Zulu Lesson Do or Make
Doing something or making something like tea is e-nza in Zulu, a language spoken in southern Africa. Some people are slow or disorganized. You have to prod them to pack quickly otherwise they will miss the train or plane.
Grandmother is making the ancestors’ drink. It is called isi-Zulu and it takes days to make. It’s very popular because the art is dying. Fewer and fewer women know how to brew isi-Zulu.
E-nza. You say the first and second parts like enzyme. Very easy right?
It’s bad when people are wrongly arrested. In some countries the police punches them when they ask: ‘What have I done?’ Women are abused 24/7 all over the world and my heart bleeds when parents, friends or neighbors ask them, ‘What did you do?’ Does the reason justify beating another human being? You don’t punch and kick the boss when he makes you angry, do you?
Se-nze-ni is a popular boy’s name in South Africa. It is a question: what have we done? There are a multitude of reasons why parents give the little baby that name.
ZULU HISTORY AND ROYAL NAMES
Senzangakhona was a Zulu king. His famous child is Shaka who took the throne by force after his father’s death. Let’s look at this name, Se-nza-nga-khona. It means we do the right thing. Who did the right thing? Mkabayi ka Jama and her twin whose name was Mama, did the right thing.
Their mother the Queen had these girl children and no son to take over the throne, when King Jama passes on to join the ancestors. The nation had one big problem with the King. He had one wife, something unheard of in ancient Kwa-Zulu. What they had always feared came to pass. The twins’ mother died without a son, and King Jama did not seem to be in a hurry to have another wife.
The nation was restless and Mkabayi ka Jama and her sister knew that the palace and the whole country, blamed them for the Zulu Kingdom’s reality of being ‘heir less.’
The twins liked a girl called Mthaniya and convinced her to marry their father King Jama. They then told the king what they had done. King Jama could never refuse his precious daughters anything.
Queen Mthaniya got pregnant and gave birth to a baby boy. The nation was overjoyed. At last they had a future king. King Jama was proud of the twins and recognized their initiative in finding him a wife by naming their little brother Se-nza-nga-khona, which means ‘We do the right thing.’ We, being we the twins.
As we said before, kids in South Africa are given names that reflect the prevailing circumstances when they were born. The names are also parents’ hopes for the baby’s future. For example, I have never heard of a child called ‘sela’ which means thief.
By: Nonqaba waka Msimang.
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Ukhamba, for drinking isi-Zulu.
Photo: Nonqaba waka Msimang
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E-nza. You say the first and second parts like enzyme. Very easy right?
It’s bad when people are wrongly arrested. In some countries the police punches them when they ask: ‘What have I done?’ Women are abused 24/7 all over the world and my heart bleeds when parents, friends or neighbors ask them, ‘What did you do?’ Does the reason justify beating another human being? You don’t punch and kick the boss when he makes you angry, do you?
Se-nze-ni is a popular boy’s name in South Africa. It is a question: what have we done? There are a multitude of reasons why parents give the little baby that name.
ZULU HISTORY AND ROYAL NAMES
Senzangakhona was a Zulu king. His famous child is Shaka who took the throne by force after his father’s death. Let’s look at this name, Se-nza-nga-khona. It means we do the right thing. Who did the right thing? Mkabayi ka Jama and her twin whose name was Mama, did the right thing.
Their mother the Queen had these girl children and no son to take over the throne, when King Jama passes on to join the ancestors. The nation had one big problem with the King. He had one wife, something unheard of in ancient Kwa-Zulu. What they had always feared came to pass. The twins’ mother died without a son, and King Jama did not seem to be in a hurry to have another wife.
The nation was restless and Mkabayi ka Jama and her sister knew that the palace and the whole country, blamed them for the Zulu Kingdom’s reality of being ‘heir less.’
The twins liked a girl called Mthaniya and convinced her to marry their father King Jama. They then told the king what they had done. King Jama could never refuse his precious daughters anything.
Queen Mthaniya got pregnant and gave birth to a baby boy. The nation was overjoyed. At last they had a future king. King Jama was proud of the twins and recognized their initiative in finding him a wife by naming their little brother Se-nza-nga-khona, which means ‘We do the right thing.’ We, being we the twins.
As we said before, kids in South Africa are given names that reflect the prevailing circumstances when they were born. The names are also parents’ hopes for the baby’s future. For example, I have never heard of a child called ‘sela’ which means thief.
| ZULU | ENGLISH |
| Senzo. Se-nzo. You say first part like sell, the second like Enzo Ferrari, the man behind the Ferrari sports car. | A boy’s name meaning the deed, something was done when he was born, or grandparents want the boy and girl to marry after an unplanned pregnancy. Wait. It can also mean that the girl did it deliberately so that the father of the child should marry her. |
| Zenzele. Ze-nze-le. You say the first part like Zeblon, second like Enzo with an 'e', and the last like leg. | Popular boy’s name meaning do it for yourself. Maybe the parents married themselves secretly or they want to boy to grow up and do things for himself. |
| E-nza phela Peter, sihambe. | Do it quickly or hurry Peter so that we can go. |
| Peter, e-nza itiye ayabila amanzi. | Peter make tea. The water is boiling. |
| We-nza-ni u-Peter? | What is Peter doing? |
| U-Peter we-nza itiye. | Peter is making tea. |
| We-nza nga-mabomu | He is doing it deliberately. |
| Be-nza nga-mabomu. | They are doing it deliberately. |
| U-Pope we-nza kancane. | The Pope is slow (he prays slowly? Maybe.) |
By: Nonqaba waka Msimang.
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