Zimbabwean Ndebele language

The Zimbabwean Ndebele language, also called Northern Ndebele, isiNdebele, Sindebele, or Ndebele, and formerly known as Matabele, is an African language belonging to the Nguni group of Bantu languages, and spoken by the Ndebele or Matabele people of Zimbabwe.

isiNdebele is related to the Zulu language spoken in South Africa. This is because the Ndebele people of Zimbabwe descend from followers of the Zulu leader Mzilikazi, who left KwaZulu in the early 19th century during the Mfecane.

Zimbabwean Ndebele and Transvaal Ndebele are separate languages. Both fall in the Nguni group of Bantu languages, but Zimbabwean Ndebele is essentially a dialect of Zulu, and Transvaal Ndebele is within a different subgroup. The shared name is by contact between Mzilikazi's people and the original amaNdebele through whose territory they crossed during the Mfecane.

Phonology

Vowels

There are seven vowel phonemes, written with the letters a, e, i, o, u.^[4]

• a is pronounced [a], approximately like a in father; e.g. abantwana (children)
• e is pronounced [ɛ] or [e], sometimes like e in bed; e.g. emoyeni (in the air)
• i is pronounced [i], like ee in see; e.g. siza (help)
• o is pronounced [ɔ] or [o], sometimes approximately like o in bone; e.g. okhokho (ancestors)
• u is pronounced [u], like oo in soon; e.g. umuntu (person)

Click consonants

In isiNdebele there are three click consonants c, q and x.

c is made by placing the tip of the tongue against the front upper teeth and gums, the centre of the tongue is depressed and the tip of the tongue is drawn backwards. The resulting sound is similar to the sound used in English to express annoyance.^[5] Some examples are cina (end), cela (ask)

The q sound is made by raising the back of the tongue to touch the soft palate and touching the gums with the sides and tip of the tongue. The centre of the tongue is depressed and the tip drawn quickly away from the gum. The resulting sound is like the "pop" heard when quickly removing the cork from a bottle.^[5] Some examples are qalisa (start), qeda (finish)

The x sound is made by placing the tongue so that the back of the tongue touches the soft palate and the sides and tip of the tongue touch the gums. One side of the tongue is quickly withdrawn from the gums.^[5][6] Some examples are xoxa (discuss), ixoxo (frog).

See also

• Matabele
• Transvaal Ndebele language
• Provinces of Zimbabwe
• Matabeleland North
• Matabeleland South
• Bulawayo

References

External links

Zimbabwean Ndebele language test of Wikipedia at Wikimedia Incubator

• "Northern Ndebele for Beginners". 
• [ The Ndebele Bible online]
• Speak Ndebele
• Zimbabwe News in Ndebele Language
• "The History of the Ndebele People". 

Languages of Zimbabwe
Official languages	Chewa Chibarwe English Kalanga Koisan Nambya Ndau Ndebele Shona Sotho Tonga Tsonga Tswana Venda Xhosa Zimbabwe Sign
Unofficial languages	Dombe Fanagalo Kunda Lozi Manyika Ndau Tsoa Tswa

Languages of South Africa
Pan South African Language Board Commission for Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Community Rights Department of Arts and Culture
Official	West Germanic Afrikaans English Southern Bantu Sotho-Tswana Northern Sotho (Sepedi) Southern Sotho (Sesotho) Tswana (Setswana) Nguni Southern Ndebele (isiNdebele) Swazi (siSwati) Xhosa (isiXhosa) Zulu (isiZulu) Venda (Tshivenḓa) Tsonga (Xitsonga)
Recognised unofficial languages mentioned in the 1996 constitution	Indigenous Bhaca Khoi Lala Lozi Nama Nhlangwini Northern Ndebele Phuthi San Tuu Foreign German Greek Gujarati Hindi Portuguese Malay (historical) Tamil Telugu Urdu Religious Arabic Hebrew Sanskrit
Other	LGBT slang Gayle IsiNgqumo Other Tsotsitaal and Camtho Oorlams Creole Fanagalo Pretoria Sotho Scamto SA Sign Language

Languages of Botswana
Bantu	Birwa Gciriku Herero Ikalanga Kgalagadi Kuhane Mbukushu Nambya Northern Ndebele Tswana (official) Tswapong Yeyi Zezuru
Khoisan	ǁAni Gǁana Gǀwi ǂHõã Juǀʼhoan Khwe Kua ǂKxʼauǁʼein Nama Naro Shua Taʼa Tsoa
Indo-European	Afrikaans English (official)