseMzantsi Afrika ezingundoqo nezaziwayo. Sithethwa ngabantu abaqikelela kwi-7.6 sezigidi okanye i-18% lwabemi baseMzantsi Afrika luphela, ngakumbi kwiphondo leMpuma Koloni neleNtshona Koloni eMzantsi Afrika. Kwimbali yakwaXhosa sinamaqhawe ngamaqhawe kwimiba emininzi. Sinabo ababhali besiXhosa abathi baqaqamba ekunikeni imbali eyiyo ngoXhosa beyinika ngesiXhosa. Zininzi ke iingongoma abanyathela phezu kwazo aba babhali.
isiXhosa – 2017-05-15
Match the columns:
isiXhosa | English |
---|---|
nkosikazi | father |
umyeni | wife |
intombi | son |
unyana | friend |
mama | mother |
bawo | husband |
umhlobo | daughter |
Correct answers: | |
isiXhosa | English |
---|---|
nkosikazi | wife |
umyeni | husband |
intombi | daughter |
unyana | son |
mama | mother |
bawo | father |
umhlobo | friend |
isiXhosa – 2017-01-10
isiXhosa – 2016-11-21
Amagame aqhelekileyo (Basic Words)
(From Travlang)
- Ewe – Yes
- Hayi – No
- Enkosi – Thank you
- Enkosi kakhulu – Thank you very much
- Wamkelekile – You’re welcome
- Nceda – Please
- Uxolo/Ndixolele – Excuse me
- Molo – Hello
- Sala kakuhle – Goodbye
- Iyakubonana – So long
- Molo (intsasa emnandi) – Good morning
- Molo (Imvakwemini emnandi) – Good afternoon
- Molo (ukuhlwa okumnandi) – Good evening
- Busuku benzolo – Good night
- Andiqondi kakuhle – I do not understand
- Ungaba uyasithetha na, isiXhosa? – How do you say this in Xhosa?
- Uyasithathat … – Do you speak …
- isiNgesi – English
- isiFrentshi – French
- isiJamani – German
- isiSpanish – Spanish
- isiTshayina – Chinese
- Mna – I
- Thina – We
- Wena – You (singular, familiar)
- Nina – You (singular, formal)
- Nina – You (plural)
- Bona – They
- Ngubani igama lakho? – What is your name?
- Bekumnandi ukudibana nawe/ukukukwazi – Nice to meet you.
- Unjani? – How are you?
- Lungileyo – Good
- Engalunganga – Bad
- nkosikazi – Wife
- umyeni – Husband
- intombi – Daughter
- unyana – Son
- mama – Mother
- bawo – Father
- umhlobo, umlingane – Friend
- Iphi indlu yangasese? – Where is the bathroom? Where is the toilet?
isiXhosa – 2016-10-27
isiXhosa – 2016-10-02
Lessons I & II
Highlights:
- the grammatical structure of isiXhosa is very different from that of any European language;
- euphonic or alliterative concord: the prefix of the noun determine those of the subordinate parts of the subject and also of the predicate;
- isiXhosa uses the Latin alphabet, with <c>, <x> and <q> representing click consonants;
- stress falls on the next-to-last syllable;
- there are no articles;
- prefixes come in pairs, one for the singular, the other for the plural.
Examples of nouns in all classes:
Meaning | Singular | Plural |
person | umntu | abantu |
sister | udade | odade |
word | ilizwi, izwi | amazwi |
sheep | imvu | izimvu |
house | indlu | izindlu |
pig | ihangu (dictionary says it is ihagu) | izihangu, ihangu (or maybe izihagu, ihagu) |
candle | isibane | izibane |
rib | ubambo | izimbambo, imbambo |
rod | uluti | izinti |
tongue | ulwimi | izilwimi, ilwimi |
tree | umti | imiti |
kindness | ububele | – |
food | ukudla | – |
(From Crawshaw’s First Kafir Course-1903)
isiXhosa – 2016-09-07
I will be following the book A First Kafir Course by C. J. Crawshaw. The term “Kafir” is certainly NOT the best to refer to either the language or its speakers, but it is a rather old book (I found only the 5th edition printed in 1903), so the use of the term is understandable. Anyway, despite the title, the book seems to be good, and the language seems to be basically the same as it is used today, as far as I could check.
isiXhosa – 2016-08-13
Verbs – Present Tense (Negative)
Singular | Plural |
Umfazi akaveli. | Abafazi abaveli. |
Ubawo akaveli. | Oobawo abaveli. |
Umthi awuveli. | Imithi ayiaveli. |
Ilifu aliveli. | Amafu akaveli. |
Ihashe liyaveli. | Amahashe akaveli. |
Isilo asiveli. | Izilo aziveli. |
Into ayiveli. | Izinto aziveli. |
Intaka ayiveli. | Iintaka aziveli. |
Imoto ayiveli. | Iimoto aziveli. |
Uluvo aluveli. | |
Usana aluveli. | Iintsana aziveli. |
Ubusuku abuveli. | |
Ukutya akuveli. |
isiXhosa – 2016-07-19
Verbs – Present Tense (Affirmative)
Singular | Plural |
Umfazi uyavela. | Abafazi bayavela. |
Ubawo uyavela. | Oobawo bayavela. |
Umthi uyavela. | Imithi iyavela. |
Ilifu liyavela. | Amafu ayavela. |
Ihashe liyavela. | Amahashe ayavela. |
Isilo siyavela. | Izilo ziyavela. |
Into iyavela. | Izinto ziyavela. |
Intaka iyavela. | Iintaka ziyavela. |
Imoto iyavela. | Iimoto ziyavela. |
Uluvo luyavela. | – |
Usana luyavela. | Iintsana ziyavela. |
Ubusuku buyavela. | – |
Ukutya kuyavela. | – |
Vocabulary
- ukuvela – appear
- umfazi – woman
- ubawo – father
- umthi – tree
- ilifu – cloud
- ihashe – horse
- isilo – animal
- into – thing
- intaka – bird
- imoto – car
- uluvo – opinion
- usana – baby
- ubusuku – night
- ukutya – food