W;

It has been my privilege an d p leasu re for a nu mber of

year s to teac h the Z u lu langu age to the M is si on aries of the
S o u th Afric a G en eral M is si on who h ave fro m tim e to time
c om e to S ou th Afri ca to w ork among the Z u l u s p eakin g peop l es
When it rs t became p art of my d u ty to teach t he Z u lu
langu ag e th ere w ere not so m any Z ul u G ramm ar s as at
pres ent in exi stenc e an d th ose in use being c omplained of
I fel t u rged to attem pt a si mpler m ethod not
as diic u l t

howev er w ith t he id ea of prod u cing a book The Le s sons

u s ed h av e bec om e k nown to a wi d e c i rcl e of friend s ou ts id e of
an d th ei r u rgent r equ es t f or p ubli cati on is the
the
p ri ncipal reason for their appearanc e in print The Lesson s
have been careful ly revised an d the orthography adopted is
th at of the nd ing of the Z ul u Orthography Conferen c e of
May 2 9 th to 3 l s t incl usive 1 9 0 7 of w hi c h I w as secr etary
an d a c o py of the R ul es i s i n s erted at t he en d of th i s book
It has been my endeavou r to give a rul e for everyth ing
giv ing t he
an d to m ak e t he Le s s on s as si m pl e as po ssibl e
That s om e
s tu dent onl y su ch m atter a s ac t u al ly n eed ed
d egree of su cc ess has been gained i s attes ted by the resul ts
al ready ac c omp l ished
Whil e c opiou s examp les are giv en I have purposely omitted
for tran slat ion from E n glish into Z ulu be ing
exerc is es
persu aded that in the s tu dy of a n ew langu age the m ind
sho u l d be c on n ed to t he i d i om of t he new lan gu age so th at
at the earl i es t po s sibl e s tage the s tu d ent sh al l be ind u ced to
think in the langu age he is seek ing to acqu ire
I tru st that the L esson s m ay h elp many others to a k now
ledge of t he lang uage esp ec iall y su ch as de si re to m ake
known the G ospel of the grace of God to the Z ulu speaking
F S U TE R
peo ple
,

C O NT E NT S

PAGI

C H A PT E

LE

' '

I rE Rs z

V owels

R I

Co n s onants, C licks

C H A P TE

TH E

R II
N OU N I ts c ompo sition N u mber Ki nds
diff erent Classes wi th examples an d rul es
.

The

C H A PTE

D I MI NU T I V E

of

the N oun

R III

13

C HA PT E

I V

G EN D E R

C H A PT E R
C AS ES

of Nou ns

16

CH A PT E R V I

N om inativ e Case Present ten se Tu

d eni te of U kubona to see ( 4 ) 3 Obj ec tive Case
Pre sent tense D en i te of U k ubona to s ee
i
F
s
1
4
o
v
orm
P
s
e
P
i
i
a
sess
s
repo
t
on
l
orm
F
7
s
3
3
( )
( )
mph
a
t
i
F
orm
s
2
c
4
E
7
D
e
2
mon
s
tr
a
t
ve
i
3
( )3
( )
Relativ e
F orm s

PR O N O U N S

C H A P TE R

VII

I N D I C AT I V E M oon of U k ubona To see

an d S e w i th certa in tense s
Pa rt ic les k a
S u bs tanti v e Verb U k uba To be
,

C H A P TE R

PRE Posm

ONs

AN D

C O NJ U N CTI O N S

VIII

22

4O
51
56

LE S S O N S

VI

I N

Z U LU

I t al

C H A P TE R I !
z Posi tion

i
2
A
E
p
th
t
A
s
e
s
,
,
( )3
Monosyllabic , ( 3 ) 3 H ow lack
of tru e A dj ectives is su ppli ed , ( 9 ) 3 C om
parison of , ( 1 1 ) 3 Q u anti tati ve, ( l 4 ) 3 D emon s tra
t ive,
Interrogative,
N u m eral ,

A D J E CT IV ES
Pr ed icate ,
A

Ordi nal,

2
( )3

65

4
9
( )

C H APTE R !
FO RMS

V E RB
N eu ter Passive ( 2 ) 3
S i mp l e
R eexiv e ( 4) 3 R ec iprocal ( 5 ) 3 Cau sative
i
i
P
a
ho
h
v
ng
s
ve
Ob
a
s
7
j
t
i
v
e
1
1
T
s
c
e
e
( )3
( )3
Voice ( l 9 ) 3 Combinati on s of the d ifferent
f o r ms ( 2 0)
OF

C H A PT E R ! I
TH E

M oons

V E R B S u bj u n c tive ( 2 ) 3 In
Imperat ive ( l O) 3 Potential
U s e of Yah el e w i th S ubj u nctive

THE

or

n it i v e,
,
,
Optative,
an d In n it ive,
4
7
( )
U kuba , to be, i n the S u bj u ncti ve, Inn iti ve, I m
perative, Potential an d Optative, ( 6 2 )

C H APT E R ! I I

How formed , ( 1 ) 3 Of
AD V E RBS
Pl ace,
8
D
a
e
mon
s
tr
t
i
v
e
,
( )3
t ions,
1 1 8)
-

C H A PT E R !
AU !

I LI

A RY V E R Bs

TH E

VERB

Ti m e,
3
7
( )3

5
Of
( )3
I n t erj ec

1 08
.

119

U KU T I

1 25

V O C AB U L A R Y
RU L ES

F OR

91

III

C H APT E R ! I V

82

WR I T I N G

1 27
T HE

Z U L U LA N G U A G E

1 33

LES SO NS

Z ULU

IN

C HA P T E R
LE TT E RS

1 The twenty six l ett er s of the E nglish alphabet are u sed

The let ter s
to repres ent the so u nd s of t he Z ul u langu ag e
represent t he same s o und s as in E n glis h wi th t he follow ing

c
pt
i
on
s
The Vow els the l etter s 0 q x whi ch s ta nd for
x
e
e

c l ic k s
s ou nd s call ed
g wh i c h i s al w ay s h ard as in g o g at e
wh ich st and s for a h arsh g u tt u ral s o u nd like 2; in
an d
etc
D u tc h
VO W E L S
a is prono u n ced lik e a in calm
2
e
e in ledge
i
es i n feel
0
o in ow
u
0 0 in m oon
The vowels with the exc eptio n of th a t in the accented
u n iform i n
length of so u nd
sy llable are g en er ally
The
sy llabl e al way s end s i n a vow el an d the accent falls on t he
penul ti mate A ccord ing to thi s rule a wo rd oaf two syllables
woul d take the ac c ent on the r st on e of three sy llables on
t he sec ond on e of fo u r syllables on th e th i rd an d s o on
-

fu

Ex

lea rn ; l u n g i l e, be alr i ght 3 a ba

a ma k o s i ka z i , ladi es , q u een s

n da,

n t wa- n a, chil dren ;

CON S ON AN T 8

With the exception s ment ioned above the se st an d for

the sam e s o u nd s as in E nglish ; but th ere are m any oth er
so u nds whi c h are r epr es ent ed by a c om bi nat i on of c on s on ant s
of wh ich the follow ing are examples
W may be c ombined w ith an y of t he c on sonants as : bW cw
3

dw, f w, gw ,

et c

LE SSO

NS

I N

ZU LU

G, before

from

Th er e is

c li c k

ind icat es

N ative

m od icati on of the

It seems

nfo rtu nate h o

,

nother similar bu t atter s o und f or

an d the gr eatest car e m u s t be tak en to
s tands
between t he two a s th ere are word s wh ich
a

w ide

n dhl wa

THE

CLI CKS

ever the foll owing su gges tions may be fou nd h elpfu l

0 R epr esent s a s o u nd wh ich is p rodu
,

t neou sly with the

S i mul a

the

co rr ect sou nd being pr od u ced

LE S S O N S

I N

ZULU

placing the t ip of the tongu e again st the roof of t he

mo u th an d repeatin g the abo ve pr ocess
The s ou nd wh ic h th is latter repres ents is sim ilar to that
u s u all y m ad e to u rg e on a hors e
an d i s pr od u ced b
y
placing the si de of the t ong ue again s t the upper sid e
teeth an d repeat in g the sam e proc es s
Th ese letters are u se d to r epr esent a fou rth cli ck whi ch
is a pec u liar forced sou nd sim ilar to th at h eard wh en
cal ico is be ing torn
It is very d ifcu lt to express an d
It oc cu rs
can be acq ui red on l y by con sid erable pra c ti c e

hxin a act n a u g hti ly ; hxi n ya choke 3

in s u ch word s as
.

Ex

hxela,

s ta n

The re

d i n li n e

d iphthongs in Z ul u
7 There i s no A rt ic le in Z ul u 3 bu t the d ecien cy
provided for by the use of the pronou ns
are n o

is

EXER C I S E 1

w
l
l
s
ll
l
i
a
b
ba m ba de n di dwa
Read the fo o ng y
es z
mf u ga gwa n ge ngwe ho hlo n hlo dhlo n dhlo
n dwe
hlw a dhl wa n hl wa n dhla j a n j e n j i j wa ka n k e n kwi
.

l wa, ci, n ci, n c wi, c a , q o, n q o, n q w a, gwa, q a, xa, xu ,

hxa, hxwa, tshu, tshwa, shi , sho, she, t she

n xa,

VOCABUL A RY
Bona,
p

t, p u t

see

in ,

r
b
k
a
u
a
i
u
i
e
u
l
oo
a
n
k
b
z
b
i
z
t
a
,
,
;
3
,
;
q
a
k
l
/
c
w
n
b
e
oo
e
t
d
o
b
h
o
l
u
h
d
,
,
;
p

e
k
a
b
;

call

C HAPTE R II
THE

NOU N
the lang uage is composed of two parts
.

E ve ry no u n in
,
the roo t an d t he p re x
A ll the no u ns m ay be gr ou ped u nder t hree general head s,

Perso nal, Imp ers on al , an d Abst rac t ; an d are f u rth er

viz
d i vi ded into nine clas ses acc ord ing t o the d ifferent prexes 3
the rst two clas ses being composed mostly of Perso nal
nou n s, the next ve of n ames of an imals an d th ings, and
the las t two , w i th a few excepti ons, of Abs tract nou ns
1

10

L E SSO

The

foll owing

mples

ZULU

I N

planati ons shoul d

an d

exa

nou n belongs

an

NS

nable

ex

As al l t he p ron ou n s in t he l an g u a e are f o m ed from t he

re xes i t i s of t h e u t m ost i m p o t an c e t at t he
p
com p l ete l y mast e t hem bef o e at te m p t in g t o p oc eed f u r t he
.

CLA S S E S

N OU N S

0F

CL AS S

umu ,

p lu ral aba S hou ld the r oot of

more than on e syllable
the no u n i n the s in gu la r con taI
the nal vowel of the prex is dropped
2

S in g u lar

prex

'

P l u r al
umun t u ,

p erson (male or
female)
umf azi w ife

ahantu people
abaf az i wi ves

umnt wana, c

abant wana, c

hild

CL AS S
.

P lu r al

baha my or ou r father
umame my or ou r moth er
uy i hl o thy or yo u r fath er
uny ok o thy or yo u r mother
u

obaba

CL AS S
S i ng ular prex umu pl u ral
t his c las s as to t he r st
.

ou r

fathers
omame ou r m o ther s
oy i hl o yo u r fath er s
ony ok o you r mothe rs

to

h ildre n

S i n gu la r

Th is cl as s inclu des
pr ex u plu ral o
of pers on s also a f ew Z u lu ised foreign words

S ing u lar

n ames

The

ame rule applies

umu

ti tree m ed i cine
umf ul a a ri ver
,

nml omo,

mou th

imil omo,

m ou ths

LES S ON S

CL AS S
5

S ingul ar

prex isi

S i n g u l ar

Z U LU

I N

Plu ral

P lu r al

isi nk wa, bread , a loaf

i sihl al o, a sea t
i siz we, tribe, n ati on
isi buk o, a mi rror
*
i san dhl a, h and

iz ink wa, l oaves

iz i hl al o, seats
iz iz we, tribes , n ations
iz i buk o, m irror s
iz an dhl a, h and s
.

11

vw

S hou l d t he oot of t he n ou n i n an y c l ass beg in i th a o el , t he

o el of t he p re x is t h en dropp ed , exc ep t C lass 9 , the sec on d u
n al
of t he p re x i n s u c h cas e b ei n g c han g ed to

vw

isando

a
i
u
u
i
r
i
a
m
l
u
b
l
e
h
mm
er
u
a
s
s
h
e
r
d
m
k
d
b
u
t
h
a
;
,
;
,
;
,
q
u k waba, di s tr i bu ti on ; u k w en a ma,
uk waz i , kn ow ledg e

Ex

CL AS S
6

S in gul ar

prex ili

u s u all

ik an da, head
i q an da, egg
iz we, land , co u nt ry
iz wi , a word
it amb o , a bone

y contracted

to i, Plu ral ama

amak an da,

h ead s
amaq an da egg s
amaz we la nd s c o u nt ri es
amaz wi wo rd s
amat ambo bo nes

GL

AS S

The i n itial letter of the

S ingu l ar pr ex i, Plu ral
root of eac h no u n of th is class i s 11 exc ept wh en the fol l owing
lette r is a labial , in wh ich case I n is s u bs titu ted for n

S i n gu lar

int amb o, s tri ng , r o pe

imbuz i , a goat
imvu , a s heep
in cwadi , a letter , a book
int o , th ing
.

iz int ambo, st rings , etc

iz i mbuz i , goats
iz imvu , she ep
iz in cwadi , l etter s, books
iz int o, thi ngs
.

followi ng no un s of th is clas s form thei r plural in ama

Note those that drop the in i tial 11 of the r oot in the plu ral
The

L E SS ONS

IN

ULU

i z i nt i ,

CL AS S
9

Nou n s

of

co rres pond ing

ubu doda,

this

to th e

c l ss

root

m anli ness

ukuh amb a,

th e

tic k s

formed from

ar e

ubude,

walk going to go
,

LE SS ON S
EE

G ive

the

ZULU

I N

RCI S E 2

13

the foll owing n ou ns

i ngan e i nf an t 3 igej a

Plu ral

of

b
l
o
u
h
h
o
e
i
t
U su k u , day 3
e
e
,
,
,
,
;
p
g
u m f u n di si,
tea cher , m i ssi on ar y ; ikaya, home ;
ston e, r ock ;
itaf ul a, ta bl e ; in hliz iyo, hea r t ; in taba , mou n ta i n ; u n yawo,
m
l
i
l
l
eg ;
do
o
u
k
n
ee ; ib as h i,
m
z
i
m
a
o
o
t
e
n
z
e
u
h
o
r
s
e
b
,
;
,
,
;
f
body ; in dhl u, hou s e 3 u m u z i, kr aa l, vi ll ag e, town 3 u f akaz i ,
a wi tn ess ; i siban e, l a mp ; ilan g a, the su n , day 3 iny anga, the
moon , mon th 3 uk am ba, a beer p ot
.

VOC ABUL ARY

E he, yes ;
Ca or qa,

Manj e

yebo
no

at i c
mph
(
)
c abo or q abo n o
emph
at ic
(
)
,

e
s
y

n ow

m
k
n
a
a n e, at on ce
o
;
,
j
N ambl a or n amhlan j e, tod ay
Lapa, her e lapo, ther e
Hl ek a, la u gh fun a, wan t, seek
fundisa, teach
Fun da, lear n

C HAPTE R
THE

DIMIN U TIVE

III

THE

N OU N
1 The D im in u tive of t he no u n i s form ed by dropp ing the
nal vowel exc ept 0 an d 11 bo th of wh ic h are c h anged to w
an d any an a
to
an d af xi ng a n a to expre ss li ttl e o r sm all
To expr ess exceedi ng di m in u tive
expres s v ery li ttl e o r s m all
ness the s eco nd syllable ny a of t he latter t erm is rep ea ted
N ou ns end ing in na ne an d ui aix
as may be d esi red
.

Ex

inj a, dog ; in j an a, a li ttl e dog ; i n j an yan a, a ver y li ttle

dog 3 in j an yan yan yana , an exceedin g ly small dog
.

umun t u ,

p ers on
imvu a S h eep
uny awo foot
isi nkwa a l oaf
ink osi chief k ing
.

umnt wana, c

h il d
im vwana a l amb
un y awana a sm all foo t
isink wana a S m all loaf
ink os ana a p etty ch ief pri nce
,

L E SS O N S

l4
.

however

the las t

ZULU

yl lable of the nou n c ontain

b p t m ( 1 mb mp th es e letters are c hanged i n add i t ion

t o t e d im in u t iv e ai x as fol l o ws
b is c h anged t o 128 11
d
n
t
a
r
a
e
811
p
2

S hou ld ,

I N

is

I n,

d)
mba

mp

MB

a re

ny
9

A f ter t hese c han g es t h e

few exc ep t i on s , om it ted
.

'

n t sh.

n al vow l of

t he

root is with a very

,

i n t at sh ana, a hil
ing u t sh ana, a s m a b an
'
imp u sh ana , a i t t e m ea ,

ll l ket
l l
l et c
u p ash an a a s m all f eat her
i q ash ana a S mall p iec e etc

i s ik as h ana , a S hor t t im e
ink ony an a, a c a f
m ou h
uml ony ana, a s m a
i ncwaJ ana, a i t t e boo
lk anJ ana, a it t e head
i t anJ ana, a i t t e b on e
umt onj an a, a i t t e S p r in g ,
inswent s h an a, a i t t e q u ai
.

water

umk ont o, a sp ea r ,

e tc .

'

i q at a, a p iece of m eat,
i si k ati , t i m e ,
i nk omo, c ow,
uml omo, m ou t h ,
in cwadi , a boo ,
i k an da, head ,
i t am o, a bon e,
umt omb o, a S p i n g of
in s wemp e, a q u ail ,

in t aba, m ou n ta in ,
i n g a o, b an k et , d ress ,
i mp up u, m ea , ou ,
u p ap e, a f eat her,

ll

l l
l l
l l
l l

mak es

umk ont sh wana, a

l ittle sp ear

etc

EXER C IS E 3

ll
i
h
u
t
i
s
v
the
d
m
n
i
ve
of
e
fo
ow
ng
word
u m f u la r i ver ;
i
t
z
Gi e
r d 3 i s ang o
a
bi
s oi l 3 in oni
ear th
a
t
e
w
a
u mhl abat i
g
y
y
.

isibaya, ca ttle f old ; i n daw o, p lace ; ubu so, the f ace ; i sic at ul o,
boot or shoe 3 ucakide, a weasel 3 in dan dato, a r i n g 3 idhlambi,
a wave
.

C HAPTE R I V

G E N DE R

fou r genders in Z u lu as in E nglish viz

Mas cu line Fem in ine N eu ter an d C ommon G ender how
ev er i s of sm all im p orta nce i n Z u l u G ramm ar t he n eed be in g
dis pen sed wi th by t he fac t that the d irec t su bj ect of the verb
1

Ther e

are

LE SS ONS

ZULU

IN

15

ways a pronou n agreeing w ith it s res pe c tive nou n

The di s tin c ti ons mad e are covered by the fo ll o wi ng r ul es
2 In a few case s the nou n is made fem inine by afxi ng
is

al

E x ink o si , c h ief, k i ng
ink omo, head of catt le

qu een

ink osikaz i ,

etc

The word i s
ink omok az i , c ow
generally shortened to
ink omaz i
ink uk uk az i , or i sik uk uk az i , hen

Kazi is frequ ently af xed to a no u n an d als o i ts adj ective

to m agnify i ts m ean i ng
E x umf az ik az i a great or l arge woman
itshek az i a hu ge roc k
uk al okaz i a gr eat mo u nt ai n r idge
inj ak az i a h u g e dog
ink omokaz i emhl op ek az i a larg e wh i te cow
)muz ik az i omk ul uk az i a very l arg e k r aal or town
3

M ale an d fem ale of p erson s may be d ened by the u se

male ; an d i sif az ana fem ale 3 preced ed
of t he term s i sili sa
by the Pos ses siv e Particl e agre ei ng w i th the n oun
S
ee
(
Ch ap V S ect 1 0 for c o al es cenc e of vowels )
E x umun tu wesil i s a a m al e per son
umun t u wesif az ana a fem al e p er s on
male an d fem ale
ez es if az ana
iz i sebenz i z esili sa n
serv ants
4

way

Ex

Male an d fem ale of an im als m ay be d en ed

by the term s in dun a m al e 3 in sik az i fem al e
ihashi l en duna a m al e ho rse a s tallion
ihashi l en sik az i a female hors e a m are
inj a y en duna a male dog
inia y en sik az i a fem al e dog a bitch
VOC ABUL A R Y 3
,

i n t he

me

sa

in kabi, a n ox
impo ngo, a he g oat
indhlela, a p ath, way
.

in k u n z i ,
iq u de, a
in dawo,

bu ll
cock
a p l ace
a

in q ama, a r am
u m s eben z i, wor k
isik u n dhl a, p osi tion
.

LE SS O N S

16

ZULU

I N

C HAPTE R

N OU N S

v
C
a
s
s
a
s
ll
e
e
s
fo ow z N omin ati ve or case
1 There are
of t he subj ect of t he verb ; Obj ecti ve or cas e of the obj e t ;
Vocative the cas e of address ; Lo cative the c ase of l ocality ;
Genit i ve or Pos se s sive cas e ind i ca t ing po s s es sion or r ela ti on
2 The Voca ti ve C as e is formed by si mp ly dropp ing t he
in itial v o wel of the n o u n except ing th o se of Cl as s 2 p l u ral
b
Monosy llabic roo ts tak e the
al l of whi ch pr ex
prex mi n u s the ini tial vowel
CA S E S OF

Mp an de the

M p an de

late

chi ef

ink o si , c h ief, ki ng
ubaba, my fath er

Nk OS i

obaba my o r ou r fathers
bobaba
omame ou r m o the rs
bomame
l ut i
ut i a st i ck
i t sh e a s to ne r ock
i g wa snow
3 The L oca ti ve Cas e i nd icat es the pl ace where the
or in whi ch the actio n i s p erform ed or to or
18
or at
from wh i ch the action proceed s ; an d is fo rmed by c hangi ng
the in it ial vowel of the nou n to e except that of nou ns of
class 7 S ingular whic h becom es 0 an d th e nal vowel in
.

if

a o r e to
i

9:

eni

mi

"

W eni

the last syllable co nta in s b p m mb or mp

the sa me ch anges t ak e p l ace as i n the form ati on of t he
d imin utive of the nou n 3 ( S ee c hap III sect 2 ) bu t onl y when
After th ese chan ges
the n al vow el of t he no u n i s o or u
the w in the ai xes w eni a n d win i is dropped
4

Als o, if

LE SS ON S

I N

ZULU

express at to or fr om
k wa is pr exed
to the name of the p erson refer ed to whic h theh l oses its
Whether the m eani ng be at to or from will be
i n it ial 11
gathered from the id ea expressed by the verb in the sentence
E x Kwa M q awe at to or from U M q a we s
Kwa DeliW ey o at to or from U D eli weyO s
Kwa Zul u at to or from U Z ulu S
Kwa Map umul o at to or from U Mapu mulo s
7

To

o
an
S
d so s ,

is i n serted before a N o u n l n the L o cat ive Case

wh enever i t is pr eced ed by an y of t he foll ow ing w ord s z na,
an d ; ng a, b , by m ean s of, thro u gh , to w ard s ; nj en g a, lik e
y
as 3 or by a prono u n N om in at i ve C as e, a Po s s e s si v e parti cl e ,
or by t he v erb ba to be
8

An

mi ni , i n t he

hou se an d in the garde n

h
11 n g a s emf ul eni he i s b
t
e r iv er
y
nj e nga sez ul wini like as in heaven
u s en dhli n i he i s in the hou se
umun t u wa s eM v ot i a p er s o n o f U Mvot i
kwa ba sehl at ini l ok o tha t was (happ ened ) in the f o res t
EXERC I S E 4
P ut th e foll o wing w ord s i nto the Lo cati ve an d give t he
E ngl ish equ ivalent
en dhli ni

Ex

na

s en si

U mgwaq o, r oad 3 isif u ba , the ches t 3 in t u n j a, hole thr oug h, as

u
m
i
s
i
d
b
co
r
e
e
u
s
e
i
c
i
b
i
u
m
n
a
m
k
a
n
e
d
l
l
l
e
u
b
ey e o
o
a
o
,
,
;
,
,
3
3
p
f
p
y
dar kn ess, blackn ess ; in dhlela, a way , p ath ; i n g ane, in c wadi ,
i sihl al o, isibaya, i san dhl a, aha nt u , u m l en z e, u m f ul a, inhl iz iyo,
iz im bam bo, u mlom o, u kuk an ya, u k ut an da
Tr an s la te
eMk om aZ i
eM t wal u me
s eml on yen i
.

