Haircut in Zulu

-

Need a haircut?  A haircut is gu-nda in Zulu.  It also applies to cutting grass with a lawn mower.

During colonization, African school children in South Africa were forced to shave their heads. British school principals said our hair had lice. White kids, had long hair they tied with ribbons.  Old apartheid photos are quite a revelation.


Spike Lee’s first film was Joe’s Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads.  A brilliant student film, which was followed by more awesome ones.  In the olden days in Africa, family members shaved their heads when someone died.  There are certain faiths in India that forbid cutting hair.
Gu-nda.  You say the first part like good, the second like Andalusia in Spain.

ZULU
ENGLISH
Ngi-yo-gunda.
I’m going for a haircut.
Ngi-zo-gunda ku-sa-sa.
I’ll have a haircut tomorrow.
Ha-mba u-yo-gunda.
Go and have a haircut.
Guido, ha-mba u-yo-gu-nda.
Guido, go and get a haircut.
Jacques, ha-mba u-yo-gu-nda.
Jacques, go and get a haircut.
U-ba-ba u-gu-nda u-Leo.
Father is giving Leo a haircut.
U-Leo u-gu-nda u-ba-ba-mkhulu.
Leo is giving grandfather a haircut.
Basile, u-gu-ndi-le?
Basile, you cut your hair?
Tamsin, u-gu-ndi-le?
Tamsin, you cut your hair?
Vladimir, gu-nda u-tshani.
Vladimir mow the lawn.
A-ba-gu-ndi.
They don’t cut their hair (because of religion).
Si-ya-gu-nda.
We cut hair (signs outside barbers’ shops).
I-ma-li-ni u-ku-gu-nda?
How much is a haircut?
20 dollars u-ku-gu-nda.
The haircut is 20 dollars.

By:  Nonqaba waka Msimang.

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