Languagle #80: Zulu
Amaqili awakhelani
"Cunning people do not build their homes next to each other."
What it means
Two cunning people never settle side by side: each knows the other's tricks too well to trust them as a neighbour. Said of crafty people keeping their distance from one another.
How to say it
a-ma-QEE-li a-wa-khe-LAA-ni
The q isn't a k: it's a click, the loud pop you make by pulling your tongue down sharply from the roof of your mouth. Zulu stresses and lengthens the second-to-last syllable.
Word by word
- Amaqili a-ma-QEE-li: cunning people (iqili, a cunning person)
- awakhelani a-wa-khe-LAA-ni: don't build next to each other (akha, to build)
Where it was found
Zulu calls a proverb an isaga. This one is from a list of izaga on the Uma Bhengwane blog.
Similar sayings
- English: There's no honour among thieves
How to recognise Zulu
Zulu writes its click sounds with c, q and x, and uses the pairs hl and dl. Words start with prefixes like um-, aba-, isi- and ama-, and short forms like ngi- and uku- are everywhere. Xhosa is very close but has more clicks, including the xh at the start of its own name. Swati often uses tf where Zulu has th.
About the Zulu language
Zulu, or isiZulu, is a Bantu language of the Nguni group, spoken as a first language by around 13 million people, more than any other language in South Africa, and understood by millions more. It is centred on KwaZulu-Natal and is one of South Africa's official languages. Zulu has click consonants, borrowed long ago from neighbouring Khoisan languages and written with the letters c, q and x: the q in amaqili is a click.