Kwa

G u mede
Kwa Myeza
eM ts hez i
Kwa B ad ebe
Kwa D u m isa
eM Z i n to
eF af a
e oloz i
en h li z i wen i na
em an z in i
y
n ga sen dhlini
n ga S em an z i ni
.

The Po ss es si v e Cas e i s ind i cated by c ertai n Possess ive

Parti cl es sign ify ing of as e xpr es sing the idea of poss ess ion or
relation A s they ar e e vi d ent ly formed from the Pron ou ns
N om C ase, 3rd Per we sh al l need t o g i ve these rst
They
are formed from the u n c ontrac ted p rexes of the n o u n s b
y
om i tting th e r s t vo wel an d the m al so of the pre xes umu,
9

LE SS ONS
imi ,

I N

ZULU

19

ama,

the rem ain ing portion being the Pronou n 3 rd p er

N om Case The Pronou n s for Class 2 are t he sam e as for
Cl ass 1
NO MI N AT I VE C AS E
PR ONOU NS
3r d Pe on
.

1
2
3
4

umu

umu

i si

si

1i

ul u

ubu

uk u

rs

lu
bu
ku

aba
o
imi

ama

form the P ossessi ve P ar ti cles (a) Chang e 11 where

ever it oc c u r s to W an d i wh er e s tand in g al on e to y an d add
a (b) S ubs t i tu te a for i in eac h of the oth er Pro n o u n s in
wh ich it occu rs an d the resu l t w ill be t he Possessive Particles
correspo ndi ng to the d ifferent classes of no u n s
POSS E SS IV E PART I C L E S
10

To

S i n g u lar

wa
we
wa

3
4
5
6

sa

1a

..

ya

l wa

8
9

b wa

kwa

The Po s sessiv e Particl e m u s t al w ay s agree w i th the

nou n denoting t he th ing p oss ess ed , after which it is p laced ,
an d t he v o w el of t he p art ic le w i ll c ombin e w ith t he in i tial
vowel of t he no u n or pronou n fo llo wing an d d enoting the

11

us
o
e
or
th
ss
ss
p
,

a
a
a

bec om e
an d i bec om e
an d a be c om e
an d u

20

LES

m edicine
c

b
i
si
(
u

S ONS

I N

UL U

hildren s bread

l wa imbuz i ) ubi si l wembuz i ,

-

goat s

mi l k

1 2 When a no u n of cla ss 2 S ing u lar d enotes t h e

k a is u sed as the po ss essi ve p art i cl e for all cl ass es
an d p l u ral , an d i s pr ec ed ed by
.

vowel prono u n s a i an d I I wh ich are om itted a

follow ing los es i t s i n i tial vow el
Nou n s of class 2 pl u ral foll ow t he rul e given in the pr evi ou s
s ect i o n bu t n o co al es c en c e of vow el s tak es p l ace
When t wo or m ore no u n s of d ifferent c lasse s are u sed in
the possess ive cas e the p article agr eeing with the las t one
1 8 u s ed
,

k a mame , mother s med ic ine

iz in k omo z i k a baba , fath er s cattle

abant wan a ba k a N k ul unk ul u, the ch il dr en

ihas hi 1i k a Kumal o , Ku m al o s ho rse

umu

Ex

ti

of

God

inj a k a y ihl o, you r father s dog

amaz wi k a mame , m o ther s wo rds

imi t i k a y i se, his fath er s tre es or medi c ines

in cwadi k a G ibel a, G ibela s boo k

iz ink omo z a obaba , ou r father s c att le

iz int o z a oy ihl o, yo u r fath er s thing s

amaz we a oy i s e their father s land s

13

letter

Ex

The

po ssess ive of names of Pla ces is somewhat pecu liarly

t
iz we 1a seTran svaal the co u ntry of t he Tran s vaal
i z i nt aba z a seN atal the m o untain s of N atal
umun t u wa s eS waz ini a m an of S waz ilan d
s

prexed

S
ee
(

s ec

LE

SS ON S

f eww ther word s

follow the same

ZULU

I N

21

which may be regarded as A dverbs of

place
rule
E at ahant u ba senz ansi coas t or down co u nt ry people
imi ti y a senhl a i nland or u p c ou ntry trees
iz il wane z a s en dhl e an i m als of the op en co untry
iz iny oni z a s chl au e w ild ern ess bir d s
A

n ame of a place be called afte r that of the

ch ief or a form er resident t he po s sessive pa rticle is plac ed
befo re the form gi v en i n sec t ion 7
E x umun t u wa kwa Zul u a per so n of Z u l ul and
iz ink omo z a k wa Zul u the catt l e of Z u lu land
The same form is u sed i n sp eaking of anythi ng belongi ng
to th e p lace of the pers on i n qu es tion
E x umf ana wa kwa S omk e l e a boy of S omk ele s pl ace
abant u ba k wa Biy e l a peo p l e of Biyel a s pl ace
amahashi a k wa S ik ony an e hor ses of S ik on yan e s p lac e
14

S ho u l d the

p oss essive particl es are u s ed with the In n it ive

of the verb to expres s the obj ec t or p u rpose of the govern ing
nou n
E x is ik ati s okuf un da time to or for lea rn ing
umf an a wok us eb enz a en dhl ini a boy to wo rk in the ho use
iz ink abi z okul ima oxen for p lou gh in g
VOCABUL A RY
15

The

U buhl u n gu, p a i n ; iz in wele, hai r ; iz in yo, tooth ; uboya,

wool 3 u tshan i, gr as s ; i n galo, arm 3 i hlombe , shou lder 3
isihlati, cheek ; ihlati, bu sh, f or es t ; ntango , f en ce ; ikal a, n ose
The word s uboy a an d ut shani belong to c lass 8 al tho u gh
.

they are concrete noun s

EXERC I SE

z in wele
Tr an s late z
z en tom baz an a
w
ubo a
b
ez i m vu
y
ihlom be l om f an a
i milen z e yetaf ula
in galo yen doda
idolo
i kala l en j a
l ehashi
i
z in o len komo
am az in o om n t wan a
y
y
iz ihl ati z aba n t w an a ubuhl u n gu bw ek an da
u tan go l wesiba a
y
am ahlat i a se A f ri ca
u t shani b w ez w e
Rewri te the exercise, p u tting t he noun deno ting the th ing
es sed into the Locat ive in each i n s tance
ss
o
p
.

LE SS O NS

22

ohn

The
is

to

ZULU

N om inat ive to the Verb

wor king

trate the

I N

u se

in the Z ulu

of th es e prono u ns

s ee.

Ng i b ona I see
u b ona tho u sees t
u b o na he or she se es
u b on a i t see s
,

C lass 1
3

an d

81

5
6

7
8
9

111
bu
kn

ba

b ona

,9

L E SS ON S

ZULU

I N

dri n k ; l eta, br i n g ; i q in iso, tr u th ;

mea t, ash 3 u tsh wala, beer 3 ( 8 th

EXERC I SE

23

manga li es ;
am af u
cl ass
)

in yam a,
cl ou ds 3

Tr an slate z N
Si tand a iz in cwadi
bona u mu n t u
abaf an a ba dhla i sin k w a
I z in k omo z i dhla u t shan i
ahant u
ba tand a u tshwala
am ahas hi a p u z a am anz i
U N k ul u n k u l u
U tanda iq in iso
Si z onda amanga
am af u a l eta im v u la
iz i n j a Zi tand a in yam a
u ba ba u f u n a i si hl al o
iz in k om o
z i s en s im ini
u m am e u l ap a en dhlin i
iz im bu z i z i bon a i n j a
am adod a
a
s es iba eni
a ban t w an a ba sem f u len i
z i
f
a
a
a
b
y
ba sehlat ini
iz i n k wa z i setaf u leni
.

PRON O U N S ,

OB J E CTIVE

CA S E

me as for the N om in at ive except 2 n d

wh ich are ku an d mu r espect ively 3 the
latter ho w ever om it s the u befor e all b ut mono sy l labi c v erbs
an d the v o wel prono u n s a an d u pr ex W an d i pr exes y
Obj e tive C a e
Tab l of Pron oun
Per s on al for m s agr eeing w i th C lass es 1 a n d 2

These are the

an d 3 rd Pers S i ng
5

sa

s,

2 nd P er s on

Other

form s of

C las s 3

9)

5
6

n
9:

7
8
9

3
U

ku ,

th ee

ui ,

ou

3r d P er son

mu, him

ba,

them

rson agreei n g w ith

t he 3 rd Pe

S i!

1i .
vi .
I n,
bu ,
ku ,

it

3,

or

he:

Cl as se s 3

y i,

them

Zi

to

We.

21 .

i,

3,

6 The o bj ect i ve form s are p lac ed immed iately before the

verb r oot The follo wing tense of the verb will serve to
illu s trate the use of th ese pr ono u ns
.

b ona I see etc

11 y a b ona th o u s ees t
u y a b ona he or S h e sees
Clas ses 3 to 9 S i n g 11 si

N gi y a

P lu r

i,

ku ,

ttle

in t he ca

d erisiv ely of
Ex

i,

pr onoun

i nd en i te

tog ether

b ona th ey s ee
li i l u bu ku y a b on a i t s ee s
a z i y a bona th ey see
,

et c
,

ba y a

abaf an
z

as

fol d h ere

person or th ing
Ku y ini na ? Wh at i s i t ? A ngi k u boni uk uti
na I do not see wh at it is (L i t I do not i t
i t is wh at ) Biza i n do da kn ng enz ani l oku
m an wh at can this do
a

kn y ini

LE SS ON S

26

mph atic forms of

ZULU

I N

t he Prono u n s

2 nd P er s on

k0 ,

P lu r

i t u,

us

th ee

inu , you

The oth er form s for t he 3rd pers on correspond ing to

3 9 m ay be form ed from t he prono u n s Obj ect ive
ch anging t he vowel in each in st an c e to o

classes

S i n g u l ar

Cl a s s 3
9

H
I ,

4
5
6

wo, it

'

'

'

'

y o,

them

so,

20

10

W0 ,

y o,

20,

10 9
b0 ,
k0 ,

20.

Ik an da l ami l ak o

my thy his or her head

A mak an da et u enu ab o ou r yo u r th ei r heads
U ml omo w ami wak o wak e my thy hi s or her m ou th
I mil omo y et u y en u y ab o our yo u r th eir mo u th s
I san dhl a sami s ak o s a k e my thy his or her hand
I z an dhl a z et u ze n u zab o ou r you r th eir h and s
Amanzi awo ( umf ul a) wat er of i t the ri ver
I z iny awo z as o ( i si l wan e) the fe et of i t an im al
Ik an da l al o ( ihashi) t he h ea d of i t the horse
Amaz iny o ay o ( inj a) the te eth of it the dog
Ubumn an di b w al o ( ub i si ) the S w eetn es s of it the m ilk
Uk uk any a k wal o (il a ng a) the light of it the s u n
,

lak e ,

L E SS ON S

Z U LU

I N

27

I n hl an z i, a sh ; geza, was h ; u bu k ul u , g reatn ess ; u m bala,

colou r 3 in du k u , a s ti ck ; i m ali, m on ey ; k ep a, bu t ; am axol o,
bar k of tr ee ; s u sa, ta ke a way ; a maq abun ga, leaves
.

EXERC I SE 8

i in yaw o zake
Tr an slate
I z an dhla Za m i
u m seben z i
wako aban t wan a babo iz in k om o z et u in dawo yen u
iz il wan e z abo
u k ez o l wak e
u k u dhl a k w et u
i s in k wa s ak e
aban t wan a
i kand a l ayo
i z in y awo z az o
ben u
u m z im ba
was o u mbala wal o u k u dhla kw ayo
U mf an a u ya yi fu n a i m al i y ake
ahant u ba
a Z i tand a
y
iz in k om o zabo
in tomba an a i ya Z i gez a iz in g ubo zayo
in k o si i ya li biza ihashi layo
a
t
u m f an a u
and a
y
i n c wa di y ak e n a l ehe u ya
tanda aban t u ba tand a
im al i n a ?
.

'

form s k wet u k w e nu k w ab o are us ed to expre ss

you r their hu t or hou se ( N ot kraal C ompare Chap V

15
ou r,

S ect
Ex

The

A bant wana ba k wet u, the ch ildren of ou r hu t , i s , ou r

mother s hu t
Abant wana ba kw e nu, the ch i ldren of you r hu t
Abant wana ba kwab o , the ch ildr en of th eir hu t
I z ink omo z a k wet u, k w e n u, k w ab o , the c attle of ou r ,
your , th ei r hut
Amasimu a k wet u , kw e nu , kwab o , the gard en s of ou r,
yo ur, th eir hut
I ndhl u y a kw et u, k we nu, k wab o , ou r, yo u r , their hu t
.

m y thy

his or
In s peak ing of near relat ion ship s as
her father mother brother S ister et c the p l u ral prono u n i s
gen erally u sed an d wi th but f ew exception s the S ing u lar
po ssessive particle wh ether the noun agreeing with either be
in the S ing ul ar or plu ral
E x ubaba w et u ou r fath er
uy ihl o w e nu yo u r father
uny ok o w enu yo u r mother
un ame w et u ou r mother
abaf o wetu ou r brothers
11 m w et u ou r b roth er
udade w et u w en u w ab o ou r yo u r th ei r s is ter
odade w et u w e nu wab o ou r yo u r th ei r S i s te rs
16

28

LE

Bu t

SS ON S

ZULU

IN

obaba b etu ou r fathers oy ihl o benu you r fathers

oy i se bab o th ei r father s
ok ok o bet u benu bab o ou r you r their forefathers
,

r ly f oll wed by t he p o s es ive p a

them selves i d icate whos f at her o
s

ra e

r t i c e an d

n , as
r
o
n
ou
p

m ot her is m ean t

t he

wo d
r

in

follo wi ng id iom is u sed

L
i
t
b
roth
er
E ac U mf o wab o ka baba my fath er s broth er
(
of them of my father )
U dade w ab o ka baba my fath er s S is ter
U mf o wabo k a mame my m oth er s bro the r
0 m wab o k a N do da u N doda S broth er
U dade w ab o k a N do da u N doda s sist er
1 8 The w or d umf o i s u s ed al so i n sp eak ing of an u p gro wn
son b u t in su ch case w ab o is om itted

'

U mf o ka M q awe, u Mq awe S son

U mf o k a Gume de , u G u mede S son

Ex

e xp ress my thy hi s w ife ; ou r y o u r thel r W i v es

the w ord umf azi i s co ntracted to um an d combined w ith the
p ossessive Partic le ka an d the p osses sive form of the prono un
the whole m ak ing a nou n of class 2
E x umk ami my wife 3 umk ak o thy wi fe ; umkak e his wi fe
omk et u ou r w i ves ; omk enu yo u r w i ves 3 omk abo th ei r
W iv es
2 0 The w o rd umnt wana i s S im i larly co ntracted an d com
bin ed with the po ssess ive form of t he prono u n withou t the
possessive par ti cle
E x umnt an ami my ch il d ; umnt anak o thy c h ild : um u ta
nak e his c hil d ; umn tanet u our ch ild ; umnt an enu
yo u r ch ild 3 umntanabo their c hild
2 1 It i s s t ill f u rther c ontracted wh en us ed with a no un of
c lass 2 s ingu l ar
E x umu ta k a baba my father s chi ld
umu ta k a Mki z e u M k iz e s ch il d
umnt a k a Bul o si u Bu l os i S c h il d
whose child ?
umnt a k a bani
19

To

29
N

The in t e

ve

rog at i

U mn ini ,

u ani 2

n
r
u
n
o
o
p

who

is t reated

as a n ou n

own er us ually mak es a c ompou nd with the

nou n or pronoun following an d d enotin g the thing owned
E ac umninin dhl u the o wn er of t he ho u se
umnini muz i the own er of t he k raa l
umni niz i nk omo the own er of the c attl e
umni ni y o the o wner of i t ( ho u se in dhl u
)
umnini wo the owner of i t ( u muzi )
umniniz o the own er of th em ( iz i nk omo)
2 3 T o expr ess my thy his or her ou r you r th ei r owner
t he E mph a ti c form s of the prono u ns a re u s ed w i th
E x umnini mi n a w e na y e na t in a ni na b ona ; my thy hi s
or her ou r you r thei r owner
22

P r ep os i ti on al F or ms
Th es e, w i th the excepti on of the
an d
3 rd Per so n s S ing ular, wh i ch ar e we an d y e
respec tiv ely , an d l st an d 2 n d Pers on s Plur al, wh ic h omi t
t he i ni tial i , an d c h ang e 11 to i are t he sam e as the P o ss es si v e
form s, an d are afxed to Preposi tion s in the sam e way as the
former are afxed to p o ssessive particles
24
2 nd

l st P er son

3r d P er son

we thee

or her
ni
ou
th
m
b
0
e
y
other form s for the 3rd Person are the same as the
,

Ex

nami with
,

me ;

nj eng ami ,

y e, hi m

The

nawe wi th
,

u
o
y

na y

e with him o r

her ;
e
n
o
n
a
b
j
g
3
,

lik e m e 3 nj eng ay e, l ik e him or her

lik e th em 3 ng ami , ng awe , ng ay e , by or thr ou gh me
ou , him or her ; ng ang ami , ng an g awe, ng ang ay e, as
y
big as I , you , he or S he
,

2 5 The Prepos it ion ku i s us ed wi th no u n s an d prono u n s

which have no Lo cative form to exp ress the force of the
Loca ti ve in all its differ ent shades of mea n in g
( S ee C hap
V III S ect l l )
.

3O

LE

SS ON S

ZULU

I N

wi th the nou n foll owi ng them

Po sse ssi ve Parti
S ect 1

the

in

sa

me

mnt wana

h ild 3 nj eng omn t wana lik e a chi ld ; kn

to the ch il d ; k n baba to father ;

n enj a, t he c

hildren

throu gh

oxen

playing w i th

are

l im aza,

banga,

dog 3 ahan tu

ba

VOC ABU L AR Y
Kul u m a

l
k
u
a, be s ick ; S ika,
g
cu t ;
u m es e, kn if e 3
,
3
hu r t 3 ba l ek a, r u n a way , f lee ; bop a, ti e, bi n d
thi n k 3 cela, ask f or ; t an daz a , p r ay 3 l and ela, f ollow
sp ea

EXERC ISE 9
n am i aban t wan a
.

Tr an s la te z Kul u ma
ba ya k ul uma
n onin a u m
fu nda n j en gaye i z im vu z i ya m lan d ela
n gen tambo
aban t wan a ba
a c el a u k u a k u m f o w ab o
um al u si w az o
y
y
u m f an a
a b u S ik a u t shan i n gom ese
n gi n gan gawe
u
y
in t ombaz ana
Kwa Z ul u ab esif az an a ba ya dhla n gez an dhl a
yak o i n gan gomf an a wam i i nj a i ya Zi li maz a i z imbu z i
i z in k abi zak e z i n gan gez in dhl ov u
.

27

na to

E mp ha ti c F or ms
Thes e m ay be
the Prepo sitional form s thro ughou t

fo rm ed

by

PE

R S ONAL

RMS

FO

3r d P er son

we na thou
ni na vou
,

Pl u r

t i na ,

we

y e na ,

he or
b ona they
,

she

LE SS ON S

ZULU

I N

ona th ey
zona
wona
zona
y

ona
I ona
Yon a
I ona

5
n

6
7

31

"

2 0 11 3 :

99

2 8 Th e E mph at ic form s are us ed , as th ei r d es ign ation

I m p l ies , wh en ev er i t i s d esi r ed to sp ec ially emph as i se eith er
the subj ect or obj ect of the verb They m ay be u sed alon e,
or after a verb, or t he prepo s it i on k u,
or a demon strative
.

N gi

b ona y ena I s ee hi m
U y a ngi bona min a he se es m e
Si y a ku b on a w ena w e see thee
b3 y a Si b ona tina th ey see u s
wh at do y ou learn ?
n dani ni na
ui f u
woza l ap a ki mi n a c om e here to me

Ex

ya

I thou he or S he w e you they etc is express ed

by p rexi n g i t o t he abov e form s exc ep t W ena an d y en a
whi ch prex u an d mi na takes eith er i or u Those prex in g
u are u s uall y preced ed by the eu phon ic letter s ng an d tho se
29

It

is

l st Per
2 n d Per
3 rd Per
Clas s 3

y imi na,

or

ng umi na,

it i s tho u
ng uy ena, it i s he or
i
i
i
t
s
i
on
a
t
w
y
,
nguwena,

It is I

we

y i t in a, it is
y inin a, it is you
e
y ib ona, i t is

S he

99

- a

99

yiz
yiz

99

y i wona,

W ona
99

y i z ona,

99

th y

ona

ri v

ona,

ona,

99

y ibona,

T r
w

h e e is
N B
"
Par tic l es ,
hic h
.

s om e

ng

an d

at ion f o
have been d

u s ti

t he

term

S u bs t an t i e
es i n ated b
o
m
s
e
as t hey
,
g
y

32

LE

ke

SS ONS

ZULU

I N

v v

hen n ot exp essed

t he p l ac e of th e s u bst an t i e erb
"
hei u se, ho e e , I t hi n k , i s p u el y eu p hon ic
hey are al so used
i t h n ou n s an d t he rel at i e p ron ou n , n g al ay s p rec ed in g a, e, or u an d
u
n
n
v
r
h
b
n
f
o
e
e
t
e
o
o
n e of c l as s 5 or 7 S in u l a
I
h
r
c
e
d
i
e
e
1
,
y p
,
g
,
g
t hen t he l of t he p e x i s u s ed i n s tead of y
hese p ar t ic l es are
usually p re xed to t he n ou n or pronou n in d ic at in g t he ag en t of the
oice
ve b i n t he p ass i e
s eem

T
w

t o ta

wvr

Ku

w
r

v v
l oko ?

Wh at is th at ? The ans wer m ight be

either of the following
E u n gumun t u i t is a p ers on
k u ngumut i i t is a tree
k n n gabant u i t i s p eop le
k n y i sil wan e i t is an an im al
k u y imi t i i t i s tr ees
k u li t she i t is a stone
k u y iz i l wan e it is an im al s
ku
k I I ngamat she i t i s s to n es k u y imbuz i i t i s a g oat
i
a
i
s
k
l
un
w
a
i
s
s
g
o
t
h
me
eon
u
z
i
u
b
i
t
a
c
a
l
i
z
i
m
b
t
u
y
ku n gut shwala i t i s
k u y iz inwabu i t is ch ameleons
k u ng uk uk any a it i s light
beer
N g ubani igama
l ak o ? Wh at is y o u r n ame ? ( L it It is who nam e of
ow i t i s u M boz a
ou ? W
y
)
30 The form s g iv en in the pr ev io u s se c t ion are fr eq u ently
Th ese abbrev iated
abbrev iat ed by c u tt ing o t he l as t syl l abl e
forms are u sed wi th the prop er pronou n prec ed ing to express
Th ey are
I am he thou ar t he they ar e they it is i t etc
u sed al s o to d enot e the agent of the ver b i n the p as si v e vo i ce
11 ng uy e th o u art he
ba y i bo
E x N gi nguy e I am he
they are th ey li y il o ihashi l omf o wetu i t is my
k u y ik o uk uk an y a k wel ang a it is
brother s hors e
i y i y o in cwadi k a Nk ul unk ul u
the light of the s un
ba y i b o ahan tu ba ka Kris t o
i t i s the book of G od
they a re the p eople of Chris t
Ex

y ini

"

pr esses i t is n ot th e p artic ipial form of which

not being ; both of wh ich a re followed either
by a nou n or the E mph at ic for ms of the prono u n s
E x Aku so umun t u it is not a per son
It is
A k uso min a w ena y e n a t in a ni na bona etc
n ot I th o u he or she we you th ey etc

3 1 Akuso,
is k ung eso, it
.

ex

Ak us o, an d k un g eso are freq u ently

abbreviated E mph ati c for ms, bu t when so
nal 0
32

d wi th the
u sed omi t th e
u se

LE SS ON S

34

ZULU

I N

99
99

7
8
9

36

1a ul u J oi n ,
l ob u,
la ub u
u k u = l ok u,
l a
-

o ve

ab

af x

resp ect ively

Tab l e of forms f or th at an d th ose

an d

W0

yo

C l as s 1

3
4
5
6

'

that

l ab o ,
l oy o,
l ez o ,
lam
vo,
l ez o ,
l ezo,

l ey o:
1 0 10 ,
l ob o ,
l ok o ,

7
8
9

l owo ,
l owo .
I ow a:
19 8 0 :
1e10 ,

9:

form s for this or these here o r th at or those

yonder are obtained by afxing y a to the form s for thi s an d

these except 10 whi c h afx es way a
E x lowaya l esiya l eliya ley a loluya l obuya lokuya
l abaya l ey a l awaya l ez iya
The no u n foll o wi ng a D emon strative A dj ective Prono u n
l oses its in i tial vow el 3 bu t nou n s of Class 7 S ingul ar tak e the
ful l prex an d drop the initial v o wel Concrete nou n s of
37

The

roo ts of

C lass 5

follow

the

me r ul e

sa

L oway a munt u, thi s h ere o r th at yonder pe rso n

Laba ban tu , thes e peop le ; l ab o ban tu , tho se peop le
Lahay a ban t u , th ese here or tho se yond er peop le
Lo
mut i , th is tree ; l owo mut i, tha t tree ; l oway a mut i,
yond er tree L e mi ti , l ey o mi t i , l ey a mit i, th ese, th os e ,
y onder trees Le si silwan e, l eso S il wane, l esiy a sil wane.
.

