Zulu Lesson Light a Fire

Pizza oven at the mall. See wood on top.

Do Boy Scouts still make fire on camping trips? Light a fire is phe-mba in Zulu. You pronounce the first part like pet and the second like member.

Phe-mba has its origin in collecting dry twigs and leaves in one place and using friction from rubbing stones to light them. Bigger blocks of dry branches followed after the fire got going. 

Early Africans never used gas, matches or paraffin to light a fire.  In the modern age, African girls’ and boys’ clubs used to teach kids how to make a fire without matches.  Now they light gas stoves to warm canned food like baked beans on camping trips.

Canadian and American homes use electrical fire logs or natural wood they cut from their backyard or buy from the gas station.  This doesn’t qualify as phe-mba because the fire is instant.  Phe-mba is the slower process that requires patience because twigs can be damp and sparks from stones do not happen at first try.

ZULU	ENGLISH
Ngizophemba umlilo.	I will build a fire.
Liyanetha angikwazi ukuphemba umlilo.	It’s raining.  I cannot build a fire.
Letha izinti ngiphembe umlilo.	Bring some twigs.  I want to build a fire.
U-John uphemba ukungezwani ezweni.	John is building dissension in the country.
Musa ukuphemba udlame.	Don’t encourage war.
Siegfried, musa ukuphemba inzondo.	Siegfried, don’t encourage hatred.
Angibathandi, baphemba inzondo e-Canada.	I don’t like them.  They encourage hatred in Canada.
Baphemba udlame phakathai kwama Juda nama Sulumane.	They are encouraging war between Jews and Muslims.

By:  Nonqaba waka Msimang.