To Build in Zulu
Your neighbour is makhelwane in Zulu.
I once worked for an Ontario government ministry. My cubicle was next to Surge who taught me trouble shooting and everything about computers. I called him MAKHELWANE. He used to be very proud explaining to co-workers why I called him that, which means my neighbour.
A-kha, to build, is problematic with countries. Instead of being good neighbours, they fight all the time. Canada and the U.S. tolerate each other since they are joined at the hip. South Korea doesn’t like North Korea and vice versa. Little Japan, which is an island crossed oceans to invade China.
A-kha, to build relationships with loved ones, friends, co-workers or neighbours is not easy. Life is easier if neighbours get along. It might lead to kids treating each other like brothers and sisters. Equally, kids might be scarred for life if neighbours are like cat and dog.
A-kha, you pronounce the first part as art, the second like car.
Ma-khe-lwa-ne: you say the first part like mud, the second like cake, the third like Selwyn and the fourth like neck.
ZULU | ENGLISH |
Sakhile. | A boy’s name which means we have built. Maybe he was born when parents built a new house. |
Bakhile e-Montreal. | They’ve lived in Montreal for a long time, or they built a house there. |
Bakhile e-Dublin. | They’ve lived in Dublin for a long time, or they bought a house there. |
Ama-Germans a-kha iBerlin wall. | Germans built the Berlin Wall. |
Sa-khelene. | We are neighbours. |
Mina no-Bongi sa-khelene. | Bongi and I are neighbours. |
U-Sam no-Jazz ba-khelene. | Sam and Jazz are neighbours. |
Sizo kwakha u-buhlobo. | We’ve come to build a relationship, to ask for permission to marry your daughter. |
Ngizo-kwakha indlu kule-ndawo. | I will build a house on this land. |
Bazo-kwakha iskole kule-ndawo. | They’ll build a school on this land. |
By: Nonqaba waka Msimang.
Author: Sweetness, a South African novel.
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