LE

SS ON S

I N

ZULU

35

this that yonder an i mal Lolu lusuku 10 10 lusuk u

Leli li t she l el o
l ol uy a lusuku th is t hat yond er day
lit she l eli y a li t sh e th is th at yonder s to n e or roc k
EXERC I SE 1 1
ba ya z i fun a l e zi
Tr an sla te z S i ya yi tand a le n owad i
l aba ban t wan a ba ya
l o mfan a u vel a k wa Z ul u
z in t o n a l
tand a u ku fu n da amahashi a ka ban i lawa l z i ya hamba
n am hl a l e zi Z in komo n i ya wu bo n a l ow aya m u ti en tat shan en i
leya n a ? l olu lu t i imv u la ya l el o l anga aban t u ba lel o z we

38
This sam e
that sam e
these same
th ose
et c
is e xpre ssed by u sing the E mph ati c forms before
e
the D emonstrat ives
E x Yena l o mun t u th is sam e pe rson
Ye na l owo munt u that sam e p er son
Bona l aba bant u thes e s am e peop l e
Bona l abo ban t u thos e sam e p eop le
Wona l owo muti ; sona l esi S ibay a ; zona l ezo z ilwane ;
Kona l oku k uk any a etc
3 9 The D emon s trat ive Ad j ect ive prono u n s m ay be u sed i n
the same way as the E mphatic form s as S hown in S ec tion 2 8

th is is or it is this etc in whi ch case they

to exp ress
the
e
h
o
n
all ass ume i as pre x an d are p roc eeded b
u
i
c
y
y
p
E x Yil o mf ana i t i s thi s or th is is the boy
y i l owo mf an a
i t is th at o r th at is the boy
y il oway a mf an a it is
this boy here or that boy yond er A nd so zy il aha
ban tu y il abo ban t u y il abay a ban t u et c etc
,

'

'

THE RE LATIVE PRO N O U N

only on e R elative Prono u n in Z ulu for all

person s gend ers n u m bers an d cases nam ely a wh ich prec ed es
an d com bin es w i th t he prono u n wh i c h i s t he su bj ect of the
verb in t he active voice which pronou n when preced ed by
the relativ e a assu m es the in itial vowel of its correspond ing
noun as prex an d w ith which vowel the relati ve a c oalesces
T
h
e r elativ e will ther efore app ear as
ap V s ect
cf
ch
(
frequ ently in the form of e an d O as a The prono un s ng i Si
ui ass u me 1 as prex po ssi bly bo rrowed fr om their E mphat ic
forms
40

There i s

36

L E SS O N S

I N

ZULU

verb in the r elative clau se generally a i xes y o to

the pres ent i mpe rfec t an d perfect ten ses an d sometim es the
41

The

4 2 The pr esent tense

auxil iary y a wh en u s ed wi th
.

d eni te ind i cat ive omits the

a rel ativ e
.

U muntu o b onay o, a p ers on who s ees

I hashi eli gij imay o, a horse th at ru n s or th at is r unn ing
L ey o mb uzi e s en simini , th at goat wh ich is in t he gard en
Ahan t u aba s ebenz ay o, p eopl e who work or who are w orking
U munt u o ngi bonay o, a pers on who sees m e
I n cwadi e ngi y i f unay o, the book wh ich I w ant
Lez o z i t sha aba z i l et ay o, tho s e ve s s els ( dishes) which th ey are
bri ngi ng
.

4 3 S h o uld the verb in the rel at ive clau se be i n the

Pas siv e vo i ce, t he relat ive a will combin e w i th t he pr onou n
which is t he S ubj ec t of that verb ( The p assive voice is formed
by i n serting w befo re t he nal vowe l of the v erb roo t )
.

U mun tu
I ncwadi
U mf ana

Ex

e
o

bonway o, a pe r son who is see n

tan dway o, a boo k wh ic h is lik ed
f un disway o, a boy wh o is being ta ught
.

When the n om in at ive to the v erb I n t he relati ve

clau se is a pers on al nou n or p rono u n third person S ingu lar
an d t he re lat i ve is in the o bj ec tive cas e t h en th e r elativ e 3
alon e s ta nd s as the n om in at ive to the v erb
44

U munt u uGibela a m bonay o, the pe rs o n whom Gibela see s

U munt u a m bonay o, a p er so n whom he s ees

I z we nhaba a 1i t eng ay o, the la nd wh ich father is buying
Int o a y i t anday o, t he thing which he likes
I ndhl u a hl ez i kuy o, the h ou se in wh ic h he is si tting

Ex

N B When t he
i
h
s
t
i
i
n
e
o
s
t
o
o
,
y
p

verb in t he relative c lause is f oll owed by a pre

rarely affixed

a
4 5 I f t he R elativ e be in t he Po sses siv e F orm as
l
at i ve a c om bines
er
then
the
R
e
son wh o se catt l e are m a ny
p
.

LE SS ONS

I N

ZULU

37

wi th the p ron ou n agreeing wi th the Ante c edent an d the noun

den oti ng the thin g or things poss ess ed foll ows wi th the loss of
the perso n who he catt l e
it s ini tial vo wel the idi o m being

they many or the pe rs on who he ca ttle of him they m any

umun tu o z mk omo z mg i or umun t u o z ink omo zak e ZI umg i
,

nt wana ba de
or in do da e
In do da e ba
bade a man wb ) S e children are tall

Ea

o z in dhl u z

ningi
m f ana

bay o

um uz

bant wana

m uz i

ningi ,

or u

o z indhl u z awo z

or village whose houses are m any

o k an da 1i kul u o r umf ana o k an da l ak e li k ul u
a bo
se head is large
who
y
iz we eli zi n taba z i nkul u or iz we eli zi n taba zal o z i
nkul u a c ountry whose mo u n tains are grea t
a

k r aa l

I f the R elativ e o c c u rs in the for m of o or e bef ore a

begi nning w i th a v o wel , the s em ivow els w an d y
res pec t ively w ill be pr exed to the verb follow ing the relat ive
If, however , t he relativ e oc cu rs i n the form of a befo re a v erb
w ith a, th en the relative is om it ted (an d in wri tin g
an apo stroph e , an d t he ini tial
S ho ul d al w ay s be i nd i ca ted b
y
)
letter o f t he verb i s l ength ened in c on sequen c e
46
verb

enze l oku na I S it you who have done thi s ?

Who k nows abo u t thi s ?
N gubani o w azi ng al oku
In t o e y ehlay o ezul wini a thing descending from heaven
Lawo mado da ak ay o l a p a th ose men who are bu ild ing
here
N B Th e R elati v when u sed wi t h the I m rf ec t Pl up erf ec t and
I n eff tive te n ses I n dicat ive c om bi n es wi t t he p ron ou n of t he
ss ed
im p l ied a i n the l st p e son of t he
au xi l ia y whet h r exp
a bove tenses
( f Chap V I I sec t
E x e be n g i bonay o whi c h I was seei g
o b u b onay o whi h y ou were seei n g ( S i n
g )
a b e bonay o whic h he was seein g
nguwena o W

Ex

ec

re

or

The Possess ive p ro n ou ns , mi ne , thi ne, hi s or h ers , etc ,

formed by p re xin g the relative to the poss essi ve
pa rti cl e ( All adjecti ves u sed as epithet s are preced ed by the
rela ti v e )
47

38

L E SS ON S

oy
I

ami

I N

ZULU

99
99

a re

whi te yo u r s

M ine
the

a re

bl ac k

phon ic ng i s prexed to the abov e forms

Ngi ng owak o I am th ine or I bel ong to thee

eu

Ex

If a n ou n d enoting the Pos sessor be substitu ted

prono un an d the n ou n d enoti n g
n ot e xpr es sed e
h
the
ch
il
d
the
fow
l
s
t
e c h il dr en s
s
g

as i n an s wer to the qu es t i on
Wh ose is it ? or Wh ose is thi s ?
S ubstitu te the corr espond ing rel ativ e for the
that which is po ssessed in each of the exam ples
s ecti ons 1 1 an d 1 2 of C h apter V
49

E ac h
tive ad j ec t ives
sectio n 3 9

an d

50

for

ve ry are expre ssed by the D e

th at used ac c ording to the rul e

has his
S ic

sec t

k n ess

own
.

w ay

L E SS ON S

ZULU

I N

39

E x Y il owo otan day o, who soever w i ll s, lik es,

Y il owo ok ol way o, who s o ever beli ev eth
Keta y il ey o nt o o y i tanday o, choose
y ou lik e

d esires

whi chever thi n g

d j ect ive i s exp ressed by red u pli cating

the em phatic form of t he pronou n with the relative prexed
l
ati v e to the f orm s gi v en in se ct i on 3 0
rexi n
h
re
t
e
or b
g
y p
E x In do da ey onay ona or in do da ey i y o a very man a man
in deed
I q ini so el onal ona or eli y il o very tru th
U k uk any a ok onak ona or ok u y ik o v ery light
52

V ery

as an

i ts elf
myself
thyself
i mp lying in
etc
dependent action is expr essed by a combin ation of the p re
posi tion ng a an d the ind enite p ossessiv e p articl e k wa with
the relati ve i ns ert ed between an d n ally t he po sses s iv e

pronoun th us z nga O kwa mi ng ok wami by whi ch of m e

by myself of my own ac c ord
E x Ng okwami ng okwak o ng okwak e by my thy him or
hers elf
Ng okwawo ng ok was o ng ok wal o ng ok way o et c
U mntwana u y a hamba ng okwak e the ch il d walk s by
53

By

Abaf ana b e nza

boys acted of

ng okwabo

Lezi

i n q ola
them s el ves

their

be

ng a

t shel wanga

c ord not h av ing

own a c

i hamba

ng okwaz o,

munt u, the
been

th ese w agons

to l d

o
g

by

VOC ABU L ARY

Lo ba,

wri te ; son dela, dr a w n ear ;

dhl ul a, p as s by 3 tu nga, sew 3 k anya,
i
il
a
b
o
l
a
b
l
l
o
w
l
nd
l
a
e
o
o
t
o
,
, f
3
3
g

u hl obo,
shi n e

sp ecies

ki n d,
z a,

me 3 yal

co

EXER C I SE 1 2

uhlobo l wen j a esi

I n dhlela aba h amba n gayo
Tr ans late
le n t ombaz a n a i ya f u nd a n gok wayo u k ut u n ga
lu tan dayo
l o mfan a u n g uye aba m f u n ayo
tshalayo
imiti a
iz in k abi amadod a a lime
n gu bani l o wo m u nt u o dhl ulayo
a n ga o eman zi n i
y
e
n dhl ela iz i n k omo ez i
il
n az o
y
y
g
.

40

L E SS ON S

I N

TO S E E

Voices will

be

gi ven together

a before the pronou n

an d

ZULU

changing

vo wel

the n al

of

the verb

the n al vowel in the N egat i ve Ka is su bstit uted for the

p ronoun 11 3rd pe rson S ingular an d for a 5 th class plural
.

The Par ticip les co rre spo nd ing to the vari ou s tenses are
the same as the tenses except that the pronoun s 3rd person
S ingul a r an d p l u ral, an d th at f o r n o u n s of class 5 p lu ral, are
changed to e, be, and s respect ively, e g , ngi bona, I seeing ;
S i , ni, be bona,
u bona, th o u seei ng 3 e bona , he o r S he see ing
we, you, they seeing ; amant ombaz ana e b ona, the girls see ing
The N eg ati ve of th e parti cip le s is form ed by i nse rt ing ng a
4

The N egative

par ticiples
6

n al

the Impe rfect

of

Plu pe rfect

an d

In

Th e Pas sive Voice is formed by in se rting w before the

vowel of t he verb r oot th rou gh ou t e g bona houwa etc
,

d imin u tive of t he noun

m to ny ; and mb to nj
,

viz

b is

changed to

t sh ; p

to

Sh

LE S S ON S

42

I N

ZULU

bona
ui b on a
Si

b ona thou seeing

e bona he or S he S eeing

N egative not

seei

ng

ng a

b oni ye n ot see ing

be ng a b oni they no t seeing
ui ng a

e tc
.

14

boni I n ot se eing
u ng a b oni tho u n o t s ee i ng
e nga b oni he or S he n ot seeing
N gi

ng
seei ng
seei

we

etc

13

Voice A frm ative

Pas sive

S i n g u la r

Ngi houwa I being seen

S i ho uw a we be ing S een
u i ho uw a
e being seen
u houw a t h o u be ing seen
y
be houwa th ey bei ng see n
6 b onwa he o r S he be in g s e en
etc
1 5 N egat i ve
.

Ngi

nga

bonwa, I

n ot

bei n g

Si

s ee

een

ng a

houw a,

be ing

een

he

etc

not

be ing

ho u wa,

ng a
s ee

ar

be

or S he n ot

Af ter a relative pron oun

e alway s u sed
N B

see

bonwa, we

n ga

they n ot being

t he Pa t ic ip ia f orms

of

th e

i
a
t
e
g

ne

CABUL ARY

VO

10

U m sin do, n oi se ; hl u p a, trou ble 3 k a taz a, worr y ,

when
f ak az a, wi tn ess ; land a, f etc h 3 n j e, j u s t ; n xa,

EXERC I SE 1 3

bo ni in c wadi o y1 S hoyo
A Si
Tr an s late
limi n amhla a k a f undi l o mfan a a ka tand i
lan dela umn ini yo a n i m boni u mf o w en u n a ?

an n o

y3

hantu a be
I nj a i
a m
y
11
a hiz wa
y

LE SS ON S

ZULU

I N

43

laba baf an a ba ya f u n dis wa u mf o w abo S i bo na

am ad od a e l im a n a semfu l en i
l
aw
a m an tom baz ana a ka
g
Si tand a u kuya ehl ati ni k u yin i l ok o
seben z i a ya dh ala nj e
'
a hl u a emasimin i
ok u dhl i wa iz i n a l i z i nk u k u z i
k
a
6
p
j
y
bani lo n j a O Si lan delayo l oyo ntaba o
bon ayo lapaya i
'
k wa Z ul u u ya n gi biz a m in a n a l Q a a n gi k u biz i u m si n do

wani l ow o engi wu z wayo ? a n g az i a ni Z i tand i le zi z in to

na l
a, Si
a z i tand a l ez o ez i setaf u l en i
q
y
umf u n disi

'

Imperfect Ten se ( recent) W as seeing Th is ten se is

formed by c ombin ing the perfect of ba with the participle of
t he ve rb e g ng i be ngi b on a l it I h av e been I seeing 3 u be u
b ona thou has t been th ou seeing But t he pronou n of the
au xil iary exc ept w hen a vowel on ly
is dropped an d the e of
be is als o dropped if the pr on ou n follow ing be a vo wel o nly
16

P lu r al

be ngi bona I was see ing

u b u b ona tho u w as t S eeing
u b e b ona he or she w as see
,

mg

be S i b ona, we were seeing

be ui b ona, ye w ere s eeing
be be b ona, th ey were s eein g
.

etc
1 7 N eg ative
In sert nga before the verb
an d c h ang e the n al vow el of t he verb to i
.

in the

af

rmati ve

be

ngi

n ga

boni I
,

n ot be

was

Si

nga

ng

s eei

11

u ng a

boni th ou wast
,

be

n ot

11

b e nga b oni he
n ot seeing

or S he

was

we were

n ot

ni ng a

boni, ye

were not

ee ing
be be ng a b oni they were
seeing
s

boni,

n ot

etc
Afrmat i ve
.

18

Pass iv e

Voi ce

S i n g u lar
be

n gi

houwa ,
ho uwa,

b u
u b e
seen
u

I was seen
thou wast seen

houwa, he

or she

be S i houwa , we were see n

be ui bonwa, ye were seen
be be houwa, they were seen
.

was

etc

m u nt u

Ng ubani l o wo

obe n i

f un ayo

n gi

labo

be be n ga tandi u kun gen a en dhlini

emful eni n ga leso si k ari be Si z i buk a

Si tanda u ku ka t in a, k epa u b e n ga tandi yen a

aban tw an a
iz in j a be
be be hlez i be wa buka am adada e n tan ta ecibin i
a Si bo n i l u to , ni n a u i bon ani l be S i
Zi z i hl u pa iz i mbu z i
bo na iz i n yon i Zi hl ez i em tin i lowaya
.

'

Impe rfect Tense ( remote ) W as s eein g This ten se is

formed by com bin ing the past of ba with the part ic iple of the
20

etc but the au xil iary i s n ot e xpre ssed exc ept in the thi rd
pe rso n S i ng u lar an d afte r the p ronou n a f or nou ns in ama
H owever i n both the las t in stances also som e drop th e
.

we
.

11

bona,

th ou was t s eeing

ku bon a
Plu ral ya i,
.

na

ui

b ona

z a z

i bona

were seem g

LE SSON S
21

ten s e

N egativ e W as
,

n ot

ZUL U

IN

45

eeing ; form ed

me

sa

preced ing

as

S i n gu l ar
n

n ga

bon i

a
g

i
g

a
g

boni, w a

n ga

bo n i , wa b

P lu r al sa Si n ga bo n i, n a u i n ga bo ni, be be n ga bon i
S i n gu l ar wa u n ga, sa S i n ga, la 1i n ga, ya i n ga, l wa
l u n ga, bwa bu n ga, k wa k u n ga bon i

Pl u ral ya i n ga, z a Z i n ga, a b e n g a, z a z i n ga, z a Zi

n ga bo ni
.

Pas t Tens e, Af rm ati ve, S aw

This ten s e is u sed of an y
tim e pas t, an d is form ed from the present tense ind en it e,
by ( l ) ch angi ng u wherever i t occ u rs i n t he prono u n to W
an d add ing a ; ( 2
wh
c h an g ing
i
er e s t and ing al on e, to y
)
an d addi ng a ;
3
ance to a 3
c han g i n
i
i
v
ry
oth
r
n
t
i
n
e
s
e
e
g
( )
4
r
em
ains u n c h anged
3
( )
22

bona I saw
wa bona tho u sa wes t
wa bona he o r she saw

N ga

8a

S a w.

n a bona ye saw
ba b on a they saw
b wa k wa bo na
,

bona , w e

S i n g u la r wa, sa , la, ya, l wa,

P lu r al ya, z a, a, z a, z a bo n a
.

N egative S aw not F ormed by S imply prexi n g a

to the prono un of t he af rm ative except 3 rd pers on S ing u lar
wh ic h takes ka before it an d a c orrespond ing with nou ns
Of the 5 th c las s pl ur al is fo llowed by k a
S i ngu lar a n ga a w a k a wa a w e a sa a la a ya a
l wa a bwa a k wa bon a
23

P l u r al
24

Pas si ve Vo ice, A f rm at ive, W as seen

S i n g u l ar N ga, w a, wa, etc , ho u w a
P l u r al S a, n a, ba, etc , bon wa
.

2 5 N egative
S i n g u lar a nga, a wa, a ka, etc , bon wa
P lu ral a sa, a na, a be , etc , bon wa
.

2 6 Perfect
whi ch in its
.

Tense ,
primary

Have
u se

is

n The Perfect
Pres ent C omp l ete

s ee

Te nse,
may be

46

LE S S O N S

Z UL U

IN

formed from the Present Inden ite by changing the n al

vowel of the verb to il e Thi s end ing h o wever is frequ ently
contrac ted to e in wh ich cas e thi s v ow el i s lengthened The
Objecti v e form of the v erb end i ng in ela al ways m ak es its
Pr esen t Co mpl ete in th is way
.

S i n gu lar

Ngi

boni l e, I have seen

u b onil o, tho u h as t s een
u bonil e, h e o r she has s een

bonil e, we h ave seen

ui bonil e, you have s een
ha bonil e, they have s een
Si

etc
2 7 The Perfe c t Ten se whether the v erb be tran si tive
i ntran s iti ve is us ed als o to expres s a S tate ch aracter
.

U munt u o l un gil ey o, a good or r ighteou s m an

I n dhl u i bi dhlikil e, the ho u se is tu mbled down,
d o wn condi tion
Ahan t u aba hl up ekil ey o, peop le who are in a

or

or

in

t u mbl ed

tr oubled c on

d ition
in a brok en c ond it ion
U muti o wap uk i l ey o a bro ken tree
Iuk omo i l e the cow is d ead
I ndhl ovu i Wil e the eleph ant i s fallen
2 8 Verbs end ing in al a asa ata ama an a wh i ch are
m ostly intransitives form their Perfec ts i s intran sitives of
s tate by c h angi ng t he v o w el in th ese end i ng s to e th u s el e
The Pre sent Comp l ete w o ul d in eac h case
es e ete eme e n e
end in il e
l el e be asleep
Lal a lie d own go to S l eep
kul up el e be f at s to ut
Kul up ala get f at
G ow al a get beco m e ful l
g cwel e be f ull
Pak ama l ift get l ifted
p ak eme be high lift ed up
f umen e ha ve fo u nd
Pumana n d di sc over
hlan g en e be m et to g eth er
Hl angana m eet together
Pata t ou ch hold ca rry
p et e h a v e i n h and carry on
limel e be h u rt
L imal a get h u rt
2 9 The Perfec t of a f ew verbs is formed i rreg ul arly as
hl al a hl alil e P res ent C omp lete ; hl ez i Intran sit ive su ta g et
ma s tan d m ile Present
sa ti s ed sati a ted 3 s u ti Intr an si t ive
Co mpl ete ; mi In t ran si tive sho say men ti on mak es s hil o
.

LE S

S ON S

ZULU

IN

47

U mful a u g cwel e, t he river is full

U mf o wet u ul imel e, ou r b rother i s h u rt
A maf u a pak eme nambl a, the cl o u d s are
.

high tod ay

The N egat i ve
30 Perfec t Tens e, N egati ve, Have n ot seen
of t he Pr es ent Co mp lete i s formed by p l ac ing a b efore the
pronoun of t he af rmativ e an d afxing ng a to the verb Ka
is su bs tit u ted fo r t he prono u n 11 3 rd p erson S ingu lar, an d
al so a of 5 th Clas s p l ur al
.

S i n g u lar a n gi bon anga, a u bonang a, a k a bon anga

P lu r al a Si bo n anga, a u i bon anga, a ba bo n an ga
.

et c

ove form s refer rath er to the mom entary action

than to a state or ch aracter wh ich woul d be express ed by a ngi
bonil e a u bonil e a k a b onil o etc
31

The

ab

Pass ive Vo ice , H ave been

the ac t i ve by c h angi ng the 1 in
Thi s al so is freq uently
boniwe
i, bonwe
32

een This is form ed from

the nal syllable to w e g
contracted by dropping the
s

S i n g u lar N gi bon i we, u bon iw e, u bon i we, et c

P lu r al Si bon i we, n i bon i we, ba bon iwe, etc
.

