Zulu Lesson Catch

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LeRoy 'Satchel' Paige, one of the greatest baseball players in America, but was confined 
to the Negro Leagues, because Major League Baseball (MLB) was for white players only.

We also post Zulu lessons here but they are limited because, English doesn’t have equivalent sounds. Qombola for example, which means going up a hill. There’s nothing similar in English.

Catch is today’s lesson because it’s easy to translate for English speakers. Catch is ba-mba in Zulu. You say the first part like baba, the second like timber.

Sports is about catching. The goalkeeper catches the ball in soccer. There’s a catcher in baseball, and players on the field must stop steals at all costs. I have no clue what rugby and American football is all about, but it seems like catching the ball.

Husbands are on cloud nine when wives ‘catch’ meaning pregnancy. Infidelity is bad news, especially when someone is caught in the act, with another person, who is not his or her legal person. We catch a cold in winter. We still wear masks because we don’t want to catch some rogue COVID-19.

ENGLISH

ZULU

Hold this.

Bamba la.

Hold the baby.

Bamba ingane.

Zenith made me hold the wall (didn’t show up).

U-Zenith wangi-bambisa udonga.

Hold the dog.

Bamba inja.

We support each other.

Siya-bambisana.

Hold the pen like this.

Bamba ipeni kanje.

Catch! Thief!

Bamba! Isela!

By: Nonqaba waka Msimang.

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