Hope in Zulu

-

Themba is to hope.  Brides hope it doesn’t rain on their wedding day.  Politicians hope they will win elections.  Pregnant women in rigid cultures hope they’ll give birth to boys, because girls mean financial problems.  We plan and plan and plan, but still hope everything goes well.

I-themba is the noun.  The verb is themba. The first part is pronounced as in template or tell, the second part is in the German town Hamburg. 

ZULU
ENGLISH
Themba.
A boy’s name.
Thembani.
A girl’s name which means many people must hope.
Nicolae i-themba lami.
Nicolae is my hope.
Petra i-themba lami.
Petra is my hope.
Vuma i-themba lami.
Vuma is my hope.
Terence i-themba lami.
Terence is my hope.
I-themba alibulali.
Hope doesn’t kill.
Themba mnta-nami.
Themba my child (usually a mother’s lament).
Siya-themba bazo-fika.
We hope they will arrive.
Siya-themba nizo-phasa.
We hope you will pass.
Thembela e-nkosini.
Put your faith in God.

Nonqaba waka Msimang is the author of Sweetness, a South African novel.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Elections And Political Bullies

-
Image
Forget democracy.   It should be called political bullying. We are watching it in the prelude to the Canadian election on the 19 th of October, 2015.   Americans have also started their political bullying for the looming presidential election next year. So many trees wasted on books about democracy.   Some countries have big budgets for invading other countries ‘ to defend democracy’ but it is seldom practised in campaigning for elections.   Calling opponents names and printing flyers attacking each other is behaviour that will not be tolerated in kindergarten, but it is all legal, in campaigning.   It is irritating and such a let-down to the whole notion of democracy.   Grown-up men and women behaving like Grade One kids. It is also misleading because many voters believe it is real hatred.   Don’t let that fool you.   These politicians play golf together, attend the same dinner parties, eat and drink at the same social events, share jokes and cut deals in parliament.   They
Read more

Comfort Food As Regret Food

-
Image
Chicken curry. Comfort food is good for the soul, which usually bleeds in winter from icy roads, bad drivers that want to annihilate pedestrians, frozen fingers and toes that take a sabbatical.   What happened to my toes?   I thought I was wearing special socks for boots? We therefore have a right to comfort food which throws doctors’ orders out of the window and has no loyalty to calories.   No calculator on the table, thanks very much.   Piece of bread 5 calories, half a banana 10 calories, sugar-free cheesecake 2,000 calories.   Ah! Ah!  We only live once. Naw!   Comfort food is old school food with its compulsory second helping.   It involves licking fingers and giving a big sigh, about the good life, which is shelter, food, love and debt.   The problem is the zip.   The jeans remind you that comfort food can also be called you will regret food .   Home sweet home is even sweeter in winter after surviving blowing snow and bumper to bumper traffic. What is more welcoming th
Read more

Internet Manners

-
Image
The internet and mama have something in common: manners.   They believe that always say Hi! To people you meet. Home is where the heart is, but it is rough being at home these digital days.   People are so tied up in chat rooms, Instagram, Twitter, FB, YouTube or Google mania, they don’t have a minute to say hi or good night to people they share a toilet or kitchen with. Thank god for internet players.   They say hi to me when I re-open a document after a thirty minutes’ break.   It’s all automated, but it is nice when the computer calls me by my name and encourages me to continue, where I left off. The internet understands that greetings are the definitive ice breaker, before saying mum, I’m hungry or dad, can I have the car keys? Facebook has taken it to the next level because it understands that I live in a strange province where the weather is a headline story, and not what Prime Minister Justin Trudeau thinks about the Keystone Pipeline, so Facebook reminds me of temperatu
Read more