33

N egative

S i n g u l ar
Plu r al

k a bon wan ga,

etc

H ave

not been seen

a n gi bo u w anga a u bon wan ga
,

etc

Si bo u wanga,

bo u w anga,

a ni

ba bon wan ga,

form s a ngi a u a ka boniwe etc wou ld be used to

express a s ett l ed s t ate or c h aracter
V OC ABUL ARY 1 2
U kuna to r ai n ; pek a cook ; iz in k u n i rewood 3 iz in yam a
zane bu cks (an y an i mal wh ic h m ay be eaten is call ed i n yama
zane) 3 buya retu rn ; u mk umbi ship ; t u ma sen d 3 ni ka
anything to another ;
l
z a
a
h
a
n
d
z
i
n
u
n
ik
e
e
h
n
t
i
v
e
;
;
(
g
)
g
f u ti also ag ai n
The

48

LE SS ON S

uku dhl a

buyil e
n ez i m buz
.

en z

en z

ZULU

b e hl ez i en dhl in i e loba i z i n k omo z i y aluswa

am adoda ak a i z in dhlu , a z i n gel a iz in amaz an e, a u Ze

p
y

U mf un dis i
abaf an a

IN

am an tom baz an a a

k
u t ez a ehl at in i
i
z in k om o Z1
y
l owo m u zi ba ten gisile n g ez in komo
aban t u ba
sa u g ena en dhl in i k epa a sa bo n a lu to
i zabo
be
e

il e

u m s eben z

enga

ku

ni k

a wo na

na

Y ebo

n gi

ile

F u t u re Ten se, S h all or will see The f u tu re tens e see ms

to be formed by combining the present of y a with the
in n itive of the ver b, t he latter l os ing the ini tial vo wel of the
in n iti ve prex th u s : ng i y a kub ona, li terally, I go t o see
H owever, to save confu sion w i th the inniti ve th e ku is
w ri tten separa tely from the verb
34

S i n gu l a r

N gi y a kn b ona, I shall or
w il l see
u y a k u bon a, th ou sh al t or
w ilt see
u y a ku bona, he or she sh all
or w il l s ee

Si

y a ku bon a, we

hal l or wil l

ui

will see

b ona

y a ku

hall

or

they shal l

or

ou

ba y a k u bona,

et c

following t hree contracted forms of this tense are

used
eg
ngi y a u
1 The k of ku is dr o pp ed th ro u gh ou t
n y a u u y a u S i y a n ni y a u ba y a u bona
2 A fu rther c ont racti o n i s m ade by combini ng the a of
the auxiliary y a wi th the 11 follo wi ng e g ngi y o
11 y o 11 y o Si y o ui y o ba y o bona etc
3 The p re vi o u s form is still furt her co ntracted by
d ropp ing the vowel of the pronoun e xcept u an d i
when standing alone which become w an d y respec
Th u s the pr o n o un
t iv ely an d dropp ing the y of y o
end s in o e g ng o wo wo so no bo b ona
Thi s last form is us d t o xp ress p romise o determinat ion
NZB
! t is som eti mes u s d also as I m p era tive

The
frequently
35

50

in

LE

question

ri ver

had

i t being

not

SS ON S

ZULU

I N

ome c i r c

full
4 3 In eff ecti ve ( r ec ent) W o u ld have seen ( bu t )
S i n gu l ar be n gi ya k u bon a u b u ya k u bo na u b c
a k u bon a etc
y
P l u r al be Si ya ku bo na be n i ya k u bo na be be ya
k u bona etc
F o rm ed the
4 4 N e ga tive Wo u l d n o t ha v e seen ( bu t)
sam e as the n egat iv e of t he f u t u re
i
u b u n ga
u b
e
a
n
S i ng u l ar be n gi n ga
g
y
i
k
u b on a etc
y
ku
be n i nga yi be be n ga
Plu r al be Si n ga
bo n a etc
4 5 Pass ive v oic e Wo uld hav e been s een (bu t)
S i n gu lar be n gi ya u b u ya u b e ya k u bon wa etc
P lu ral be Si ya be n i ya be be ya k u hou wa etc
4 6 N egati ve Wo u ld not h av e been seen
S i n gu lar be n gi n ga yi u b u n ga yi u b e n ga
.

bon wa,

ku
.

be Si

be

i
y ,

n ga

bon wa,
47

R emote

S i n g u lar
Plu r al
48

sa

n ga n gi

Si ya,

N egative
S i n g u lar nga

ni

n ga

b
e
i
b
e
,
y

ku

n ga

wa

a,

na ni

a,

a,

wa b

ba be ya ku

k u bona,

y
bon a,

etc

etc

sa

Si

nga
i
g
k
u bo n a,
i
y

n ga
etc

4 9 Pas sive V o ice

verb as in section 45
.

etc

etc

Plu ral

P l ur al

i
y,

wa

etc

nga

wa b

n ga

na n i n ga

b
a be
i
,
y

n ga

k
u bona,
i
y

In sert w before the nal vo wel

above
.

of

the

LE SS O N S

tens es
f u tu re ac co rd ing to the rs t
50

The I

press also
A nd if 2 3
abo u t to

ex

woul d

be :

was

51

contracted like the

contractions indi ca ted in

t wo

was not
going to
s ub st it u ted for y a the id ea

w as on the poi nt o f

was

be

Z UL U

may be

n e ec ti ve
'

These ten ses

IN

VOC ABUL AR Y

18

U bu ton go, sl eep ; papam a, a wake ; bu lala, ki l l ; temba, or

etemba, tru s t ; k ol wa, beli eve, be s a ti sed 3 i zol o , y es ter day ;

tom orr ow 3 u m u sa, gr ace, mercy ; n in i l when ?

n gom uso,
indaba, m a tter , aai r , s tor y, etc
.

EXERC IS E 1 6
G i v e e xamp le s in both the af rm ati ve
fu ture plu p erfec t an d ineffec tive ten ses
verbs z na kul uma hamba li ma hl al a
.

i
ve of t h e
t
g
tl e foll owing

an d n e

ng

us i

5 1 S u c h ten ses as the F ut u r e Imp erfect, I S hall be s eeing ,

an d the F u t u r e P erfe c t, I S h al l h av e s een , a re formed b
t
h
e
y
ai d of ba c ombi n ed w ith the Part i c ip le of the pr i n c ip al verb
.

E x N gi y a ku ba ng i bonay o, I sh all be s eeing

A ng i y i ku ba ngi bonay o, I shall not be s ee ing
N gi y a k u ba ng i bon il e, I S h al l h av e s een
A ngi y i k u ba ng i bonil e, I S hall not h ave s een
.

Befo re
N ot yet,
By
befo re the ver b in t he N egat iv e,
Before a pa rt ic ip le
int rod u c ed

before
52

i n serting the pa rt icle ka

t he i d ea of
not yet is
i t express es th e idea of

E at

ng i

Be Si

ka

b oni I d o n o t

ng a

t
e
see
y

ka dhl i , we

were not yet

ting

ea

or

had

n ot

ka m b oni , they had not yet seen hi m

Wa ka li ng a ka S h oni il ang a, he arrived before su n set
Ngi tan da uk uy iz wa l oy o ndaba ng i ng a ka hambi , I
wish to h ear that m atter befor e I go
A Si ka k wazi uk uf unda, we do n ot yet kn o w (how to

Be

be

ng a

52

LE

rrived ?

n o,

S ti ll

The

53

SS ON S

IN

UL U

they have n ot yet arrived

part ic le

S a i n s er ted befor e the

verb

participle of the pri ncipal verb (afrmative) introd u ces

i dea of
s t il l
S om et im es the sen se may be
as

whil e accord ing to the c ontext

t he

in

or

no

l onger

E x P re s
.

Ind

I am s till seeing u 11 S i ui ba
881 bon a ; tho u he or she we y ou they S t ill s ee

ng i sa

bon a,

N eg
Partic ip le

a n gi
tho u
,

SO z

he

or

Be ngi

we

k a, a si , a ni, a ba sa boni ; I ,
S he, we,
ou , th ey n o l onger see
y

b ona I th ou he
s till seeing

N gi , u, e , Si , ui , be
ou , th ey
s he, we,
y
S he,

A nd

a u, a

u,
o
y

sa

or

they no longer seei ng

b ona I was still s eei ng

Be ngi ng a sa b oni I w as n o l onger S eein g
N g i y a ku ba ng i sa b ona I S h all s till
s eei ng
A ngi sa y i ku b ona I S h all no longer see
8a

be

etc

54
a

yet

Ex

S a is s om etim es u sed w ith the Perfect

u n altered s tate or co nd i t i on

ten se to

press

ex

Ba sa hambil e, they are s t ill aw ay

N gi sa pekil e, I am occ u p ied w ith c o o king , i e , in t he
ac t of doing i t
Ba sa l el e, th ey are s till as leep
I z i nk omo z i sa k ul up el e, t he cattle are st i ll in g ood
.

d wi th the Pl uperfec t ten ses to express a

i
present thou gh un certain cond it on as 3 6 ngi sa p ilil e I am
st ill in health
55

S a m ay be

u se

LE S S ONS
verb to h ave

ZULU

I N

53

changed to 8 6
U Y ihl o 11 se k ona na l I S yo u r father st ill ali ve ?
Ya p el a in daba i se mnan di t he su bj ect came to an end
it s t ill be ing pl ea s ant
U 86 y ins iz wa he is s till a yo u ng m an
w e st ill
S i se ng abant wana whil e w e were c hildren
being c hi ldr en
L i se naman dhl a l eli hashi I ami eli dal a it is still strong
th is old horse of m in e
,

sa

is

Ex

ed with a Partic iple in the sense

etc
N ow
Wh en t he
s e ngi b on a now I s ee
of
pron ou n is a vowel only it is plac ed both befo re an d after se
Th is fact
in the sa m e way as wi th be i n the imp erfec t t en s e
wou ld seem to ind ica te th at 8 6 i s a fragm ent of some verb S e
may als o be u sed w i th t he past t en se
E x S e ngi b ona u s u b ona u s e b ona now I tho u he or
57

The Part icle

se

is

us

bona

b ona 8 6 be b on a n ow we you they see

Pas t Tense N ow I sa w it
Be nga bona se wa bona se wa b ona s e sa b ona
b ona se ha bona
Perfect Ten se N ow I h a ve s een
S e ngi bonil e u s u b onil e u s e b ch il e se Si bonil e se
S e si

s e ui

bonil e, se be bonil e,
Fu t u re, N ow I

ngi z a

Se

etc
etc

ku bona,

u s

et c
S

hall or will

u z a

see

ku bona,

u s

e z a

ku bona,

ngi

Se

ui

y a ku b ona, u

y a ku bona, u

e y a ku bona

Imperfect Plu perfect an d I n e ec

sen se o f
th en
Imperfect ( recent ) Be se ngi bona then I was seeing u b
u s u bon a tho u etc
u b e s e b ona he or she etc
be se
si b on a be se ni b ona be as be b ona et c
Imperfec t (remote ) N ga se ngi b ona wa se u b ona wa b e
s e b ona 83 se si bona n a se ui b on a be ac be b ona etc
5 8 When u sed w ith the
tive Ten ses 86 ind ic ates the

'

54

LESS ON S

ZULU

I N

Pl u pe rfect ( rec ent) , Be se ng i bonil o, th en I bady ete , u b u

s u bc h il e , u b e s e bonil e, be se si bonil e be so ui bonil e,
be se be bonil e, etc

'

Plu pe rfect
s e bonil e,

etc

remote
N
se
b
o
n
il
e
w
a
s
o
n
il
e
a
n
i
11
b
w
a
b
e
g
g
)
(
83 se si bonil e na s e ui bch il e ba se be bch il e
,

'

Ineffective ( recent an d remote ) wo ul d h ave s een (but )

,

ngi y a

be se
etc

k u bona, u b u s u y a k u bona, u b
si y a ku bona, be se ni y a ku b ona, be

es

se

Be se

y a ku bona,
be y a k u b ona,
e

N ga se ng i y a ku bona , wa
y a k u bon a

n s

u ya

k u bona, wa b

e s

bona th en we w ould have seen

na se ui y a kn bona then you wou ld have seen
ba 8 6 be y a ku b ona th en th ey wo ul d have s een
N egative ( recent)
be se ngi ng a y i ku bona then I wo ul d not have
seen
u b u e u ng a y i ku b ona then th o u w oul ds t n ot
have seen
u b e s e ng a y i k u b on a then he or she woul d n o t
have s een
be 86 si ng a y i kn b ona th en we wo u ld n ot hav e
sa s e S i

y a kn
.

'

be

se ui nga
s

be

so

een

be

y i kn b

ona then
,

ou

wo u ld not have

nga

een

y i ku bon a,

then they w ould

have

n ot

N egative ( remote )
ng a y i k u bon a th en I w o u ld not hav e
.

ng a se ngi

s ee

wa

u s u nga

h ave

wa b e

see

s e ng a

y i ku
'

Si

ng a

n ot

y i ku

not have seen

sa 86

bona then th ou would st

y i ku

b ona then he
,

or

she

woul d

b ona then we woul d

,

n ot

have

LESS O N S

na

se ui ng a

b8

Se

59

Th er e

be

are

ng a

ZU LU

IN

bona th en

y i ku

y i k u bona,

ertai n ver bs

woul d not have

u
o
y

then they wou ld not have

come

z a,

as

zw a hear

prex e to the r oot in all their forms when ever they happen
to be preceded by a wh ich i n su ch cas e i s el ided
Ex
ng eza I c am e
Bu t ngi
N gi y eza I am c om ing
zil e I h ave c om e ngi y a ku z a I sh all c ome
S emba umg odi we dug a
Si y emba we are d igg ing
,

'

But, Be si mba, we were digging

S i mb il e ,
Ba y ez wa, th ey h ear
B ez wil e, th ey
N g ez wa umunt u e kul uma en dhl ini , I
S peaki ng in t he ho u se

we h ave dug
have heard
heard a pers on

Bu t, N Q

wil e,

I have hea rd

ngi

zwa I

do

n ot

h ear

verb m ay be int ensied or d iminished

by red upli cat i ng the root if c om p osed of two sy llables on ly ;
if Of more then t he r st t wo only are red up li ca ted
The
idea be ing that the act io n is p erformed a li ttl e o r q u ick ly or
very mu ch
E x zama st ri ve z amaz ama s tri ve very h ard or tf ully
60

The m ean m g O f

amba,

walk m ov e ; bambabamba walk move abo u t

Kul uma speak kul ukul uma tal k m u ch c hatter
Guq ul a t u rn g uq ug uq ul a t u rn v igoro u sly or tf ully
E

me

to an

m hla u mbe,

as

an

hl w ayela or
a
l
r
h
u
b
a
e
a
s
j
,
p
p ;
E! E

seben z a

y
en si mi ni
.

ebens a

i ed wi th ; pela, n is h,
hl wan yela, sow ; hlakul a, weed ;
be g lad, r ej oi ce

i
t
n
h
o
n
e
y
g

en d

Amad od a

Q eda, n i sh

co

is

oc cup

R CI S E

n gom u so 3

en dhli ni
a

n ambl a

iz o l o

k waka in dhl u lap aya

a
.

e
b

56

L ESS O NS

I N

Z U LU

k wak a , k epa se si s on dela isik at i sem v ul

I
u xa se
a
Mhl au m be 11 z a k u n a
1i n ile, ba ya k u l i ma m as in y an e
n gom u s o
U m a li n a ba ya k u j abu la
Ba be n ga yi ku
l i ma n ga l es i S ik ati, k ep a u k u dh l a k w abo se k u z a k u pela
n ga

Th e S u bs tanti ve Ver b U kuba, to be

T h is verb i s
al w ays u s ed i n c om bi n a ti on w ith s o me o ther v erb i n the
formation Of compo u nd ten ses in an y Of the Mood s, or w ith a
no un , ad j ecti ve, adverb, or with na u sed as the verb

to have
but in the pr esent tens e , p artic ipl e an d imperfect
tense ( remote ) is n o t expres sed
61

In

neg ative p articiple an d imp erfect ten s es th e particle

ng a becomes ng e befor e a n ou n ad j ectiv e or ad verb an d al so
bef ore n a as verb to h ave
The foll ow ing ten ses of ba u sed w ith k ona pres ent will
In the n egative k ona usual ly
serv e t o ill ustr ate it s u s e
drop s the l ast syl lable
6 2 Pr es ent Ten se
the

N gi k on a,
11 k ona,
11 k ona,

etc

or

she

is

a
a
a

k0 ,
k a k 0 , he

I am not pres ent

thou art n ot present

11

Si k ona, w e are pr esent

u i kona , you are present
ba k ona, they are pr es ent
.

k0 ,

3. ngi

N egati ve

63

I am present
thou art pr esent
he or she is present

n ot

not present
ou a re n o t pr es ent
y
they are n o t present

si

k 0 , we

ui

k0 ,

ba k 0 ,

are

present

etc .

64

Imperfec t ( rec ent )

,

S i n g u l ar

P l u r al

kona I was present

be si k ona we were pres en t
be ui kona you w ere pres ent
11 b u k on a tho u w as t pr es ent
e kona he or she was be be k ona they w ere presen t
11 b
r
e
s ent
p
be

ngi

etc .

73
be

N egative, Would

ng i nga y i

n ot

have been

kn ba k o,

be be

etc

75

N agat ive,

Would

n ot

the

ng a

y i kn ba

have been pres ent

etc

an d

present

n oun follo wing elides

i ts i n it ial

vowel

L ESS ONS
Ex

N gi

I have a

n en cwadi,

book ? A

na

ZULU

I N

book

59

n encwadi

N gi

na have
boo k
A

I have not a
I n ot a book ?

ngi na. n cwadi ,

na ? h av e
Be ng i
Be ngi n en cwadi na ? had
nen cwadi I had a boo k
I a boo k ? Be ngi ng e na ncwadi I had not a book
N ga ng i nen cwadi I had a boo k (at th at tim e) N g a
A ngi bang s n a
ngi ng e n a n owadi I had n ot a book
I h ave not had a book N gi y a k u ba
n cwadi
I shall h ave a book A ng i y i kn ba 11 8
nen cwadi
n owadi I shall not have a book Be ngi y a kn ba
Be ng i nga y i
nen cwadi I wo u ld h ave had a boo k
kn ba na ncwadi I woul d not hav e had a bo o k
ngi

n cwadi

k on a (k h o n a) ,
Pakamisa, lift up
ehl a, com e down , descen d
then ; yikon a, i t is then ; isi n tu , the hu man r ace ; u k u t i , tha t ;
lam ba, hu n g er
.

E! E

K epa

ka ki

18

m u ntu ngoba

ka ban j wa

R CI S E
,

sak e se S i n ga

N xa be u i n g az i be u i ya ku M azi uBaba fut i

N ina u i vela ku lo mh laba M ina a ngi veli ku lo

mhlaba
N goba in xa u i n ga tem bi uk ut i n gi n guye

W a b es e t i u J esu in xa se u i
ak am i sile i n doda na
p
k
a k w az i u k u ti n gi n g u e
i
on a u i
si n t u
e
y
y
y
y
A n genz i lu to n gok wam i

M in a n gi yisin k wa soku pila oz ayo kim ina a ka yi ku

lam ba
I sin kwa Si ka N ku l unk u lu si n gu ye O w ehla e z u l wi ni
N gi ti kin in a u i n gi boni le k ep a a u i t embi

isik ati

10

U Baba

ll

U ku f un disa kw am i,

12

LO

a ui ni ka

isi n k wa
a

k nsiko

eson as on a

as nye abaf u n a u k u mbulala na

ml

Ok w a

60

LESS ON S

Z U LU

IN

C HAPTE R

V III

PRE PO S I TIO N S

Na with kn in at to among ac c ord ing to the co nte xt

ng a w i th ( by m ea ns Of ) abo u t to ward a ro u nd
2 The follow ing Prepo s it io ns are u sed wi th t he i ndeni te
pos sessive particle kwa preced ing the nou n or p ronou n
gove rn ed If no particular S it u ation is ind icated th ey will
S ho ul d the n ou n
be p receded by the p reposi ti on ng a
go vern ed be on e Of Class 2 sin gular kwa wi ll be substit u ted
S ee Ch ap 5 S ec t 1 2
by kn ka
E x Pezu abo ve ; ( s om ething el se) ngap ez n kwa
Pansi bel o w beneath down ng ap an si u nderneath
1

ou tside ; ng apan dhl e w ithou t

Pambi before in fro nt of ; ng ap ambi
the fr ont
Pan dhl e,

on
at

the o u tsid e
the front on
.

Bcal eni or ecel eni , at the side of ng as ecal eni , by th e side

E mva, whi ch is a co ntractio n Of emuva, beh ind , at the
back Of
.

E x Pezu kwendhl n,
.

ove the hou se

table Pambi

ab

n g ap ans i

kwet af ul a,
befo re t he

nderneath the
kwen dhl u
hou se ng ap ambi kwendhl u at the front Of th e hou se
ng as emva k we
emva k wen dhl u beh i nd the h o u se
ndhl n at the bac k Of the ho u se
p ak at i kwendhl n
i nsid e the h o u se
ng ap an dhl e k wendhl n on the out
sid e Of the ho u se
A nd S O z Pezu k w ami k w ak o k wak e kwet u k w enu kw abo
ou th em
abo v e m e thee hi m or her u s
y
Pamb i k w ami before m e
p ansi k w ak e ben eath hi m
a
m
i
k
e
a
at
w
ab
o
mong
th
Pak at i k w ami w ith in me
k
p
3 Pez ul u u p u p abo ve ; ng ap ezul u s om e whe re abo ve in
an u pwa rd d i r ecti on
S el oku S in ce gen erally fo llow ed by th e pas t tense Of the
a
a
i
s
k
n
k
w
ve rb
e
e
i
nce
I
rr
v
ed
l
o
s
l
k
n
S
o

e
a
k
a
n
g
g
dat shnl wa m hl aba si nce the w orld was c reated
u

L ESS ONS I N

Ku
Kip ani

g ood s

61

o on the ground on the oo r

d own on the gro u nd
iz imp ahl a enq ol eni ui z i bek e p ansi
Take
Of the wagon an d pu t them on the grou nd

Pansi expr ess es

bek e p ansi , pu t it

ZULU

al s

eg
.

the

ou t

foll owing p repos it ion s are al way s foll owed by na

E dnz e n ea r ; ednz e n ami n ear m e eduz e nomf nla near
the ri ver ednz e nen dhl ela near the p ath
Buhl a u p as up stream u p c o u ntry ; u pper as the u pp er
eg
u
r
ver
enhl a n omf ul a
S id e Of the r oad etc
i
e
n
hl
a
p
cubl a n omgwaq o the u ppe r si de
nez we u p c o u nt ry in land
Of t he ro ad
a ansi down as down stre am d o wn c ou ntry th e c oast
enz ansi
n omf nl a
do wn ri ver
si d e
the low er S id e e g
enz ansi n ez we at the coas t land
5

The

To expres s the id ea Of c entre Pak ati is u sed follo wed

by us as : p ak ati n en dl l l u, in the mi ds t of the h ou se
p ak at i
n omgwaq o, in th e m idd l e Of th e road
p ak ati nesiy ingi ,
in th e cent re Of the c ir c l e, etc
6

Other
a

Of N a

u ses

A s t he

an d

c on u c tion

In do da

n omf ana, a

c onnecting

j ects

s ub

boy
iz i nk omo nez i
mvn, cattle an d sh eep
ezul wini na semhl ab eni ,
in heaven an d on earth
L O mf ana na 16
nt ombaz ana, th is boy an d this gi rl

man

an d a

an d
too
b In the sense of
it us uall y fol low s the n ou n referred to

als

In which case

IIm
nay e wa hamba, the boy went too, or the
boy als o w ent
Inj a nay o y a f a, the dog also
d ied Abant wana nabo ba bangs umsindo, the
children als o made a noise
.

e e Of even
esaba noknk ul nma we feared even to speak Be
ng e na sik at i nes okudhl a th ey not ha vi ng ti me
even to eat
Nez ilwany any ana naz o z i noms e
benzi wazo even the insec ts als o ha ve the ir w o r k

the

s ns

62

ESS ONS

ZULU

I N

N a may be prexed to
ro
n
u n w i th the n ou n foll ow i ng
o
p

the no un or corr esp on ding

3
I n appo sit io n
E x N ez ink omo zak e or n ez ak e iz ink omo an d his cattle
Naz o z onk e iz int o or nez int o zonk a an d all th ings
N ga an d Mang a follo w the same r u le
kn is us ed w i th nou ns an d p ron ou ns
1 1 U s es Of Kn
whi ch h ave n o l ocativ e form to expres s the force Of the

l oc ati ve in all its d if ferent S hades Of m ean ing as :

to

among
at
etc
from
in
acco rd ing to the idea
expressed by the precedi ng v erb
E x Kn kil e umun t u o vel a kn baba there has arriv ed a
m an who c omes from fathe r
N gi y a k uy e I am go ing to him
S i 57 eza kuw e or k n w e na we a re coming to you
Ba p nmi l e kny e namhl anj e they h ave c om e or gone ou t
fro m him tod ay
U y a sebenz a kn ml nn gn he is w o rk ing at a wh i te m an s
I z ingubo zami si kn l el o boki si my c lothes are in th at
10

box

pl ural fo rm s ki ti kini knbo are used to express

our y o u r the ir h o m e pe o p l e tr ibe cou ntry etc
Kini you r etc Knbo
E x Kiti our hom e kraal p lace
their etc Kup i k ini ? where is yo u r home ? Kup i
k n b0 ? where is his or thei r ho m e ? Ahant u ba ki t i
Aban twana
ou r peo p le Of t he sa me famil y tr ibe etc
ba k iti c h il dr en Of ou r h o m e k raal famil y etc
I z ink omo z a ki t i ca ttle be lo ngi ng to ou r h ome
( Com p are Chap ter V I S ec t ion s 1 5 an d
1 3 The above fo rms are u sed also in the p oss essive case
E x U mf ana wa ki t i a boy Of ou r p eop le home et c
Bz a ki ni l ezi z ink omo na ? DO th ey belong to yo u r
h ome thes e cattle ?
kubo ka Dambin a
ey a
Ngubani 1e nt ombaz ana
Who is this girl ? S he is of Dambu z a s peo ple
Kn nkil e umf ana wa kub o ka N duli There has
arr ived a boy Of nN dnl i s people or home
12

The

r
m
h
a
o
a
e
C
V
I
C
(
p
p
.

sec t .

l7 )
.

