Wrap in Zulu
To wrap something is so-nga in Zulu. It also means to threaten or curse.
Canadians are familiar with food that is wrapped in a pita bread or any kind of flat bread. They wrap fish and chips in newspapers in the United Kingdom. Parents wrap kids in all kinds of blankets in North America and Europe because it is cold. Movie directors say ‘It’s a wrap,’ when they finish shooting the last scene.
Unfortunately, wrapping is also bad news when women wrap newly born babies in rags and throw them in garbage bins. It reminds me of Akosejaye, a Yoruba movie, about a man who found a child on the street and adopted her. She grew up to be the best child in the world, loving her dad, although she didn’t understand why he cried every time she did something nice for him.
So-nga also means to threaten or curse. Sometimes emotions run very high, and people wish their enemies or rivals dead. They are run over by a car or killed in a drive-by shooting. Parents wail and say somebody cursed them.
So-nga. You say the first part like song, the second like Havenga.
So-nge-la. You say the first part like song, the second like longitude, but with an -e- and the last like luck.
By: Nonqaba waka Msimang.
Canadians are familiar with food that is wrapped in a pita bread or any kind of flat bread. They wrap fish and chips in newspapers in the United Kingdom. Parents wrap kids in all kinds of blankets in North America and Europe because it is cold. Movie directors say ‘It’s a wrap,’ when they finish shooting the last scene.
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| Photo: Nonqaba waka Msimang |
Unfortunately, wrapping is also bad news when women wrap newly born babies in rags and throw them in garbage bins. It reminds me of Akosejaye, a Yoruba movie, about a man who found a child on the street and adopted her. She grew up to be the best child in the world, loving her dad, although she didn’t understand why he cried every time she did something nice for him.
So-nga also means to threaten or curse. Sometimes emotions run very high, and people wish their enemies or rivals dead. They are run over by a car or killed in a drive-by shooting. Parents wail and say somebody cursed them.
So-nga. You say the first part like song, the second like Havenga.
So-nge-la. You say the first part like song, the second like longitude, but with an -e- and the last like luck.
| ZULU | ENGLISH |
| Ngi-zo songa ngani? | What should I wrap it with? |
| Songa nge-ndwangu e-manzi. | Wrap it with a wet cloth. |
| Songa nga-mahlamvu. | Wrap it with leaves. |
| Songa nge-plastic. | Wrap it with plastic. |
| Songa ingane nge-ngubo yoku-lala. | Wrap the baby with a blanket. |
| Wangi-songela u-Bruce. | Bruce cursed me. |
| Waku-songela wathini? | How did he curse you? |
| Wangi-songela wathi ngizo-divosa. | He cursed me and said I will divorce. |
| Tamsin, yeka ukusongela abantu. | Tamsin, stop cursing people. |
| U-ya-ngi-songela umakhelwane. | My neighbour curses me. |
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