Languagle #71: Tsonga
Emahlweni ka nghala ku fambiwa na xisana
"When you go before a lion, you take fire with you."
What it means
Get ready before you face danger. Nobody walks up to a lion without fire to keep it at bay, so don't go into a difficult situation unprepared.
How to say it
eh-ma-HLWEH-ni ka NGHA-la koo fam-BI-wa na shi-SA-na
X is sh, and hl is the sound of Welsh ll: put your tongue where you'd say l, and blow. Stress the second-to-last syllable.
Word by word
- Emahlweni eh-ma-HLWEH-ni: in front (from mahlo, eyes)
- ka nghala ka NGHA-la: of a lion
- ku fambiwa koo fam-BI-wa: one goes (famba, to go)
- na na: with
- xisana shi-SA-na: fire, a burning stick
Where it was written down
A traditional proverb, in Tsonga a xivuriso, passed down by word of mouth.
How to recognise Tsonga
Tsonga uses x for the sh sound, which is unusual: in Zulu, x is a click. Look also for hl, dl, ny and clusters like ngh, as in nghala (lion). The Sotho and Tswana languages nearby don't use x at all.
About the Tsonga language
Tsonga, or Xitsonga, is a Bantu language spoken by several million people in north-eastern South Africa, mainly in Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces, and in southern Mozambique, with smaller communities in Zimbabwe and Eswatini. It is one of South Africa's official languages. It is written in the Latin alphabet, where x stands for a 'sh' sound, as in the language's own name, Xitsonga.