LESS ON S

IN

ULU

63

U ses of N ga
Pr exed to a prepo siti on, a no u n in the locative
a
cas e, or adverb o f p lac e, wh en no prec is e sit u ation is ind icated
from what d i rec tion do you c ome ?
E at U vel angap i 7
but , U vel ap i ? whe re d o you c om e from ?
ng al ap o, abo u t th ere, in that
N gal ap a, abo u t here
14

d i rection
U y a ng ap i ? = in wh at d i rect ion are you go ing ?
U y e ngal ap o he has gone in th at d ir ec t i on th er e
.

I z we l a ng a S OT ong at i 1i n omoba omni ngi , the

abo ut Tong at i has m u ch s u ga r c ane

o u ntry

day by day,
week by week , et c ,
1 5 b To express
the i di om is the same as in E ngli sh , bu t a plu ral noun is
used, w i th nga p r e xed to the repea ted n o u n
E x I mihl a ng emihl a, day by day
A masont o ng amas ont o, week by we ek
I z i ny anga ng ez i ny ang a, m onth by month
I miny aka ng emi ny ak a, year by year

als o z
I z ik at i

ng ez ik at i ,
times by tim es
1 6 And S O
d ifferent t imes I z i z we ng ez i z we, tri be by tribe = dieren t
tribes I z inhl obo ng ez inhl obo, kind by kind d ifferent kind s
E x Ng i bonil e k usasa iz il wan e ez i ni ng i iz inhl ob o ng ez inhl obo,
I h ave seen thi s morn in g many an im als of d iff erent kin d s
U muzi wa seTekwi ni} u g cwel e ahan t u aba y iz iz we
The town Of D u r ban is f u ll Of peo ple Of
ng ez i z we
differ ent nationali ties
.

'

two by t wo, etc

On e by on e,
17 0
a simil ar i di om , bu t the prono u n pr eced ing
adjecti ve prexes i ts c orr es pond ing r elat ive

pressed by
the rst n u m eral
,

is

ex

E x Abeny e ng abany e, on e by on e, for no un s Of Class e s 1

two by two,
ababili ng ababili ,
emi ny e ng eminy e,
.

ez i ny e ng ez

i ny e,

W
ez

imbili

my e

ng ez

imbili,

4
5

e ng ez

an d

an d

64

LESSON S
18

Ex

o expres ses

Wa m

ay a

al s

d Nga

IN Z

Sh

n g en duk n,

I mp ahl a y a b o shwe
w i th a stri ng
U k uh amba ng ehashi ,

he

ULU

wi th
s

tr uck

the sense

in

of

by

w ith a stick
th e parc el was tied

h im

ng ent ambo,

m ean s of

horse )

to

n
o
o
g

horseback

L
i
t
(

to

o
g

by

U k uhamba ng ez in y awo, to go on foot

Do n s a n g aman dhl a, p u ll h ard , ( w ith S t rength )
Wa sik wa ng omes e, he was c u t w ith a kn ife
.

19

N g enxa,

on ac c o un t
partic le y a

from

Of,

i nz

a expresses because of
t
h
e
p
o
e
v
al way s fol l ow ed b
i
s
s
s
s
e
y

n g a an d

an d

is

N g enxa y ami ,

on my acc ou nt be c au se Of me
N g enz a y ako y ak e y et u y enn y ab o on thy his o r her
o u r yo u r th eir a c co u nt
N g i sin dil e ng en xa k aJ esu I am saved becau se of J esu s
N g enxa y omn t wana On acco u nt Of the c h ild
Ng enxa y ok ugul a on ac co unt Of be ing sick

Ex

CO NJ U N CTION S

20

U k uti that ; nk nba, in o rder

S u bj un c ti ve
N oma, kuk o, k umbe , or either
N ok uba, nak uba , wheth er , (als o
N ok o, kanti nok o, yet , h o wever,
K o dwa, on ly, except ing that

that foll owed

,

by the

N oma)
notwi ths tanding s till
.

Kep a bu t
Funa lest followed by the S n
Ng oba ng okuba for becau se
,

U ma, uxa, inxa, nmanxa, if

N gak o, therefor e
Kanti, whereas Also frequ ently used in asking a

i
x
r
qu es tion e pressive Of su pr se as z Bl ak o kanti l eli
ceb o ? A nd so it is you rs thi s sch eme is i t ?
Ba f una ukwenz ani k anti ? Whatever do they wan t
to do ?
.

66

case

In

is

p rexed

ESSO NS

Za

that

of

l o mut i ,

nk ul u l ezi
the

Of c

ZULU

new path

iz ink amba

what

a.

tall tree !

i nk omo, how lar ge

noun th e idea expressed

olou r

in dhl ela s ut sha,

a new beer p o t

Wa mude

IN

these catt le
be ing

are

LESS ON S m ZULU

67

I z ink omo ez ini ngana , a good ish f ew cattle

U k udhl a Oku y in cosany ana, a very li ttl e food
The d i min u ti ve of bi is ba na or t any ana ; an d
.

me idea m ay
placed after the adjective
7

The

be

sa

exp ressed

by

of

do is

the word nj e o nly

,

I ndhl u y ak e i n can e nj e , hi s hou se is rather small

Le ngubo i n dal a nj e, this blan k et i s som ewhat Old
Ubuso bak e bu bomvu nj e, his fac e i s reddish

Ex

the m eaning Of some adjectives certain

part icles are u sed whi ch indicate that the thing referred to
poss esses to a remar kable degr ee the quali ty in qu est ion
8

To inten s ify

Kn mny ama k ace l it is black exc eed ingly

Kn mhl op e q wa ! it is snow white
Kn bomv u hxebn ! it i s very red
I ndhl u i g cw el e swi abant u ! the hou se is qu i te f ull of
people
I z we 1 omil e nk e the c o u ntry is exceedi ngly
9 The lac k Of t ru e adj ecti v es is su pplied as foll o ws
i
l
2
s i n t he i n n i t ive m ood w i th
i
s
b
c
p
a
r
t
p
e
Ver
B
1
( )
( ) y
a p os ses sive p art i cl e expr es sing the p u rpo se Of the no un
3
( )
Nou n s wi th the l oss of their in itial vo wel ( 4 ) Nou ns w ith
the prepos ition 11 a expres sing poss ession

Ex

Ex

m
nn t n c l ung il ey o, a g o od o r r ight eo u s man
1
U
( )
Imi ti e y ap uk il ey o, brok en trees
Amanzi acwebil ey o, clear w ater

I
2
sik ati s oku q al a, the rs t t i m e
( )
I s ik ati s okug cina, t he l as t t i me
Insizwa y okusebenz a ensimini , a
in the gard en
.

y oung

man

place
L o me se u buk ali this k n ife i s sh arp
I k an da l ami 1i buhl ungu my head is pai nf ul
.

to work

LESS ONS

68

ZULU

IN

i
s me r ciful
n
k
i
the
L
o
r
d
4
n
o
u
s
a
m
I
o
s
i
,
a.
( )
L i namandhl a l eli h ashi , it is str o ng this ho rse
A baf ana aban oms indo, noi sy boys
U mnnt n on olak a, an angry or wrathf ul pe rso n
.

U mdal a l o mun tu , he is Ol d th i s person

Mi de l e mi ti , they are tall th es e t rees
I nkul u k ak ul u 1e n dhl n, it is very large this hou se
Makul u imp el a l awo mat she, they are large indeed

Ex

t ones

t hose

1 1 The Co mp arat i ve Of A dj ec tiv es is express ed by the

th an which i s placed before
of k una ( from k n an d na)
nou n or pron ou n den ot ing the t hing compared
.

u se

th e

Ex

Ngi mk nl n kunawe I am bigger tha n thou

I ndhl u y ab o i nkul u kun ey et u their hou se is large r
t han ou r s
L o mf ana mude kun omf o w abo this boy is tall er th an
hi s bro ther
I z ink omo z et u Zi ni ngi kun ez enu our cattle are mo re
than y o urs
L o mntwana muhl e kun a l owo t his chil d is p re tt ier th an
.

L O mf ana

hl akani p il e kuna l owo ,

than that
S ometim es kun a

this

boy is

cleverer

is

contracted to

kn

The ve rb dhl ul a, pass , s u rp as s, excel, exceed , etc , is

also u sed, an d th e w ord den o t ing the qu al ity in res pect of
whi ch the comparis on is made, is pu t eith er i n the locative or
governed by the p repo sition nga
12

thi s person

su

rpasses

me in

L omf ana u y a ba dhl ul a l abo

excel s those in cleverness
.

or

by

trength

ng okuhl akanip a,

this

boy

LESSO NS

I N Z

ULU

69

The S u perlative D egr ee is expres sed by str ength ening

eit her o f t he above form s by mean s Of the ad verb k akul u,
greatly, exceedingly, als o by the u se of onk e, all
13

Ea

I z i nk omo

ning i kakul u kun ez abo our catt le

are very m any m o re th an th ei r s
I n dhl ovu i nk ul u k unaz o z onk e iz il wan e the elep h an t
is th e larges t Of an im als
z a

ki ti

ai

i
i
s
nt
tat
i
v
e
A
dject
v
e
Q

14

ua

A s this adjecti ve begin s wi th a

Onk e, all, the wh ol e
vowel the vowel of the preced ing pronoun is d ropped , exc ept
the vowel pronou ns u an d i which become w an d y respec
tively, an d a is dropped
.

nonk e, (ui onk e) y ou

E x S onk e ( S i c uk e ) we all , all of u s
bonk e, (ba onk e) th ey all And so, wonk e, y onk e ,
all
sonk e , z onk e, l onk e , onk e, y onk e , zonk s, l onk e, z onk e,
bonk e, k onk e
-

an
i
n th e sen se of so me , f or
1 5 To e xpress the id ea o f
y
which n o w ord exis ts i n Z ulu, the n oun den ot ing the thing
in q u estio n l oses its in i t ial v o wel
.

bona Int o na ? do you see anythin g ? 08 a ng i b oni

Int o n o I do n ot see anyth ing
Kn kona muntu endhl ini na ? is there anyone in the
hou se ?
Kn k ona si nkwa na ? is th ere an y bread ?
Kn k ona mp up u na ? is th ere an y m eal ?
U ng a k ohlisi muntu do n o t d eceive any man

Ew U
.

16

Ea

Ti l e

expresses

ertain

as

rtai n p erson

a ce

int o etil e , a
U mnn tn otil e , a certai n per so n
thing I z wi elit il e, a certai n word indawo
M nk omo ez itil e, cert ai n cattle
c e r ta in place
.

f ll

al on e ; o o s t h e sam e ru e ; b u t
ec omes cawa, e g , ng ed wa, I onl y ,

yb

certain
etil e a
,

Odwa, onl
i
s

certain

fo lo

wed wa

t he l s t , 2nd an d 3rd
on on y , y ed wa, he

70

LESS ON S
17

The

ome

N u merical adj ective ny e on e

an o ther
as fo ll ow s
other
,

is

to

use

p ress

ex

ZULU

I N

people

gi ve me some or something
Amanzi a p elil e l et amany e the w ater is n ish ed
s ome m or e

Ngi p e

Ok uny e,

bri ng

Bz iny e iz i nk omo Zi sesibay eni ez iny e z i sendhl e,

cattle are in the fol d, o the rs are i n the eld

o me

1 8 An el e sui ce, ( the Perfe c t

ni ngi , are u sed to express en oug
.

Kwanel e, i t is

Of anel a)

al s

o the adjective

enough sufcient kuningi it i s mu ch

plenty baningi they are m any they are plenty
Kaul a manj e sokwanel e or sokuningi s top n ow it is
en ou gh

Em
.

su f

cient

M B T he
.

f or

o n ly
bef ore t he sou n d

us

s
i
o
r
e
c
a
t
p

Of

is fr eq u en t ly

chan g ed

to so

D ivers, as di ver s ki nd s , so r ts, is also express ed by

red upli cating the r oo t Of the plu ral no un iz inhl obo
19

people Of d ivers

k ind s
I z ink omo ez i z inhl obonhl obo, d iver s k inds Of
I miti ez inhl obonhl obo, trees Of d ive rs ki nd s
.

cat tle

20

ng cosana or

ing coz ana,

few

l ittle

E x Ahant u aba y i ng cosana, a few peo pl e

I mp up u e y ing cosana, a little mea l
A man dhl a a y in g cosana, a li ttle str ength
U k udhla okn y ing cosana, a littl e f oo d
.

21

he, the

NO

as n o on e, etc

tive f orm

n ega

of

kona

n ot

x
i
ss
e
p
r
e
ed
s
y,
the inden ite pron oun

an

wi th

LESS ONS
E m A kn k 0 munt u,
A ku k o munt u
can se rve t wo
.

no

ZULU

I N

pe rso n n ot
,

o ng a

k cnz

71

p
er s on
y
amak osi amabili
an

masters
Or the pron ou n agr ee i ng w ith th e th ing
be su bs ti tu ted fo r the i nd en ite k n

no

man

qu es tion

may

in

D emo ns trati ve Adjectives

Ngak a , thi s big Ngak o, that big
22

th e S i ze bein g gen erally

E x U mf ana wami u ng ak a , my boy i s th is big, or so big

I sandhla sak e S i vuvuk el e si ng ak a , his h and is s wollen
it is so big
Ngi y a q al a namhl anie ukubona indhl u eng ak o, I beg i n
tod ay to see a house so large I see f or the rst
.

Ngakay a,

23
Ex

Nj e

su

so

large

as

ch (as thi s)

that yo nder
Nj al o,

su

ch (as that)

U mnnt u onj e , a pe rs o n su ch as this

I z wi elinj al o, a w or d su ch as th at
I z inkabi ez i nj e, o xen s u ch as thes e
A ngi f uni int o enj e , I do n ot w ant
U knk nl uma okunj al o a kn f an el e,
tt i ng
Be ng i y a k n t anda in dawo enj al o
lik e s u ch a pl ace

thin g such as thi s

su c h speech is n ot

nami

als

o w o ul d

24

N gak anana,

How gr eat large immen se l E xpres sive of

,

2 5 In terr o gati ve A djec tives

N i ? What ? foll ows the ru le f or mon osyllabi c ad j ecti ves,
b
e af xed :
an d ma
1
a
pr
ono
n
prep
o
t
i
on
t
o
i
u
2
t
h
s
s
e
,
y
( )
( )
na, ng a, nj enga, ng ang a, ( 3) a verb, a poss essi ve par ticle,
an d a n o u n of class 6 sing ular
.

72

LESS ON S

IN

ZULU

U muti muni l o
what tree is this ?
a
I mit i mini l ey o
what t rees are th ose ?

U k uf a knni a nak o na 7 wh at S ickness has h e got ?

Amat she mani laway a wh at s to nes are tho se yond er ?

Nani ? wi th what ? ngani ? by wh at ? why ? nj eng ani ?

lik e what ? ng angani
how big ? as big as wh at ?
3
t
i
i
u sa ? be f nnani
d
o
o
U
n
w
h
at
wh
t
h
ey
a
d
o
t
( )
y
y
want
N i cel ani
what are you asking f or ?
L e ng ubo i b izani na
what d o es this blanket
demand w hat is the p ri ce Of it ?
4
m
un
t
n
i
w
a
n
a
p
e rs o n Of
w
h
t
w
h
a
U
a
i
t
s
h
i
s
( )
bu siness ? as
2
( )

weny ama,

the meat m an
med icin e Of what f or what ? the
U muti w ani
h ead stom ach or wh at ?
a bi rd Of w hat ? a w ater bir d or a
I ny oni y ani
bush bird or what ?
i
m
n
o
what
th
ng
?
i
ndabani
what
atte r ?
ni
5
t
I
( )
what stick ? etc
ink omoni 7 wha t c ow ? induk uni
.

2 6 N i may be u sed as a n ou n in th e same way as t he E m

phati c, Preposi ti onal an d D emon strative form s of the Pron ouns,
an d when th u s us ed ass u mes i as p r ex
.

Ex

Kn y ini l oku what is th is ? Y ini na what is it what

is the m atte r ? N i vini na ? W ha t are ye ? U y ini wena
what are you ?
na

or w hat,
2 7 Y ini is fr eq u ently u sed in the sen se Of

n ot,
in whi ch cas e i t u su all y co mpletes the sentence

or

E x U f una
.

U b

uk ng oduk a

f nna

umuti

h ome

or

i
w
m
i
h
i
i
w
a
s
d
e
i
n
a
n
t
n
g
e
c
ne
?
y

or

d
o
u
n
i
o
i
?
y
y

want

to go

O t an da ukuk ul uma nami y i ni ? ar e you wishi ng to

speak wi th m e ?
Ba y a k n m limaza y ini ? a re th ey go ing to hu rt him ?

74

LESS ONS
2 ) U mun tn

wap i 7

ZULU

I N

pe rso n

of

where ?

i
U
n
a
whe
r
e
are you g oing ?
7
3
a
g
p
y
( )
Ba vel a ng ap i 7 whe re do th ey come fr om ?
Ba vel a ez in daweni ez i ni ng i . Kw a Zul u, eMamp ond

places

U
4
( )

Z ul u l and , P ondol and , S w azil and ,

whe re

whe re do you w ork ?

where do you live ? (L i t whe re have

sebenz ap i

Wak ep i 7
buil t ?)

an d

Ba z i bek ep i iz i mpahl a
my g oods ?

zami 7 where have th ey

u
o
y
u
t
p

what sort ?
U nj ani namhl anj e ? wh at are you lik e tod ay ? = how
ou to d ay ?
are
y
U muntu onj ani l owo O b u kul uma nay e 7 what ki nd of
pers on is that to whom you we re speaki ng ?
I z we l aki ni I i nj ani na 7 wh at s ort Of cou nt ry is y ou rs ?

31
Ex

Nj ani, lik e what ?

32

N g akanani ? how big ?

w
lar ge
h
o
k
ana
n
e
n
a
i
w
an
e
s
i
i
s
il
g
y
ani mal i s th e el eph ant ?
w
l
a
a
Z
u
h
o
re
aba
u
l
r
ge
k
w
a
?
I ng ak anani
y
k raa ls Of th e Z ul u peo ple ?

ndhl ovn

33

N gak i ? how many ?

dal a, etc

foll o ws same rul e

as

Kul n

ni

an

th e

ngi

E x Ni bang aki ? how many

.

are

ou

Zi ngaki iz i mbuz i ez i sel ey o 7 how man y goa ts are l eft ?

U nez inj a ez l ng aki 7 how many dogs have you ?

LESS ON S
Bo th
N
follows

as

an d

IN

ZULU

ngak i ,

75

m ay be

ed negati vely

us

e imp np u eng akanani ? a i ngak anani How

mu ch meal is left ? It is no qu anti ty i nsi gni can t a

Ku

sel

Ba ngaki abalimel ey o eng oz in i e y enz ek e namhlanj e 7 O

H o w m any have been hu rt in the
3. ba ban g aki

n
o
er
acc id ent whi ch h appened t o da ? 0
n
u
m
b
,
y
.

34

U bani ? w ho ? may be u sed to e xpress

th e speak er d oes not wi sh to m entio n or
th e n ame of th e perso n in qu es ti o n

when
mind

So

an d so

canno t call to

E x N gi
.

we

kn
i t is

ukut i

heard that

ng umf o

the

ka

Of

S on

bani
So

owenz e
an d

SO

I have
who has done
l oku

Ba bize bonk e abaf ana, uZi t o, noMb oshway o, n oN dhl az i ,

nohani, nohani , call all the boy s, nZit o, etc , an d S O
an d so
nS obani m ay be u sed if th e perso n in q u es ti o n be a mal e ;
if a femal e, nN obani
.

N msik e, nt ok anj e, a re equi val en ts Of the E n glish

exp ressions : What s his n ame,

What do you call hi m ,
i t, etc , when the S peak er is tryi ng to remember the n ame
35

nt asik e
E x Ngi m bonil e u

I have seen
what s hi s name tod ay, 11
N t ombel a
ntasik e, n
Kwenz wa ubani l ok u ? Kwenz wa u
Masuk u By whom was thi s d one ? It was d one by

wha t s his name

n
O vel a ng ap i l o mun tu ?
e
Mvoti Wh ere d oes this pe rson come from ? He com es

O wh at s the n am e
from
fr o m 6
Mvo ti
nt ok anj e, y e
si bhamu
I nt o y ani 1s ? Ku y int o y e
What is this thing of ? It is a thing of
wh at do
all it , of
a gun , = belongi ng to a
ou
c
n
u
y
g
.

76

as

to

many n ge rs as the nu mber i ntended to

ten to indicate whi ch n u mbe r t he palms
,

LESSO NS
8
9
10
11

ZULU

I N

77

I shumi

n an

or

e,

ishumi 1i

or

14
15
16
l7

Tabu m i
I shu mi
I shu mi
I shu mi
I shumi
I shu m i

l9

20
21
30
31
50
99

1 00
1 44

or

nan tatn

nane

or

n an e

n esihlan u,

or

n esit u pa,

or
or

n esik om bisa,

a
p

n es i k om bisa

is hu mi li

n es i s hi

agal olu n

n es ishi

Amashu mi

n esit u

agal ombili , or

n esi shi

m abili

e, or

ishu m i 1i

n es i shi

A mash u mi
Amashumi
Amas hu mi
A m as hu mi

I k ul u
Ikulu

am at at u

am atat u n an

e or an an

i
sihlan u
y
a i si shi agal olu n e
y
y
y

e
y

m ane nane
aman e an an e

n amashumi

mashumi

an es ishi

a a
g

na

2 50

e
y

nan tat u ,

agalom bili

y
I shu m i

n an

or

ikul u

li

A m aku lu am abili namashum i ayisihl an u

I n kul u n gwan e
I n k ul u n gw an e n am aku lu ayisishiyagalolun ye
.

1 908

The number s from 1 to 4 foll ow the ru les for

monosy llabic adj ectives an d for th e ad j ectives dal a knl n
ningi etc given in S ection s 3 an d 4 5 to 9 are no uns Of
class 4 I shumi an d Ikulu are n ouns of class 5 I nkul ung
38

when used nume ri cal ly follo ws th e rul e for the

adjecti ve u sed as a predi c ate ; bu t when u sed d is t ri but i vely

anoth er
i a to exp ress o th er
it follo ws th e ru le f or the
adjecti ve u sed as an ep ith et
39

Ny e

L ESS ONS

IN

ZULU

79

r
r
i
m
ili
z
a
o
z
a
li
o
i
i
m
n
a
a
z
b
z
b
z
a
t
o
k
m
o
i
z
i
n
t
e
a
N
Ex
,
,
g
g
mbili , I bou ght t wo cattle
S a t ol a amaq an da a ba mabili , w e fo u nd two egg s
Ba l et a iz ihl al o z a ba z i t at u , they br ou ght thre e seats
Kwa nka iz insiz wa 2 3 ba z int at u, or z a z int atu, or z a ba
nt at n or z a nt at n, the re arri v ed th ree y o u ng men
.

