Avoiding Me in Zulu

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Missed calls.  Friends and lovers are mad at you when you don’t take their calls. Voicemail is a caller’s nightmare. Sha-la-za means avoiding someone. The first part is pronounced as in shy, the second part as in lark and the last part as in Zara.

Donald Trump is the trending person to be avoided. Is it good for Republicans running for office to be seen in the same space with him? The answer is the 2022 Midterms.

Friends that have a fall out avoid each other.  When things go sour, lovers who had an affair at work avoid each other until the woman resigns. I don’t understand why it is always the woman that leaves.

The cellphone is king therefore, people take it personally when you block them or delete them as friends, sure signs that you are avoiding them.

ZULU

ENGLISH

Musa u-ku-ngi- sha-la-zela.

Don’t avoid me.

U-ya-ngi sha-la-ze-la.  Nge-nzeni?

You are avoiding me.  What have I done?

A-ngi-ku-sha-la-ze-li.

I’m not avoiding you.

U-nga-thi u-ya-ngi-sha-la-ze-la.

It seems as if she is avoiding me.

Sha-la-za Gloria.  Ku-lu-ngi-le.

Avoid me Gloria.  It’s O.K.

Sha-la-za Sergio.  Ku-lu-ngi-le.

Avoid me Sergio.  It’s O.K.

Sha-la-za Shahid.  Ku-lu-ngi-le.

Avoid me Shahid.  It’s O.K.

Ba-ya-sha-la ze-lana.

They are avoiding each other.

Si-ya-sha-la ze-lana.

We are avoiding each other.

By:  Nonqaba waka Msimang

 

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