Did you know that the language used in the new Marvel movie Black Panther is spoken in South Africa? It is called Xhosa and it is one of the many official languages we have here in South Africa. Here are some phrases to get you started
Hello.
Molo.
/molo/
Good Morning/Day/Evening.
Molo Kunjani.
/molo kundʒani/
How are you?
Unjani?
/undʒani/
Fine, thank you.
Ndiyaphila, enkosi.
/ndijapʰila enkosi/
And how are you?
Wena unjani?
/wena undʒani/
What is your name?
Ngubani igama lakho?
/ngubani igama lakʰo/
My name is ______ .
Igama lam ngu ______ .
/igama lam ngu/
Nice to meet you.
Ndiyavuya ukukwazi.
/ndijavuja ukukwazi/
Please.
Ndicela.
/ndiǀela/ (this features a dental click)
Thank you.
Enkosi.
/enkosi/
Yes.
Ewe.
/ewe/
No.
Hayi.
/haji/
Excuse me. (getting attention)
Ndicela uxolo
/ndiǀela uǁolo/ (this features a lateral click)
Excuse me. (begging pardon)
Uxolo andi(ku)vanga.
/uǁolo andikuvaŋga/
Goodbye
Uhambe/Usale kakuhle.
/uhambe usale kakuɬe/
I speak Xhosa
Ndithetha isiXhosa
/nditʰetʰa isiǁosa/
I can’t speak Xhosa.
Andi(si)thethi isiXhosa.
/andisitʰetʰi isiǁosa/
Do you speak English?
Uyasithetha isingesi na?
/ujasitʰetʰa isingesi na/
Good morning.
Molo.
/molo/
Good night.
Ulale kakuhle.
/ulale kakuɬe/
I don’t understand.
Andiqondi.
/andi!ondi/ (this features an alveolar click)
I don’t know.
Andazi.
/andazi/
It is spoken in the Eastern and Western Cape provinces of South Africa. It is the first language of about 8 million people. It is an agglutinative language with many prefixes and suffixes that add meaning to a base form
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