43
n ot
.

is

In the present
empl oyed

an d

perfect te nses th e

t ntive verb

s u bs a

Kn k ona abatana

l ap a , ther e are t wo boy s h ere

S i t engi l e iz imbnz i ez imbili , we h ave bou ght two g oats
How m any
Ba ng aki aban tw ana bak o 7 bab il i k up ela
are you r chil dren 7 th ey are t wo only or th at is all

Ex

ababili

When refer ence is m ade to fu tu re tim e or if the

im pe rati ve mood be emp loyed then the subj u n c tive m ood of

let it be
be is used before the n u mer al the i d io m being

let them be t wo etc

on e
44

E x N gi y a cabanga uk ut i ngi y a k u hl ala iz iny anga z i be

zimbili , or z i be mbili , I th ink th at I S hall s tay two
.

Si y a kn k u ni k a iz ingubc z i be z in t at u, or z i be nt at n ,
we will give you three blankets
Biza umf ana a be muny e , call on e boy
Hamba u t e ng e iz inkwa z i be z i bili , or z i be mbil i, go an d
buy two l oaves
Peka amaq an da a be man e , bo il fou r eggs
.

4 5 H ow ever, in stat ing th at the n u m ber will be

the S i mp le fu tu re tense Of the ind icative is used
.

so

m a n y,

Ex

S i y a kn ba hatat u, we S h all be three

I z imvn z i y a kn ba likul u, t he sh eep w ill be a h u ndr ed
Amahashi a y a kn ba mashumi a y isihl anu, the ho rs es
.

46

In stead of ngeso lin y e with on e eye ; ng esandhl a

W ith on e h and ; ngony awo l uny e with on e foo t t he
si ny e
.

80

LESS ON S

n e

si y

47

ng an y awo

etc

E x How l ong
.

ULU

l uny o

How l ong ?

H ow Old 7

IN

is

have

How many ?

express ed

d ays weeks years

,

foll ows

as

here ?

been

ou

nesi kati

esi ng ak anani

How many

days has he
been ill ? L it He is wi th how many day s being ill ?
Ba n ez iny anga ez ing aki be hl ez i kn l ey o n dawo
How
m any m onth s have th ey been stayi ng in that place ?
U neminy ak a eming ak i 7 Y ou are wi th h o w many years ?
U

n ez insuku ez i ng aki e

gul a ?

How Old

many

are

u
o
y

N i n esik ati esing ak anani ui S i f un da i sizul u

l ong have you been l ea rni ng Z ul u ?
4 8 Bo th th e tw o ,
co mbi ni ng the rs t

na 7

How

thr ee all fou r etc are exp ressed by

syllabl e Of th e forms of onk e w i th th e
pronou n Of the nou n in qu es ti on an d th e n um eral as sho wn
al l

we t wo (ni na) nobabil i both ye

two
b obabili bo th Of them And so :
s obat at n nobat at n bobat at u all we you th ey t h ree
I mif ul a y omi bili y omit at u y omin e bot h the two all
thr ee all four rivers
I z ihl al o z oz ibili z oz i t atn both the t wo all three seats
Amadoda amabili amat at u aman e both the two all
th ree all fou r men
Th ese form s are n ot us u all y employed bey on d fou r or ve
af t er whi ch onk e is u sed

Ex

n
a
i
t
)
(

obabili

bo th

VOC ABUL ARY

p
l
r
u
(

17

u
d
o
d
a
k
a
m
a
h
t
e
r
a
z
i
i
n
d
a
;
;
)
g
(
)
hor n ; u mm oya, wi n d sp i r i t ; pef u mula, br ea the ;
u p on do,
libala, l i ng er , delay ;
u mpef u m ul o, s ou l ; u mtet o, law, p r ecep t
isif o, si ckn ess ; f uz a, resemble ; isi mo, f orm, shap e

n dodana,

son

ama

82

L ESS ONS

I N

ULU

S unday
U ms ombul uk o, Monday ,
Olwesibili
da y, from s ombul uk a, to u nr oll
the sec ond ( day) Tu esday
I

s ont o,

Th u r sd ay

war m ;

h isa

hot

E! E

i
ne
es
y

or

Olwesihl ann

in t ombaz a n a

R CI S E

u su k u

l wes itatu

C HAPTE R
F OR M S
.

au sati ve
C
5
( )

N euter

an d

an d

i
O
b
6
ject
ve
( )

p a ssive

Thi s

that the Obj ec t gets acted

tense

form s

is

ku

follows
S imple
fr om whi ch the othe rs

as

formed

p on

al s

In

m ost

o that

press the pe rmanent state cond ition

ex

n gol weshu m i

VE RBS

OF

The Z ul u verb has six

consisting Of the bare r oot,

so

cases

i t is in

or c

by

su

harac ter

ch
of

LESS O NS
Bona,

bonwa, be

see

een

ZULU

IN

83

get seen also be

bonakal a,

Bonak el e, be in a state Of be i ng v isible

Tan da , l ov e t an dwa, be l oved t an deka, get l oved, be
l ov able
Bong a. Prai s e bong wa, be pr ai s ed b on g ek a, get praised ,
be p raisewor
Pnnda, learn ; f un dwa, learned ; f un deka, g et learned ,
he lea rnable
Tuma, send t uny wa, sent ; t umeka, get s ent, be send
.

hel p siz wa h elp ed siz eka or siz ak al a get helped

be hel p able
On a d o wrong S poil sin
oni wa be wronged spoiled
onak el e
be S p oil ed
Onakal a get spo il ed d am aged
wi ck ed
S iza,

With a few
fo rm their N eu ter
s llabl e
y
3

cept ions Tran si tive Verbs end ing i n ul a

Pass ive by s ubs tit u t ing k fo r l in the las t

ex

Ex

Ap ul a break

ap uk a get brok en be breaking

be i n a broken cond it ion
turn an swer penduk a get t u rned be tu rning

A p ukil e,
Pendnl a,

rep ent

V nt ul nl a, S h ak e Off as l eaves, f ru it, etc

V ut nl uk a, get shak en off a s l eaves etc fall off
Tnkul nl a, u n lo o se , t uk ul uk a , get u nl oo sed ,
.

become

Bung ul a, tak e in , beg u ile , m ake r en egade

Bung nk a, bec om e ren egad e, prod igal

follo wing are excepti ons to the above rule

Vul a open vul eka get opened be openable vul ek il e be
open
Kul ul a set free d eliver kul nl eka get set free delivered
Kul nl eki l e be set f ree d eli vered
Tul ul a po u r ou t empty tul ul ek a get pou red out
emptied
Tnl ul ekil e be pou red ou t in an emptied c o nd ition

The

LESS ON S

ZULU

IN

85

well actually or wi th p ride ; kuk nmez a

cause to s well m ake pro u d
Pndnmal a beco me warm f udnmez a mak e warm
Uknvel a to co me forth nk uvez a p u t fo rth re veal
U knk nmbul a to remember uknknmbnz a to remind
Kukumal a,

2
( )

U k ulimal a, t o get hu rt ;

ukul imaz

h
t
o
u
r
t
a

V uk a, rise ; y usa, arou se

S uk a, start , get away su sa, take aw ay,
Goduk a, go ho me g odusa, s end or take

3
( )

rem ove
h ome

The Cau sa ti ve F orm is used al so to exp ress to help a

pers on t o do someth ing with wh ich he m ay be occ u pied, or
to which h e may, alone, be u nequal ; meaning, lite rally, to
make hi m do it by helping him
8

Ea

k a si ui limi se k usasa, we will come an d help you

pl ou gh to morrow

N gi bambise mngane, kn y a ng akl ul a l oku, catch h old

friend, thi s beats me

U nomusa uN k osana wa ng aki sa iz ol o , u N kosan a is

kind, he h elped m e to bu il d ye sterd ay

Si

20

It is u sed als o t o express the equ alling or imi tation Of

the acti on Of a person or Of ani mal s or birds etc accord ing
to the follo wing i diom
9

Ea

n knl umisa oku k a y i se (lit) this boy he s peaks

or ca uses to sp eak wh ich it (the speaking ) Of his father
this boy speaks like his father
Ba y a l wisa okwez inj a they ca use to ght whi ch it
l

i
s

ik

ght
ng
Of
d
o
g
they
ght
e
the
ght
ng
d
o
g
i
f
O
s
)
(
)
(
L owe ml ung u u kul umi sa okwomunt u th at whi te m an
speak s lik e t he sp eak ing ) Of a nat ive
(
U kuhambisa Okwedada to walk like a d uck
U k wenz i sa okwesiul a to act lik e a foo l

Lo mf an a

N B Uk unng l sa, exp resses to imi tate, e g ,

imi tate a ird uk uli nz lu ml wane, to im itate 9
'

10

The

Causative

thoroughn ess in

doi ng

aix
a

d ou bled

is

th ing

to

uk u l in g l sa
'

an im a

etc

in y oni, to
.

exp ress energy

or

86

L ESS ON S

Em a
.

a,

i nqu i re

IN

ULU

bnz i sisa, in qu i re carel ll y

g ez i si sa, w ash th orou gh ly
omi si sa, mak e th o r ou gh ly
f uni si sa, seek earne stly, car efull y

Oma, becom e
Puna, s e ek

dry

i
l
a
i
i
ll
i
s
Note the fo o w ng rregu r t e
az i, k n o w , az i sa, mak e
to kn o w, inf orm, annou nce ; t wal a, bear, carry, t wal isa or
t wesa, cau se to bea r, ca rry ; ambat a , pu t on , as a blank et,
ambat i sa or ambe sa , cl ot h e, cover w i th a bl ank et
.

1 1 Obj ecti ve F orm This is S O called becau se i n its p ri m ary

u se it e xpress es th at the act io n i s d on e wi th an Object , o r fo r,
or on beh alf Of s o me Object, an d is fo rmed by i n sert ing cl
before the n al vo w el of the verb root th u s z b ona, bon ela,
.

for

s ee

Ex U
.

etc

sebenz elani

what

do you wo rk

for ?

why

or

do

k
?
wor
y
L O mf an a u y a m bambel a umf o wab o is ikundhl a sak e
this boy is k eeping his brother s place for hi m
I nt ombaz ana i y a m t ung ela unin a ingnbo the gi rl is
sewi ng a dre ss for her moth er
S i y a m ak el a umf o w et u we are bu ilding f or ou r bro ther
Wa ng i knl nmela eN k OS ini he sp ok e f or me to the king
or chi ef
U hl al el ani na ? wh at are you waiting f or ? or why do
ou wai t ?
y
Ba ngi fuul
7 wh at d o they w ant me for ?
Ba l welani l ab o bant u 7 wh at a re tho s e peop le ghting
ou

f or

l 2 Co mbined w ith the R eexi ve form, it expr esses n ot

only for oneself, bu t al so of oneself as having the ri ght,

ng i y a z i bus ela,
li be r ty or po w er to ac t indep end ently as
I govern myself, I am at liberty to act as I like i ndepend
entl y Kn y a z ihambel a l oku, thi s goes by or of i tself
.

Ex

N gi y a z i sebenz el a, I work for myself

I l ang a la zenze le na 7 did the su n m ak e i tsel f ?
e, thi s sore j us t ca me of its el f
L esi sil onda sa z i vel ela
.

LESS ON S

I N

ZULU

U k ul a l n y a z imil el a, weed s gro w of

Zi k ona iz inq ola ez i z ihambelay o,
which go Of them sel ves
.

87

them sel ves

th ere are wagons
.

13
exis t

The follo wing are

o nly in this form

examples Of

n u mber Of verbs whi ch

Tan dela, twi ne, as a cl i mbin g p l ant, or bi nd

of a c ri ck et bat, etc
S abel a, ans wer the call Of a su peri or

Ex

as

the h and le

L al el a, li sten to , Obey
Tek el a, g o to fri end s for
S ek el a , su ppo rt , prop u p
.

The Obj ective form is

whi ch a place is u sed a s
p utting goods in , etc

14

for
in ,

fo od

time Of dearth

in

o to express the pu rp os e
a r oo m fo r eating in bathi ng
us

ed

al s

Ex

I n dhl u y okndhl ela, a roo m fo r eating in

I n dhl u y ok up ek el a, a r oo m fo r co ok ing in
I sit sha sokn dhl ela, a di sh for eating from
I sit sha esihl e a Si dhl eli , a beau tif ul d i sh i s
from A pro verb i mp lying that beaut iful
n ot las t l o ng
.

eaten
th ings d o

n ot

When the Objective F orm is followed by a nou n in the

Locative or the prep osition k n or an adverb Of pla ce i t
ind icates the d i recti on of the ac ti on toward s an Obj ect or
place or the place in or at which the action was or will
be pe rformed
E x U k nbny el a ekay a to retu rn home
S o buy el a kuwe knsasa we w ill ret u rn t o you to morrow
where are thes e peo ple
Ba gij imel ap i l aba bant u
ru nn ing to ?
Ng ubani l owo muntu o gij imela emit i ni 7 who is that
person who is r u nni ng to the tr ees 7
U mf ana wa z i bambel a iz an dhl a ek an da th e boy folded
his ha nd s on hi s head
Nga w ela p ansi ez iny aweni zak e I fell d own at his feet
I uk omo y a w el a emg odini y a f ela k ona the cow fell in to
a hol e an d d ied there
Bambel a l apa lay hold here
15

'

88

18

19

The

deri ved form s

m ay be

The S imp le, Ca usativ e

an d

conj ugated

Objective

lik e

LESS ON S

90

got l ost to one another

ZU LU

I N

in

the fores t
I go

N ga l ahl ek el ana n en dhl ela,

N ga duk el ana, or ng eduk el ana

L ahl ek el wa, su ffer the l o ss Of anyt hi ng

L ahl ek el ela, become l o st to, e g , uma n
I z i nk omo mf an a k u l ey o n dawo z i y a kn
.

place they will become lost to

Buy el el a go to an d retu rn fr o m
,

ou

p lace th e same

a
'

day

B
on eself
N

Zi b oni sel a al s

b ecau s e

Of

exp resse s ,

havi n g

n o on e e se

look

U k u b on el el a a s o exp ess es to j u d
him , = z i n dhl ek e1a, im ag i n e f or , at tri

Hlan gan a meet, j oi n

me

af te

t o do i t

on e s own

rt y

r
o
p pe

of

e a
ute

m ot ives ,

et c

hl an gan isa, make meet,

h
l
an gan is el a, br i n
t
oi n , br i n g tog ether
o
e
o
r
a
t
t
h
e
r
o
r
e
,
f
g g
g ,
j
wa hl an gan isela en dawon ye iz i n k om o n ez imbuZ i n ez imvu
n ez in gu l u be, he br ou ght together i n to on e p lace ca ttl e, g oa ts ,
h
l
a
n
i
a
an d
s
n
i
k
a
e
i
t
sheep ,
o
n
s
b
e
a
b
l
e
e
o
i
n
e
d
;
,
,
p g
g
;
j
g
j
in hlan gan iselo, a m ixtu r e of man y thi n g s tog ether ; xuba
,

co

tog ether ;

talki n g ; q on da, u n der s tan d, g o s tr a ight ; phO ! well !

then ! u su al ly p r ecedes a qu es tion ; ai e, 0 , a nd so, wel l

E! E

RCI S E

22

well
.

Be n gi ti
ya ku ka, kepa n ga bambeka kn ya
tan dek a yin i l ok o O k wen z ayo ? Q a a n gi sho u k u t i k n ya
Pho k e u k wenz el en i n a ? A ik e mu gan e be n gi
band ek e

a ba n a k u z i
A k n f un eki Ok u n j alo l apa
t nk ut ele
N
go
a Ok waz ek a o k u ka N k u l un k u l u k u sobala
b
n dul el a
e
y
p

pakati k wabo ; lok up ela u N kul unk ulu wa ba vez ela kona
.

L ESS ONS

I N

ZU LU

91

k waz iyo k u y en Z ek a
U ku tan dan a
on dan a
k u bi
U k u z itan deki sa k u yin tO

uz

C HAPTE R
THE

ven ,

! I

M O ODS

h
i
S
T
u
b
u
c
e
j
n
t
ve,
,
Th i s or d er
Opt ati ve

Chapter

see

VII

formed fr om the p resent Ind i cative ( Ind eni te)

by ch anging t he n al vowel Of the ver b to e an d su bs ti t u t ing
a for the pronou n 11 3 rd p erson S ing Verbs en d ing i n i an d
The N egat ive i s formed i n
0 do n o t ch ang e the n al vowe l
w ay as th at of the Part icip l e an d the Imperfec t
the Ind i cative i s by in serting ng a before the verb
m ay be

an d

indi ca ted

ove

ab

ba) n bone

(uku

an d

the verb

that thou

i n t he Pas sive

ba)

(uk u

see

ui

Voice

b one that ye
,

m ay

92

LESS ONS

S i n g u lar

m ayest not

see

ZULU

IN

Plu r al

m ay

not

m ay

not see

see

they may n ot see

etc
P
a
s si ve V o ice Af rm at i ve ( uk uba) ngi bonwe n a
a
( )
.

ba bonwe
P as s i v e V oice,
ui , ba ng a ho uw a
si , ui ,

N egative ( uk uba)

ng i ng a

bonwa,

n a Si
,

ed as foll ows
x
1
equ e st entreaty or pe rs u asi on
e
pre
r
T
o
ss
( )
2
A
n
d
A
s I mp erati v e p receded by a ak e or ma
also
( )
afte r uk uba f una an d an
f
o
rm
of
the
Ver
b
al part i cle
y
z e as uk uz e ngi z e u z e etc
Wh
w
o
en t wo or m o r e verbs
ul d
I n E ngli sh
3
b
e
( )
co nnected by the conj unction s an d n or neither the
s eco nd an d foll owi ng v erbs are p u t in the su bj u nct i ve
bu t the co nj u nct i o n is n ot expr essed
i
u meral s w h en reference is t o f u tu re ti m e
4
W
th
n
( )
ect
S
ee C hap I !
S
(

all I
5
In
aski ng su ch q u es ti on s as
S
h
h
a
I
o
s
l
?
l
g
( )
remain ? S hall I enter ? A m I toe tc Ngi hambe 7
ng i sal e ? ngi ng en e ? etc
6 The Inni t ive M oo d i s u sed in the p resent te nse on ly
a n d is
formed by prexin g nkn to the verb roo t The
N egative is f ormed the sam e as that Of the S u bj u nc tive
5

The S ubj u nctive is

us

to

be

een

U k ung abonwa,

to be

een

c nd 11 Of the inni tive p rex

verb root beginning wi th a vo wel

The

before

n ot

se o

is

changed

to

LESS ONS

uk wapul a,
E x U k waz i , to k now
descend ukwopa, to bl eed
.

break
uk wehl a, t o
uk wet emba, to t rus t,

to

h0 pe

93

ZUL U

IN

n y e kul an da
E x Ngi y a kut enga, I am go ing to buy
amanzi , S he has gone to fetch water Si z e kubabona
aban t wana, we have co m e to s ee the ch il dren
The verbs 2 a an d y a are frequ ently c o ntracted wi th th e
In n itive lik e the simpl e fu t ur e, e g , n z olima, he has come

a
e
b
a
o
z
i
n
l
they
h
ve
gone
t
o
h
nt
a
n
u
a
m
a
y
g
,
;
;
ana a y ot ez a, the girls h ave gon e to gath er rew ood

to plo ugh

t ombaz

9 The S ubj u nctive M ood is

In niti ve as bein g l ess abrupt
.

frequently

su b s

tit uted fo r the

Ex

Instead of saying : ngi t an da nknk nl uma nawe I desi re

to S peak w i th you a n at ive wil l p referably say zngi
t an da ukuba ng i kul ume naw e I des ire that I may
An d s o : S i ze uk uba Si li z we iz wi
speak w i th you
1i ka Nkul unk ul u we hav e come that we m ay hear the
w ord of G od
N g a m t she l a uk uba a ha mbe mas iny ane I tol d him
that he should go immediate ly
N gi cel a ukuba u ngi fundel e 1s n owadi e ngi y i t oli l ey o
namhl a I as k th at you will rea d f or me th is l ette r
whi c h I have r ec eived tod ay
,

Imp e rati ve M oo d The v erb in the S imple form

represents the Imp erative M ood 2 u d per sing In the pl u ral
the p ronou n is ai xed to the verb
10

Th e

Ex

bona

thou bonani
l ove ye etc

see

t andani ,

see

e
y

t an da,

love

th ou

Th e pron ou n in the plu ral may be red u pli cated fo r

zanin i ,
The
emph as is or encou r ag em ent
same id ea is ind i cat ed by add ing bo to ei th er t he sing u lar or
11

94

l2

ESS ON S

ZULU

IN

Mon osyll abi c verbs either prex

Y imani o r mani ni, st and ye

Y iz wani or z wanini , hear ye

yi

or

come ye to me ye
I will rest you

who

are

weary

an d

or sh on o,

verbs

All

13
all

in

or sh oni ni .

yi sh oni

Th e N egative

verbs in th e
the negative

of

vowel p re x y i n t he

the Imp erat ive

Pass iv e

Voice

do

is

formed

like

that

of

not change the n al vo wel

S i n gu lar

The
diss u asive
14

with

beg i n ni n g

ct ion

ens e of this form Of the n egative im perative

rather than prohibi tory The Verb
s

there
Musani nk nlwa you
Musa ukwenz a l ok o
.

mu s t
y

ou

not gh t
mu st not d o that
.

is

ESS ONS

ZULU

IN

E x A ng i nga boni , let m e not see

A n ng a boni , a k a ng a boni , a si
A ba nga boni, etc
.

95

ng a boni

a ni ng a

boni

req uest o r entreaty the verb is pu t i n the

the pro n ou n in the acc u sative case on ly
verb

1 6 In m aking
s u bj unct ive,
an d
s tands bef ore the
.

Ngi Lie ok un y e gi ve me som e Wa p e ams hashi gi ve

the ho rses (food ) feed the horses M t shel e e 2 6 l ap a
tell him to com e here Ngi nik ez e l ey o nowadi hand
S i p e namhl a uk udhl a k wet u okwan e
me that boo k
ley o g ive us to d ay ou r s u f cient food
N gi p nz ise
amanzi gi ve m e a drink of water

03

1 7 The other forms of the Im p erat i ve

S ubj u nct ive preced ed by a or ma
.

a re s u

pplied

the

by

E m A S i hambe , o r ma si hambe , let u s go

Ma ba ng en e en dhlini laba bant u aba kil ey o, let th em
c om e into the ho u se th e s e peop le wh o h av e arr i ved
A k a p um e manj e amahashi , let the horses go ou t now
Ma ba M dumi se nJ ehova bonk e abant u bak e, let them
praise J ehovah all H is people
A z i bny e iz ink abi , let the oxen ret u rn
.

18
Ex

The E mphat ic

futu re

is

f requently

us

ed

as

Imperative

Woza l apa co me here = y iz a l ap a

W0 ngi nik a int o engi y i cel ay o you m u st give me t he
thi ng that I ask for
N o vuk a ekns eni ui hambe you m us t get u p early in
the morning an d go
,

1 9 The plur al
polite requ es t
.

of this fo rm preceded by a is

ed

us

in

m aking

be k il e be g ood enough
me when they hav e arrived
A no m si za be g ood eno u gh to help hi m

Ex A
.

t shele inxa

n o ng i

se

to

tell

20

The

me idea

sa

ro
n
o
n
No
m
u
p

Case

is

expressed

by i nsert i ng bo

after the

96

L ESS ON S I N

ZU L U

U bo m t shel ek a ibashi l ami , you will

l
p
e
a
e
end
l
s
(
)

exp ressing the sen se of pl ease follo wed

su bj un ct iv e e xp res ses th e sam e i d ea
21

ak e

hi m

by the

E x Ak e n ngi si ze , p l ease hel p m e

Ak e ni S i v uni se k usas a, be p l eased to
.

hel p

us

harves t

When two or m ore verbs follo w eac h other in the

Imperative M ood the second an d foll o wing verbs are put into
the S ubj u n c ti ve This rule applies t o any mo od or tense
where the acti on of the second an d following verbs is in an y
way dependent on that of the rs t
22

Ea

Hamba

l
e
m
f
u
e
y

outs pan he re

eni

l an ds amanzi , go

to the ri ver

drive the oxen to the ri ver to dri nk

an d

Th e Pot ent ial Moo d e xpr es ses po ss ibili ty, or that th e

agent has the abil ity or li berty to act The tenses are formed
by inse rt ing ng a before the v erb of the present an d impe rfect
tens es of the Ind i ca tive In the present tense th e pron oun
11 3 rd pe r S in g is c hanged t o a
23

PRE S E N T TE N S E

P lur al

coul d etc see

co ul d etc see
th ou mayst N i nga b ona you may can
U ng a bona
can st coul ds t et c see
cou ld etc see
Ba ng a b ona they may can
A ng a bona he or she may
see
cou ld etc see
can co u l d etc
etc
2 4 The N egati ve is formed by ch anging the n al vowel at
bo th th e pa rt icl e an d the verb to e
,

98

LESS ON S

x
i
ng
r
e
p

the

Parti c l e ng a

IN

ZULU

to

that of the partic ipl e an d im pe rfect ten se s Of the

Nga is i n serted before the v erb an d the nal vowel Of the verb
c h anged to i
3 3 Pr es ent Ten se wo ul d ou gh t to see
.

N ga S i b ona , w e, etc
N g a ui b ona, ye, etc
N ga be b ona, they , etc
.

b ona th ou etc
e b ona he or she

N ga
Nga

etc

34

etc .

N egati ve

etc
sh oul d o ught n ot t o

see

ng a si

b oni

ng a u
ng a

et c

35

Pe rfect Ten se,

h oul d ought to have

n
nga e
etc

36

bonil e

ng a

be

etc
N egative sh ould ough t n ot to have seen
.

nsa
etc.

ng a si

nga ng i

nga

en

se

si

LES S ON S
37

be

ng a ngi

nga u

ng i

nga si

81

be ni
ng a be be be
etc

bg u

bona

N egati ve shoul d o ught

,

ng a ng i

ng a u

be

ng a ni

eb e

38

be

b oni

nga

n ot

to have been seeing

nga si

be si
ng a ni be ni
ng a be be be
etc

ng i
.

nga

eb e
etc
39 Imperfec t ( remote) S h ould ou ght to have

ng a

S i n g u la r

wa

40

been

eeing

b e

ng a

na

nga

ba

Si
ui

be

bona

etc
N egati ve should o u ght n ot to have been
.

nga wa n
ng a wa b

ng a

boni

eing

se

ng a

na ni ng a boul

ng a

ba be

etc
Plu pe rfect Ten se ( recent) s h o u ld o u ght to hav e see n
.

41

then
)
(

be

ng a ngi
ng a u

e
etc
42

b
b

e
.

be Si

ng a ni

be

ni

t onil s

ng a

ng a u
etc

ng a S i

nga ngi

nga

ngi

be be be
etc
N egativ e sh ould o ught n o t t o hav e seen (th en)

ng a

ng a sa

etc

boni

nga

et c

99

Im perfect ( recent) should ought to have been s eeing

S i n gu l ar

nga

ZULU

IN

b
b

be

S i n g u l ar
ngi

ng a

bona ng a

ng a S i

be

Si

ng a ni

be

ni

be

be

ng a

be

nga

bonanga

LESS O NS

1 00

I N ZU

LU

ng a sa si

onil e

ng a na ni

nga

wa

etc
44

nga

N egative

houl d ought
,

wa

et c

n ot

to

have seen (at

ng a se si

nga ns a ng i
ng a

ba be

etc

b e

ng a

na

ng a

ba be

etc

ui

ng a

bonang a

V oice In se rt W before the n al vowel of the

R oo t o f the v erb i n each of the above ten ses except the
pe rfect and plu perfect in bo th of which w is subs titu ted f or
1 in th e las t syllabl e e g boniwe negative bouwang a
4 6 Th e express ions se ng at i or song at i sengati ti kung ati
see mi ngl y it l ooks as if app ar ent ly ; k w ang a O th at ! wo ul d
that ! are used foll owed by the po tent ial an d Optative mood s
45

Pas si ve

E m S eng at i

there

kn

ng a

k ona amanzi l apo, apparently th e re is water

Bu t , seng at i a ng a k on a, or a ng a ba k ona, or
k ona , or kn ng a ba k ona, amanzi lap a ,
O that

there were water here

ought to be water here

S eng at i ng a k n k ona isit ol o kn 1s n dawo see mi ngly
th ere ou ght to be a s tore in th is place = l o ndawo i
f anel e isit ol o th is p lace is s u i table fo r a sto re
Kwanga kn ng a k ona or k n nga ba k ona omnny e
wabakit i l ap a w oul d that on e of my own people
coul d be he re
4 7 I n stead of th e above form s of the Optativ e the Pres ent
an d Imperf ect Ten s es o f the Ind i cati ve Of the v erb f anel e ex
.

1 02

L ESS ON S

Present Ten s e, beh ov e,

50

ZULU

I N

ought to

see

S i n gu l
U f an el e

uku

ba

b one

f an el e uk uba ui b one
ba f an el e ukuba ba bone
ui

etc

51

A
A
A

N egative ough t not to

,

f an el e uk uba ngi b on e
u f an el e uk uba u b on e
ka f an el e uk u ba a bon e
n gi

S ee

a Si

f anel e

uku

ba Si

bone

etc

et c

Imperfec t Ten se
have seen (lately)
52

be f an el a uk uba ba

used

bone

al so for the

Perfect ,

o u gh t

Be

ngi

b u
b e
etc

f anel e uk u ba
f an el e uk uba
f an el e ukuba

ng i

bon e

b on e
a bon e
u

etc

N egati ve ou ght
S i ng u lar

ngi ng a

Be

n ot

f an cl e

f anel e

uk u

53

ba S i bone
be ui f an el e uk uba ui bone
be be f anel e ukuba ba bone
be S i

to have S een (lately )

uku

ba

ngi

b one
U b n nga fan el e uk uba u b one
U b e nga f ancl e ukuba a bone

be S i

a S i bone

nga f an el e uk ub

et c

et c

Im pe rfect ( remote)
have s een
54

be ui ng a f an cl e uk uba ui bon e
be be nga f an cl e uk uba ba bone

us

ed also

f or

perfect ought

to

Ng a ngi f anel e ukuba ngi bone

Wa n f an el e uk uba u b on e
Wa b e fanel e uk uba a bone

sa S

f an cl e

ba

uk u

Si

bone

ba be f an el e
et c
.

uk ub

ba bone

L ESS ONS
55

N egative ,

ZU LU

I N

o ught not to have seen

Wa n nga fanel e ukuba u bone

Wa b e nga f ancl e ukuba a
.

1 03

na ni ng a f an el e uk uba ni

bone
uk uba ba
.

be ng a f anel e
b one
etc
WITH THE INFINITIV E

ba

etc
CONJ U GATION OP PANE L B
5 6 Present Tens e Ou ght to see
.

S i n g u lar

Ng i
ni

57

Negative ou ght

to

n ot

s ee

f an el e

ukubona

S i n gu la r

f anel e

Si

uk ub ona

f an el e

uk ubona

A ka
58

Imperfect ( recent)

S i n gu l ar
U

b
b

et c.

59

f an cl e

us

ed

al s

as

p erfec t ou gh t
,

be Si
be ui

uk ubona

f an el e

ukubona

be be J
etc
N egative (lately) ought n ot to have s een
.

P lu r a l

Be ng i
U b u ng a f anel e uk ubona
be ui ng a f anel e uk ubona
be be
U b e
et c
et c
6 0 Impe rfect ( r em o te ) , ou ght to have seen
P lu r al
Ng a
se S i
fanel e uk ubona
Wa
na ui f anel e uk ubona
Wa
ba he

'

ate

to

1 04

LESS ONS

S ee Ch ap ter

62

Pr esent Ten se ,

be

VII

ZU LU

I N

S ect s

at
th
(
)

k ona

may

p resent

be k ona

n ot

ui

6 1 to 7 5

ni

be

ng a

p resent

bi k ona

Plur al
Uk uba k ona, to be

65

I mp erative

p r e s en t

k ona,

uk ungabi

Mood

p resent

n ot

L E SS O N S I N

Ex

S i y a kn ba si vun a
Si

ng a

ba S i vuna

nga
nga

ZU LU

1 07

l e so sik at i we shall

be

l eso

sik at i ,

harvestin g

w e may be ha r v es tin g

Be Si ng a ba si vuna nga l es o sik at i , w e might h ave

bee n harves ti n g at th at tim e
Be si ng a ba 8 1 ea vuna nga l e s o sik at i , we m ight h av e
been still h arves tin g at th at tim e
Be Si y a k u ba si sa bul alana uma iz wi l eNk osi 1i nga
k anga, we wou ld s till have been killing on e an o th er
had n ot the word of the Lord c om e
A ngi ka bi na kubona, I am yet u n able to see
8 8 S i nga kabi n a k wak a, we w er e yet u n able to build
Be ku ng a k a bi S ikati sokuba ng i kul ume, it w as n ot
yet the time that I shoul d speak
U ma ku nial o be se ngi y a kn ba ngi sa sebenz a lapa, if
i t i s so then I s hal l s ti ll be w o rkin g h er e
N gi ng a ba ngi s ebenz a, I m ay be w orkin g ( then )
N g i ng e be ngi sa sebenz a, I co ul d n ot be s till worki n g
Be ngi nga ba ng i 8 aka , I might have been s ti ll b uil din g
Be ng i ng e be ngi 8 aka, I co uld n ot h ave bee n st il l
bu il din g
A ng i se na kusebenz a, I am n o l on ger abl e to work
Be S e ngi ng a sebenz a, th en I c ou ld, might work
Be Be ngi nga ba kona, then I could or might be p res en t
Be 86 ng i ng e be kona, then I co uld n ot be p r esen t
.

Kol wa become

i
u
a
b
n
t
a
o
e
i
n
n
a
n
opp ortu ni t
,
,
;
,
p
g
y;
kohl isek a, get decei ved ; vi lap a, be laz y ; s en ga, to milk
;
c i mez a,
close the eyes
u k u xok oz el a, make a
eat c onf used
noi se as by many
l
eo
i
e
t
l
n
o
a
k
t
o
e
t
h
e
r
a
h
u
b
u
b
b
b
la,
p
g
,
g
ro
hol ela or rolela, lead or draw to ;
I sihl angu , shi eld ; ts hena, S how u mk aul o, en d, bor der
sati s ed

EXER CI SE

23

U m a k wen z i wa l ok o k u n ga ba k o n a u k u xokoz ela ok u k ul u

U t i u tan da u k uba a n gen e esik olen i
.

1 08

LE

Wa

n ga

SSONS

tan di u kuba

ZUL U

IN

e
y

kon a

Ba f u n da be sa seben z a k wabelun gu
Ku n ga ba kuhl e u ma be be kwaz i bon ke
.

nk u l im a

Z an in i m a Si ye k uliz wa iz wi 1i ka N k ul u n k ul u
S a si f an ele uk wen z a l ok o, kepa sa k ohl iseka
S on gati ba n ga hlak an i pa ku n ga ka dhluli isikati
.

S i f an ele

kuba Si

l
m
h
aba
o
y

se

na

f un de Si

i be

ku siz wa

ak o

s e n et uba.

u N k ul un k u l u

Vu ka J ehova U n gi sin dise Nk ulu n kul u wami

Ku k on a aban in gi aba S koyo uku ti n guban i 0
,

tshen isa ok uble na l

U n gi tok oz isile enhliz iywen i yami

N goku ba, w en a, N k ul u n k u l u , a U siye

ku hl ala ku w e
ngobubi : ok ubi a k u

ku

Si

C HA P T E R ! I I
ADV E RBS

By prexi n g KA

tokoz ayO

1 10

LE S S O N S

I N Z ULU

Manj e kal oku n ow ; Konamanj e at on c e

Masiny a masiny an e imm edi ately
,

N g oms o,

ng omus o,

to m o rrow
-

N g omhl omuny e, day af te r

lso be u sed to exp r ess se ve ral days back

reck on in g f u r ther back the natives may

S o k u ng ol wesin e

namhl anj e,

it is

n ow

heard to

be

the

f ou rth day

S o ku ng ol wesihl anu, so ku ng olwesit upa, e tc

N y ak eny e, l ast or n ex t yea r
Ny ak omuny e, year bef ore las t or year af te r n ext
Kudal a, lon g ago
M andul o, in f orm er times
I ndul o , an cien t ti mes ; ondul o or endul weni, in an cien t
tim es
Kade, (S hort a) j ust n ow, ( lon g a) a long time ago
Pak ade, ve ry l on g ago or l ong hen ce
.

ku be p ak ade,

u z e

Nini ? w hen ?
o
?
g

eg
.

un

til

it be f or

e ve r

y a ku hamba nini ?

when shall w e

Ba y a kn k a nini ? w hen wi ll they arri ve ?

K0 z a k u be nini ? it s hall com e to be when ? = how
lon g will it be ?
KO z a k u be nini ui t anda ubuul a ? how l on g will ye
l ove f ool ish n ess ? KO z a ku be nini ni hl ez i ui vil ap a ?
how lon g w ill ye S it idlin g ?
.

of

time

K
u
g
.

y a ku p ela nini l ok o ?

Ai !

ku y i k u pela

LE

an

Z U LU

I N

When will th at com e to

en d f or ages or f or ev e r

nanini

to

SS ON S

an en d

? 0 I it

will n ot c om e

The f ollow in g Adverbs des c ribe

111

variou s tim es

Of

t he

l wokusa, th e very rs t appearan ce Of daw n

Kumpondoz ank omo, very ea rly m o rn in g, w hen the h or n s
of the c attl e begi n to be di s ce rn abl e
N g okuk al a k wez i nkuk u, at c o ck
c row
N g okwehl a kwez inkuku, at the de scen t Of th e f owls
Bk useni k akul u, ve ry early in the m o rn in g
Bk useni , ea r ly m orni n g
L it at the daw n in g
Kasasa, morn in g ; f rom the Verb sa to da wn , become
cl ear L it E u 8 3
it is still daw n in g
Bk upumeni k welanga, at sun r i se
U vi vi ,

uvi vi

sun

min i

l o t im e

oo n ;

a s

tim e

rise

day light

of

emini

in

the

day

N tambama, af t er n oo n
Il ang a 1i bant ubahl e L i t the su n is p r etty peopl e,
at the t im e w he n p eo p l e l oo k p r etty
setti n
g
U ku shona kwel an g a, s un set, the goin g dow n of
.

n a

sun

the

Bkush on eni kwel ang a, at s u n do wn

N g okushona kwelanga, by su n do wn
Fr o m th e ve r b hl wa,
Kusihl wa, even in g, t wi l ight
becom e dark
Kn se y ikusihl wa, i t is n ow ev en in g tim e
Als o, S o ku swel el e o r so
S o k u hl wil e, it i s n ow dar k
ku rwel el e
U kuq undeka kwamehl o, t he t ime when the eyes are du ll ,
i e , w hen obj ec t s are n ot eas ily distin g ui shabl e,
du sk
.

The f oll owin g des c r ibe differ en t ti m es of the n i ght

Bb usuk u, in o r du r in g the n ight
U busuk u, n ight
U busuku obuk ul u , very late ni ght
L it betw een the
Pakat i kwamabili , mi dn ight
.

ti me

w hen the peopl e

are

in

the deepes t sl eep

two

1 12

LESSON S I N Z U LU

Kuf up i,

Kude

n ea

f ar

hort ;

f ro m f up i,

k uf upi knbo, his

N gan en o, on thi s side, th e n ear side

Peshey a, o ver, the o the r Si de
N gapeshey a,
si de
.

on

the

ot her

Lap a,

here ; l apo there ; l ap ay an yon der ; k onalapa j ust

h ere
Konal ap o j u s t there
L e f ar away f ar off e g ki t i k u l o k wa Zul u our h ome
is far aw ay in Z u l u lan d
Ngak wesok unene on the right han d Si de
Ngak wesok ohl o on the l e f t h an d side
,

Ngasese, ng esit a, sec r etly, p r ivately

Bambil i, f arth e r on
Obal a, o penl y
Bn clhl e, ou ts ide, in th e
.

v eldt

Kunge Kung es o Kungesi if i t be n ot = except (S ee

ngubani 0 ng enza l ok u kunge
eg
Ch ap VI S ects 3 0
y en a w h o coul d do th is ex cept he
9

Kup e la only that is all etc ; e g ngi f una l oku kup el a

wan t this o n ly
Wa sho l oko kup el a he said on ly that
10

m or e

U msebenz i wak o u 2 0 ba uk ug ez a iz i ngubc kup ela,

work w ill be to w as h c l o thes on ly

your

11

Uk upel a, the en d, all Of , the w h ol e, the c ompleti on e g ,

uk up el a kwen daba, th e en d of the m atte r ; uk up ela
kw azo na ? is that all of them ? ( iz int o)
.

imbal a, mbal a,
1 2 Bal a,
isimi ny a, i sibili ; ei th er on e Of
.

imp al a, nampel a,
w ords m ay be used to

n embal a,

thes e

1 14

LE SS ON S I N

that

S hil

E x Nj eng okuba ngi

19

ZU L

Pe l a,

o l ik e
,

as

w ell then then j ust

Y enza pel a,

j u st

do i t

then

th en if it i s po ssibl e
A si hambe p e l a l et u s

I have
do !

S O,

said

etc .

o
g

20

Qede f rom
,

f oll ow ed by

the

daw n e d

they

are

pr es ses

ex

s oon

as

as ,

an d

f ou n d in

t rt

an d s a

at

thei r

on ce

a
g

r dens

l ways f oll ow ed by the S u bj u n ctive

N gi t shel e q eduba a bil e amanzi te ll me as soon as the
wate r has boil ed
S i y a u su ka q eduba a k e amahashi w e wi ll s tart as
s o on as th e h or s es h av e a r ri v ed

ukub

Ex

n ish ;

S u bj un ctive

w e wi ll ri se

e a

q d

then

is

the

su n

has

risen you m u st rin g the bell

LE

SS ON S

I N

Z U LU

115

ona in cwadi y ay o ng amabomu

the gi rl (j u s t w en t) an d s po il t he r book in ten tio n all y
2 3 N g ez e ng esihl e f ree ly grat ui tou s ly
I

nt ombaz an a y esuk a y a y

E x Ni p iwe ng ez e, y ip ani ng ez e, or N i p iwe ng es ihl e, y ip ani

ng esihl e, f r eel y ye h ave r ec ei v ed, f r eely gi ve
S i y a sebenz a ng ez e, w e are w ork in g f or n o thin g ( f r eel y)
Ot anday o ka wa tate amanzi ok up il a ng ez e or ng esihl e,
wh os oever will l et him tak e Of t he w ate r Of lif e fr eely
Owomil ey o ng i y a ku m ni k a emt onj eni wok up il a ng ez e
or ng esihl e, he that is t hi r sty I will give him Of the
f ou n tain of lif e f r eely
.

Car e mus t be tak en n ot

iz e (iliz e) , n othi n g, van ity

to con f use

ng ez e

w ith

the

ou n

I w ork in vain t o n o pu r pose

Lo ku ui p iwa umusa k a Nk ul unk ul u ui ng a w enz iz e
s eein g y ou h av e bee n gi ven t he g rac e Of G od do n ot
mak e i t vain
Wa kul um iz e he spoke vani ty
n o n sen se
2 4 S ebl e s engahl e s engase song ahl e ex p r ess su rp rise o r
an d m a
b
v
r
o
l
y
e
a
i
u
s
re gr et at w h at m ay ha ve h appe n ed
y
trans l ated by actually really to th in k that etc Follo wed
by the S ubj u n ct ive
E x S ehl e ni kul ume amaz wi anj al o a ng a f an el e a k ul un y we
to thin k tha t you sh ou ld s peak su ch
abak ol way o
w o rds wh ich are n ot t that they sh ould be spoken
by Ch rist ian s
S eng ahl e ba gul e ng a I ona l o l o lu suk u e be S i t i S i y a
ku hamba ng al o to th in k th at th ey sh ou l d get
sick on the very day on whi ch we th ought to go away
2 5 Ai l exp res s es dissen t an d is al s o u sed to res train a
pe r son in speech o r action
E x Ai l o r aik e u ng a kul umi kanj al o n o don t S peak like

Ex

Ngi

schenz

iz

e,

Aik e mu sani uk up iki sana mado da,

con tradict on e an other, men

no,

m us t

ou

n ot

26

an d
Ananha, andukuba, an duma ex p re s ses

F o ll o w ed by the S ubj u n ctive

af ter th at

E x Y enza
.

l oku

an duba u

hambe , do

this

an d

then

o
g

then

116

LE

SSONS

IN Z ULU

amanzi anduba 11 base nml il o a Firs t f etc h

th en m ake a re
2 7 Aug it i (l it say I n ot) = didn t I say ? etc
have I n ot said so ?
E x Aug i t i ngi shi l o nj al o
di dn t I te ll
Augi t i ng i k n t shelil e uk uba w enze l oku
n ot th at I h ave to l d
ou to do thi s ? L i t
sa
I
o
u
y
y
y
that you sh ou l d do this ?
2 8 Amang a : A n e x p res si o n Of diss en t sim il ar 1 n u se to
ai gi ven abov e an d is u sed i n exp ress in g c ou r teous di ssen t as
to an y un tr u thf ul eviden ce that m ay be gi ven in a case bein g
t ried bef ore a chi ef
E x A manga N k o si a kn nj al o
no m
i
i
l
or
n ot so
d
t
s
y
Amang a N k o si a S i kwenz an ga n ot so my l ord w e have
l an de
water an d

Qal

I t is di f c u l t to n d an ex ac t E n g li sh
2 9 Belu
equi valen t f or this word The n atives speak Of it as iz w1
l oknn ceng a, i e , a w ord Of en treaty, an d is u sed in t he sen se

m y good f ell o w , etc

pl ease,
of
.

E x Y enza k ahl e be lu ! w ai t a m in u te p l ease o r my good

f ell ow !
Tul a be lu S i z we, be q ui et my good f ell ow an d l et us

N gi ni k ez e l ey o nt o be lu, pass m e
I sit a l owo be l u, u m hl ak ani p e,
ar d
s on , be on y o u r
u
pe
r
g
(
)

that th in g pl ease
he is an en emy that
.

30

31

Budhl a o utside

Pnti ,

again

an

mor e

ywher e ou ts ide

p recin cts Of

Of ten f req uen tly

Pnt if nti ,

t he

I n ganti , k ant i , w he r eas, e g , wa hamba y ena uq obo

lw ake , ing ant i be ngi m t sh elil e ukuba a t ume omuny e, he
wen t h im self , w he reas I had told hi m to sen d an othe r
32

mbl a, l ap o w hen ,

a, uma,

uba,

nxa n s n q edil e

l oku

33

Nz

34

Kany ekany e

all

ou

m ay go

together

hamba
n ish ed

n ng a

w hen you have

1 18

LE SS O N S

I N

Z ULU

I N TE BJ E CTI ON S

Ai ldi ssu as ion , als o to l ow e r e x c i temen t

A t shi ! at shi b0 0 n o ! st uff n o n se n s e !
The ex p r ession may be
w on de r, su r p ri se
Au
repeated seve ral tim es to exp ress gr eat won de r or
.

a th r eat,
lo ok out
Cupe
s i m pl e assen t
E he,

as to n ish men t, alarm, app ro

Ha ! mame ! mamo ! babo
hen sion
Hai l B ai bo ! Musa bo ! = Ai !

a
a
a
hail ! wel c om e !
B l l
Han l displ eas u r e, an n oyan ce
May e ! may e babo ! grief , s orro w

e
sym pathy, co m f o r t, us ed al so
n
x
e
a
e
x
e
!
!
e
a
l
N p
p p
p p

f
beg y o u r p ar don !
in t he s en se of
as w hen on e
pe rson has perhap s trod on the to es Of an other, or an y
s i m ilar ac c iden t

hu r rah !
N c in ci ! ncinci b0 l p l eas u r e, delight ,
S uk a get aw ay wi th y ou
WO ! won ls u rp ri se, w on der

exp ressive Of an ger, an n oyan ce Called nkunxapa

!

aw ay w ith
d
er isi on
ou
Y iy a
y
.

CABUL ARY

VO

21

i n wa ter, di ve S i ta, screen ,

C wila, p l u n g e, si n k ou t of
hide f r om vi ew ; Pi n da, r q oeat, do ag ai n F in dela, r etu r n to ;
U m n gan e, i en d
.

EXE RC I SE 24
n i z e l apa n amhlan e
g
j
.

1
2

S e k u n gok w es i bi li
N goku c wila k w ake

ke

sa

3
4
5

n gok w es ik om bi sa

wa

s in da

esif w en i

M tshel e umf an a u k u ti Si f un a am ahashi omabili

N an gu l o w o mu n tu aba m f u n ayo
Kn kile am an tombaz ana n anka a hlez i ngapan si

N az i z in k omo z i n gena en sim in i

Bap i ? U
N am pa ban tu be z a
S i t wa im i ti le o
y
.

20

ba bon a konam an j e ba

LE
8
9
10

ll

Z U LU

IN

1 19

S a hamba kabuhl un gu n ga l el o l an ga
A maz wi ake a bukal i kakul u
I n dhl u leyo i z a k waki wa n gokusha
A m akolwa a f an ele uk uba a patan e n gotan do
Ba ti ba ya ku k a n gomhl om un ye
Le m p u pu a i n gakan an i, i z a u pel a masin yan e
I z in taba z i se m i n j en goba z a z i n j alo en dul o
Ba be k wen z a l ok o m an dul o, n a n am b l a ba sa kwen z a
Lo m un tu u v uka z ou k e iz in su k u n gok u kala k wez in k u ku
a
em s eben z i ni
e
y

Bo n a b ak e n gap esheya k womf ul a, tin a S ake n gan en o

Ku k on a iz in dhl ela ez i mbili en ye i h amba n gakwesok un en e,
en ye i h am ba n gak wes ok ohl o
S i f an el e uk uba si q ubekele pam bil i n j al o eq m i swem eli
k u Krist o J esu
Kwa sa q ede sa pin del a ehl atin i
N xepe mn gan e, be k u yin goz i
.

12
13
14
15
16

SSONS

17
18

19

20
21

C H A PT E R ! I I I
AU!

ILIARY VE RBS

ther may be u sed but the f orm er is

the mo re com m on to exp r es s a con vi c ti on as to the po ssession
The ve r b f ollowin g
Of abili ty to pe rf orm a s p ec i c a cti o n
wi ll be in the s ubj u n cti ve
E m Ab l e ngi y i cibe l evo ny amazane n akuba i kude k ang ak a,
I be lieve I coul d S pear that deer alth ough it is so
l

Abl e,

ng ahl e ; ei

Abl e

ngi y l
'

wi se 1e

nk abi ngi y i

bamba

ng ez

imp on do,

I am p er su aded that I co u l d th row down that ox

catch in g it by the h o rn s
Abl e ngi kwe l e l ap a I be li e ve I cou l d cl imb up he re
2 Ak e pl eas e f oll o w ed by t he su bj u n ctive is u sed in
makin g a p o li te r equ es t as f oll ow s
E x Ak e ng i dhl nl e please l et m e pass
Ak e Si bon e nat i p lease let u s see also
Ak e u m bize umf ana m t s he l e a wa l ande amahashi
as e call the bo
an d tell him to f etch t he h o rses
l
e
y
p
.

1 20

mS ONS

ZULU

IN

A ndnl a, S an dul a, us u all y con tracted t3 sand an d

f oll o w ed by an i n n iti ve, is u sed to exp res s th at the act ion
in dicated by the v e rb has bu t r ecen tly been pe rf ormed
3

E x Si
.

w e h ave onl y j u st arri ved

s nd uk uk a,

w hen did th is

nj e,

Ba k a 1i
af te r the

ckn ess

had

s et

ttack

i l ang a,

nkn sh ona

s nd
sun

Si

hi m ?

they

j ust

I t

rri ved j us t

4 An el a = su f ce, be sufcien t, w h en
v e rb i s al w ay s f oll o w ed by an in n it i ve,

sed as an auxiliary
an d exp r ess es

i
S u icet h
satises
m erely
do n o thin g bu t

habi t
p racti ce
wo n t
When us ed in
an d in di cates
this sen se the in denite p ron oun kn stan ds as the n om in ative
to the v e rb
E x Ku m anel uk uk ul uma l owo a k a sebenz i lut o it
sufces that f ell o w to talk onl y he does n ot do an y
u

'

Kn w

an el uk uhl ek a

nj e

n o thin
i
b
r
ls
d
o
u
t
g
g
Lo mf ana kn m an el
to idle

l awa mant ombaz

lau gh

these

ana,

uk uvil apa,

it is

this

boy s w on t

ii

The sen s e of as soon as as in the f oll o win g se n ten ces

N g an el uk ubona l o ko nga se ng i hamba as soon as I
sa w that then
I
w
e
n t a way
(
)
Wan el ukusibona wa bal ek a as soon as he saw us he

ed

Bonang a, t he pe rf ect ten se n egative of uk ubona to see,

is u sed, f oll o wed by t he p res en t p arti cipl e, to e xp ress n e ve r,

n e v e r be f or e,
as in the f o ll o w i n g sen ten ces
5

bonang a ngi y a l ap o , I hav e n ever gon e there

si bonan ga si k n bona okuk nl n k angak a, we have
n e v e r seen an ythi n g S O g r eat
A ba bo nang a b ehl el wa usi z i ol unde, t h ey have n ever
been vis ited w ith s u c h t ro ubl e

Ex A
A
.

ngi

1 22

LE

y onk

requi res

has

h u rt

is

ZU LU

IN

that tim e I cam e

at

SS ONS

ten den cy to

c ou rtin g

this kin d of t ree

dan ge r , is

dan ger

r equ i res

he really

warm p lace

o s to die ?

anxi u

it h app en ed as I was g o in g an acc iden t bef ell me

hl e wa hamba nga y i p i in dhl ela na 2 by whi ch
did he happ en to go ?

path

j u st have

t o go

h avin g

n ot

ten

ea

be li ke th is
l2

etc
to

Ex

pick as f ruit to cu ll ow er s to
wate r
au xi l iary v e rb in the se n se Of

man age to
etc an d may be used in an y

U k uk a, to
is u sed as an
.

t
e
g

to

U k e wa m bona na have you ever s een him ?

Wa k a wa y a vini kwa S ik ony ana 7 did you
to gO to S ik on ya n a s

to

be m et by

an en

em y

in

the

way ?

man age

LESS ONS IN

ZU LU

1 23

shong o vini ukuti ui y a u k e ui limal e

well didn t I say that you w oul d c ome to g r i ef
N i y a u k e ui bo ne imi t i emibil i i mi y odwa you w ill
come to see t wo t rees s tan di n g al on e

Pok e,

ngi

13

N co exp res ses

p r esen tly

by

an d-b

Pin da

buy a

Pons a, pos a

1 5 8 3 1 5 . S tay, rem ai n , be
beh in d, i s u sed i diomati call y in the

have to, be obl iged to, etc

.

p resen tly
her e b e will come

14

E x N gi y a kn uce ngi buy e , I will r etu rn

E l ala l ap a u y a kn nce a lik e , stay

cishu.

l ef t out over be l ef t

it rem ain s th at
s en s e of
,

Ex

m muk i sa umunt u wak o Nk o si , nj eng ez wi

m
ain s th at th o u n ow cau s e thy servan t
lak o
It
r
e
(
)

to depart Lord accordin g to thy w or d

Loku k n nj al o, sal u S u ngi y eke ngi hambe , s eein g

S al

n S

that it is thu s then j u st let m e alon e that I m ay go

I then j u st lef t the
N g a sa l a se ng i z i shi y a iz ink omo
cattl e (ther e seem ed n othin g else f or it)
Ba sal a se be g odnk a th ey then wen t h om e
S e ngi y a u s al a se ng i f a a ngi se na temba n ow I
S h all j us t h ave t o di e I n o l on ger h ave an y h o pe
Be ng i y a u s al a s e ngi f a inxa u b u nga k ang a I
woul d then have died had you n ot ar ri ved
S e S i y a u s al a se S i buy a kusasa n ow w e shall be
obliged to r etu rn to m or ro w
Kn s el e ukuba ng i q ede l oku the re remain s that I
sh ould n is h this
Kn se l e ukuba u 11 v nme i z wi lak e kupela it on ly
remain s that you acc ept his word
A si s al e se S i y a eM nambit i mhl aumbe S i y a k n m
f uman a lap o let u s n ow (as a last r es o rt) go to
Ladysmi th p erhap s w e S hall n d him there
A si sal e se si z ama nga l e ndhl ela let u s t ry (as a
las t eff ort by thi s way )
,

16

S uka ,

esnk a,

suke

way st art

a
t
e
g

t rt

up , S a

O , etc

1 24

LESSON S IN

ru n s away

Wa t

ZULU

we

l oko wa suk a wa t ukut ela

when he hea rd that he got in to a gr eat rage

ez

the doin g Of an ythin g

the f ood

ht

ou t

to

be,

to

out

s wi pe

nished i t

m ak e on es el f

ou t

Off

to

be

s wish etc

be ?

cl ean

be a man
isi puk up uk u
s u ngi shay
makin g m e ou t to be a n oodle

Vama
ally
e
e
r
n
g
18

have

to

out

to

with

Of the people this yea r

an d

ni g

as

kanti ?
are

and so

ou

Passiv e vany wa, aboun d, be pl en tif u l

f r equ en tly,
of ten ,
be given to
.

ou are
y

exp resses
Foll ow ed

E x Ahantu t a
peo pl e Of
Lo mf ana u
.

l evo ndawo ba vama ukng ul a ehl obo the

that place are gen erally S ick in the summe r
vama uk uq amba amang a this boy is gi v en
'

126

LE
II
I II

SS ON S

ZULU

I N

A S in trodu ctory

p redi cate
With a peculi ar s pec ies of Adverb descriptive Of th e

with ou t the adv erb the verb t i

st an din g f or the action w hi ch is in dicate d by a
u
e of the s peaker
e
s
t
r
g
V I n ce rtain sp eci al idi om s

IV

the

sam

way

as

to

i
nk
m
an
d
th
o
e
etc
y
Wa t i a Si hambe he said let u s go
if w e sh oul d do
U ma s enza nj al o i y a kn ti ni ink o si
r thi nk ?
S O wh at w ill the chi ef sa
o
y
Kn t iwani l oko I what i s that said to be ?
II A n d so as I n trodu ctory pr edi cate the sen se is
equall y vari ed the r ef eren ce however bein g
al w ay s to the act ion e x p r ess ed b
the
p
r
i
n cip l e
y

Ex

sa

Ex

Kw a

ti

It

ng ol un y e n uk u

happen ed

on e

day

it h appe n ed as he w as Sittin g ther e, a s n ak e appear ed

i n f r o n t Of him
S o t i S i nk a ekay a S i ba f uman e be hl ak az ek il e ahantu,
w e shall , ar r ivin g at home, n d the peopl e s catte red
.

III

With pec uliar

E x N go nk a
.

verbs des criptive

ad

ng i t i ng xo p nsi ng amehl o,

of

the action

I shall

in

drop my

so

K wa

ti

ng e

br ight

u
k uk any a

wi th l ight

l el e ahant u
asl eep

Ba

en dhl ini ,

in the h ou se
ba t i z u, the

i t becam e

e ly

s u dd n

peo ple

are

j us t soun d

Wh en a dir ection n um ber or acti on is in di cated by

a g es t u re as
E x Wa hamb a ng ehashi wa t i he w en t on h o rse back in
that di r ection ( in dicated by poin tin g)
4

I V

Z U LU

LES SO N S IN

1 27

His cattle
I z ink omo zak e z i ng amashumi amat i
man y s core (sh own on the n ge r s )
Wa mu ti swaca p ansi, he j us t dash ed him do wn

are

so

The
apparen tl y
5

Po te n ti al ten s es Of t i ,

it look s as if , etc

Kungati

sed to exp ress

Ex

are

bo na in dhl u, appa r en tly I see a h o u se

i ng a ti z i hl ak ani p il e, thes e thi ngs seem

ng i

Lezi z int o z
be cl ev e r

to

Kwa ng a ti S i z a kn bul awa y iy o it l ooked as if w e wer e

z
i
ill
b
i
i
n
k
u
n
o
n
t
o
k
e
d
t
i
b
e
(
)
y
g
g
Labo bantu ba ng a t i be z a l ap a ki tin a th ose p eopl e are
appar en tly c o min g to uS
,

Other exam pl es
N gi ng e z e ng a

Ukuti that ukuti n okut i

sho uku t i n ok ut i I cann o t
-

WORDS

LIS T OF
N o u ns

rran ged accordin g to

ak uso, 1 t 1 8 n ot
al nsa,

al nsi ,

1 kn ow

vig orously

on

d6

ri b.

c t

f ther

c ttl f l
w
t

vl
f ll

b1, bad , e i , u g y
b i dhl i k a, a t o p i e es
bil a, ( nk n ) to boi .
bil i , t w o
.

Op en

ck

bheka behold

c l

hold

1
(u ) who ?
ban shi ,
oa , j a et
ide, broad
banz i ,
bay a, (i si ) a
e o d
beka, p ut , p u t do n , p u t on , et c
bel e, ( nbu ) endern ess

Dat a, (11 ) m y or our a

bal a, ( um) o ou r

place

l etter of the roo t

T
ag

bau d

ma

the r s t

bambez el a,
ai n

hep herd
( um ) a S h ep h erd
herd ,

su ch

an d

US E D I N THE S E L ES S ONS

are a

Of such

thi s or

sa

U munt u wa sek ut ini , a per s on

Ok u ng nkuti , whi ch is to say

an d S O on

LESSON S IN

30
mi l a g row
mi ni ( 1 ) day time
mk ami (u ) my wife

ZULU

mnandi ( ub n )
,

weetn ess

lf of

in beha

because

ng oba, ng ok ub a, f or,
ng omuso, on t he m

orrow
ng omus o ( i ) t o morrow
n g u b o ( i ) b l an k et dress

ccou n t of

ng enxa, on a

mn en e k in d
mnene ( nb u ) k in dn ess
muyama, b lack
muy ama, ( nbu ) b lack n ess
mo (i si ) form , shap e
moy a (um) wi n d sp iri t
mp of u p oor bu col ou r
mp ong o (i ) he g oat
mp umal ang a (1 ) eas t s u n ri se
mp u p a (i ) m eal , ou r
mt oti p leasan t ,
mvn (i ) a sh eep
mvula. (1 ) rain
,

( al l ) t he river uMng en i

113 8 1 11.

(1 ) sou th

nin g i umu,

nj a.

N
na,

m an y , m u c h

ni ng i ,
'

(n una)

ll l ittl e

wadi

no

n daba,

li k e as accordin g ly
,

aff ai

S ig n .

tory

( i z i ) r e wood
nk nk u ( i ) fowl
nk uk u k az i ( i ) hen
nkwa ( i si ) br ead a l oa f
nk unz i (i ) bu ll

( 1) m an , hu sban d
n d odan a ( 1 ) son
nd od ak az i ( 1 ) dau g h ter
n duku ( i ) wal k i n g s t ick

ti ck

an ima s

fou r

ng a,

i cer ;
o

an

S in g e

mal e

of

cially iron

(1) g arden

n sun du,

nsi mu,

i
S
b
O
r
a
t
e
g
g
ng ak o S O g reat ( as t ha t )
ng ak anana how g rea t

(1 ) ram
n si ka ( i ) p illar
n s i kaz i ( 1 ) f em al e of an im als
nsi mbi
(1 ) m etal Of an y ki nd
es p e

ng a a, s o

til l

n q ama,

( ama) lies

(i )

nduna,

norm , or , ei ther

n o,

k y et however
n akuba wh et h er

no o,

n d od a,

ndi z a,

(1 ) way p at h
n dhl ovu, (i ) el ep h an t
n dhl n (1 ) house
,

nk unl ,
n anl el a,

tt
e
r
m
a
i
,
( )

very dry
n kosi ( i ) c h i ef k in g
nk osi kaz i ( i ) rs t wife q u een
nk on y ana ( i ) cal f
nk ul ung wan e ( 1 ) t hou san d

l ittle
( i ) book lette r
(i )

nj eng ok ub a,
nk ab i , (i ) ox

ll

sma

us

nk e, exp res s m g

very

nci ny an e,
ncosana,

t o rain
t o day

nj e, so,

namb l a, or n amhl anj e,

n can e, sm a

lik e what ?

uj ani ,

verb

t he

( 1 ) d og

brown

nswemp e,

(i ) a sp ec ies of par tridg e

(i ) t hi n g
n t n ( umu ) p erson a n at ive
nt n (i si ) h um an rac e
n t unj a (1 ) hol e t hrou g h, as ey e of

nt o,

n eed e

(um) ch ild
( umu ) ng er

ntwana,
nwe.

ZU L U

LE SS ON S I N
nwel e,

(12 1 ) the hair

1 31

=
=
n
o
a
q ,
q abo, n o, em p

ma (1 ) m eat es h

ny a

ny ang a,
ny on i ,
nz

i,

q ab ung a,

q an da,
=
i11 )
a
i
t
a
q
, (
q eda, n ish

(i ) moon , mon th

leaf

an eg g

i
e
c
e
p

of

(i ) bird

q ok o, ( i si ) hat or cap
q on da, g o st raig h , u nders an d
q ot o, hon est , u p ri g h
z
u
a
e
i
i li ) a o
q
, (
, ma e Of birds

( ama)

2
1
( 111 )

hatic

water

c ck
l
exp r ess in g very whi te

q wa,

rnbo,

a s n
g

favou r mercy
an swer
t he call of
,

onk e, all

p ak ama,

l ift

as

fore

p ambi , be

t he

in

clo u ds rise in
,

fron t

hold,

carry

bu rn , be hot

S h i y ag al ombi l i ,
S hi y ag al ol uny e,

p eny a,

p ez

( um ) breath the
,

O p en ,

ove

n, a b

as a

book

sou

(i si ) eig h t
( i si ) n in e

S humi ,

p ef uml o,

if

as

it seem s
n ew, f res h

shi sa,

tou ch

work
s ervan t

i , ( um)
seben z i , ( i si ) a
sel ok n , si n e
s eb enz

ah a,

pat s ,

seng ati ,

(umu ) g race

sa el a,

z
i
il i ) ten
(
S i ka, c u t
S i n d el a, weig h u o n
p
si n d a, ( um ) n ois e
si ta, s c reen , h ide f rom vi ew
.

Bol a,

comp lai n
rep rove

fau l t with

n d

mbul uk o (um ) Mon day

so

s on o,

S un day

LESS ON S

tan da love li ke
,

tang o ( u = u1 u )
,

1N

ZU L U

d es ir e

fen ce

tekel a g o to fri en ds
tim e Of dearth

f or

til e

ti z

t o,

c ertai n

e,

= u1u )

as

cert ain

om et hin g an y thi n g
s ou r c e
,

by

tu ba

hen p rec eded

n)

t uk ul ul a,

un

tul ul a p ou r
,

tu pa

2 1,

=
i
i1i )
(

z a,

an

t ie

un

op en in g

loose

ou t , e m p

( i si ) s i x

ty

Op

com e to

( um u )

i badn,

i ng el a,

k raal town
,

ckl ed
hun t

S pe

LESS ONS

12

The l etter

words

IN

Z U LU

1 35

r shall r ep res en t the soun d

ro la,
rara,
ru ba

as

tin g

exi s

in

su

ch

l ette rs hx shall r ep resen t the harsh sound kn own

the g uttu ral click

1 3 The
.

as

14

HI

an d

an d
an d

15

in si mbi,

ts

af

te r
sh all

n,

in

as

n ot

be

the words
su bs ti t u ted

i n hliz iyo

by
t1

There S hall be n o doublin g of the n in w ords Of the

class to wh ich the N o un s in j a in c wadi in yon i bel on g
Th ey S h o ul d n ot be wr i tten th u s : i n n j a in n c wadi

in n yon i

16

Sh

the

in

r ep resen t the sou n d

E n gl ish w o rds
sh all

tsh

that

Of

hi t /ea,

etc

h all rep r esen t the S h ar p er soun d

ch in the E n gl ish w or ds ch ur ch

sh

of

l r to
chan ce

s imi a

Tshala ; i teke

n ts hi n

a
e
t
c
g ,

( )
a

The rs t

E g

z u u

e r st
Th
b
( )

E g
.

NB
.

l ette r
l

of

the

om i si l e

con so n an t

Umteto I sa

wo r d beg in n in g

U Tshaka

Of

every Proper

u n ku l u

e ten ce

a s n

I la/ng a li bal el e

When of cour se a Prop er No un be

in itial vowel an d rs t c ons on an t S h all
.

E g

18

l r to that
s h o ul d
etc
S im i a

E g

17

h all

s hi y a

an d

etc

By

N oun

ha m bil e

M al ambu le

in s a sen ten c e, both i ts

Cap i ta s

me

n oD i n g c

s ex cept th ose which have beco me Z u lu iz ed

shall r etain th ei r origin al spellin g

I
n the case of pe rs o n s
a
i
h
w
th
o
r
r
y
p
r
e
i
n
a
t
e
d

x
u
( )

I
n
f
a
o
a
i
t
h
e
c
s
e
p
l
c
w
t
h
pp
r
o
p
r
a te p re xes
es
a
i
b
( )
E g ! L on don
i Washi n g ton

F o reign

n am e

OPINI ONS
The simp

l es t Zulu Grammar I hav en

H C LU G G Chi f Nativ
e se

Ur

Commi ssioner, N atal

The R ev F S u ter is t he f orem ost au thori ty on t he Zul u

He is t he au th or of wh at, in m y op in ion , is t he best gram m ar

S en at or t he Hon ou rab e D G S HE P S T ON
on t he Z ul u an guage
.

Mr S u ter is O f course well kn own

langu ag
f or

as an

au

thority

on

t he Zulu

hi sbook L es sons i n Z u lu whic h has been in st eady deman d

m an y y ears , has h e p ed m an y t o a k n ow edge O f t he an gu age

R ev B J OHAN S ON , Prin c ip a U ni on Bi b e I n st itute
e, an d

We

that Mr

l
l

S u ter s book is j u st the medium

nec es sary t o g ai n a t horou h
ro
n d wor k kn ow ed e of t he an uag e
u
g g
g
g
wh ic h wi en ab e t he s tuden t t o ho d his own in g enera c onversat ion
wi th t he Z u u N ative
T he book i s we
n
a
n t i s in
ro
u
c
r
rr
d
a
n
a
n
m
i
e
d
d
e
e
a
e
e
t
s
,
p
g
g
keep in g wi th i ts s up rem e obj ec t sim p ic ity of t u i tion an d
ins tr u ction

assu e all

c an

ll

ll

work

rule
overload

T he

to g ive

f or every th in g , an d to be sim p e
in method
I t does n ot
t he m i n d wi t h u n n ec essary an d
tech n ica d etai , b u t aims to i m p art a wor kin g k n ow ed ge of t he
an g uag e
We imag in e that it wi be fou n d m os t us efu l to thos e

who wis h to ear n Z u u

ms

see

ll

i
n
Y
u
a
m
m
n
i
n
h
i
n
s
e
d
i
o
r
r
r
c
o
r
O
f
t
t
t
h
b
h
a
I
s
d
o
e
t
u
G
e
e
e
b
s
es
.
p
g y
t he Z u u an g u ag e
I h ave
oo k ed over y ou r M S S with g reat
l
u
n
n
n
i
e
a
s
r
e
a
d
r
r
t
t
h
t
i
n
i
n
t
c
w
h
I
s
e
f
w
a
s
e
e
a
t
w
a
s
o
t
e
s
e
e
e
m
,
p
y
g
s tu dy i n g Z u u
I am su re i t wi p rove O f g rea t va ue to all f u t ure

st u den ts O f t he Z u u an g u ag e
R e v J C D O R W AR D , B D

l l

ll

l l
I m u st c ong ratu l at e y ou on h avin g p rodu c ed a very u s ef ul work
I t i s wr i tten i n a c l ear and con c is e m an n er an d wi th every r
to
acc ur acy an d will I am s u re be an i val uabl e h elp to s t u en ts O f
t he l a g uag e
I have n o h es i ta tion i n say i n g that I c on sid er ou
vs
book well ad ap ted to t he p u rp ose f o wh i c h it is written an d I
n o do u bt i t wi ll m eet wi t h t he s u cc ess i t m er i t s
M J U S T I CE J A CKS O N Native Hig h Court
I n d i n i t wh at i s l ack in g i n oth er work s of t he s am e k in d viz a
i
n al val u e fr om a lp h a to om g a wh ereas
r
l
ro
wt
h
O
f
c
t
o
u
a
d
a
u
e
d
a
g
g
i n ot h er work s t h ere i s a s u dden l eap som ewh ere ab ou t t he m idd l e
from t he Lat in of N epos an d Ovid to t he Latin of Livy a d J u ven al
M S O S AM U E L S ON late U n der S ec retary f o
N ative A ff ai rs N atal
S t u den ts O f Zu l u h ave reas on t o be g rat ef u l f o the ext remel y
Lesson s ou have p u t withi n thei r reach I
co c ise an d l u c id
reg ard it as a val u able con triy
u ti on to t he l i terat u re on t he Z u l u
lan g uag e already exis ti ng
.

r.

Mr J AMES S T U AR T
.

Native Affai rs Dep t

Pretor ia