Northern Ndebele language

Northern Ndebele is a language spoken by the Northern Ndebele people. It belongs to the Nguni group of languages, which also includes Zulu. This language is often called isiNdebele saseNyakatho or Zimbabwean Ndebele.

isiNdebele dictionary, 1910

The Ndebele term refers to many African cultures in Zimbabwe. Though it shares many words with the Ndebele language spoken in kwaNdebele in South Africa, it is a distinct language. The Northern Ndebele people have roots in the Zulu tribe, because of a leader named Mzilikazi. He was one of the generals of Zulu King Shaka. Mzilikazi left the Zulu Kingdom during the Mfecane in the early 19th century and arrived in what is now Zimbabwe in 1839.

Northern Ndebele and Southern Ndebele are related but different languages. They can understand each other to some extent, but Northern Ndebele is closer to Zulu. Southern Ndebele has been influenced by the Sotho languages. Some experts consider Northern Ndebele a dialect of Zulu, while others see it as its own language, because it is very similar but also has its own unique features.

Phonology

Consonants

Many sounds in Northern Ndebele can change slightly depending on how they are spoken. For example, certain sounds like t, d, and n can sound a bit different when spoken from the front of the mouth.

Northern Ndebele also shares some sounds with the Zulu language.

Click consonants

Northern Ndebele has special sounds called clicks. There are fifteen of these click sounds.

Five clicks are spelled with a c and are made by touching the tip of the tongue to the front teeth and gums, then pulling the tip back. These sounds are similar to a noise people sometimes make to show they are annoyed. Examples include cina (end) and cela (ask).

Five clicks are spelled with a q and are made by lifting the back of the tongue to the roof of the mouth and touching the gums with the sides and tip of the tongue, then quickly pulling the tip away. These sounds are like the "pop" when opening a bottle. Examples include qalisa (start) and qeda (finish).

Five clicks are spelled with an x and are made by touching the back of the tongue to the roof of the mouth and the sides and tip of the tongue to the gums, then quickly moving one side of the tongue away. Examples include xoxa (discuss) and ixoxo (frog).

Vowels

There are five vowel sounds in Northern Ndebele, written with the letters a, e, i, o, u.

a is pronounced like the a in father, as in abantwana (children)
e is pronounced like the e in bed, as in emoyeni (in the air)
i is pronounced like the ee in see, as in siza (help)
o is pronounced like the o in bone, as in okhokho (ancestors)
u is pronounced like the oo in soon, as in umuntu (person)

Northern Ndebele consonants
		Bilabial	Labio- dental	Dental/ alveolar		Post- alveolar/ Palatal	Velar	Glottal
		Bilabial	Labio- dental	central	lateral	Post- alveolar/ Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal	plain	m ⟨m⟩		n ⟨n⟩		ɲ ⟨ny⟩	ŋ ⟨ngh⟩
Nasal	depressed	mʱ ⟨m⟩		nʱ ⟨n⟩		ɲʱ ⟨ny⟩	ŋʱ ⟨ngh⟩
Plosive	ejective	pʼ ⟨p⟩		tʼ ⟨t⟩			kʼ ⟨k⟩
	voiced	b ⟨bh⟩		d ⟨d⟩			ɡ ⟨ɡ⟩
	aspirated	pʰ ⟨ph⟩		tʰ ⟨th⟩			kʰ ⟨kh⟩
	prenasalized	ᵐp ⟨mp⟩		ⁿt ⟨nt⟩			ᵑk ⟨nk⟩
	prenasalized (vd.)	ᵐb ⟨mb⟩		ⁿd ⟨nd⟩			ᵑɡ ⟨ng⟩
Affricate	ejective			tsʼ ⟨ts⟩		tʃʼ ⟨tj⟩	kxʼ ⟨kl⟩
	aspirated			tsʰ ⟨tsh⟩		tʃʰ ⟨tjh⟩
	voiced					dʒ ⟨j⟩
	prenasalized ejective			ⁿtsʼ ⟨nts⟩		ᶮtʃʼ ⟨ntjh⟩	ᵑkxʼ ⟨nkl⟩
	prenasalized voiced					ᶮdʒ ⟨nj⟩
Fricative	plain		f ⟨f⟩	s ⟨s⟩	ɬ ⟨hl⟩	ʃ ⟨sh⟩		h ⟨h⟩
	voiced (depr.)	βʱ ⟨b⟩	vʱ ⟨v⟩	zʱ ⟨z⟩		ʒʱ ⟨zh⟩	(ɣʱ ⟨k⟩)	(ɦ ⟨h⟩)
	voiced (non-depr.)	β ⟨b⟩			ɮ ⟨dl⟩		(ɣ ⟨k⟩)
	prenasalized		ᶬf ⟨mf⟩	ⁿs ⟨ns⟩	ⁿɬ ⟨nhl⟩
	prenasalized (vd.)		ᶬv ⟨mv⟩	ⁿz ⟨nz⟩	ⁿɮ ⟨ndl⟩
Sonorant	plain	w ⟨w⟩		r ⟨r⟩	l ⟨l⟩	j ⟨y⟩
Sonorant	depressed	wʱ ⟨w⟩			lʱ ⟨l⟩	jʱ ⟨y⟩

Northern Ndebele clicks
		Denti-alveolar	Post-alveolar
		Denti-alveolar	central	lateral
Click	tenuis	kǀ ⟨c⟩	k! ⟨q⟩	kǁ ⟨x⟩
	aspirated	kǀʰ ⟨ch⟩	k!ʰ ⟨qh⟩	kǁʰ ⟨xh⟩
	depressed	ɡǀʱ ⟨gc⟩	ɡ!ʱ ⟨gq⟩	ɡǁʱ ⟨gx⟩
	nasalized	ŋǀ ⟨nc⟩	ŋ! ⟨nq⟩	ŋǁ ⟨nx⟩
	nasalized (depr.)	ŋǀʱ ⟨ngc⟩	ŋ!ʱ ⟨ngq⟩	ŋǁʱ ⟨ngx⟩

Examples

Months in Northern and Southern Ndebele

Numbers in Northern Ndebele

Days of the week

English	Northern Ndebele (Zimbabwe)	Southern Ndebele (South Africa)	Zulu (South Africa)
January	uZibandlela	uTjhirhweni	uMasingane
February	uNhlolanja	uMhlolanja	uNhlolanja
March	uMbimbitho	uNtaka	uNdasa
April	uMabasa	uSihlabantangana	UMbasa
May	uNkwenkwezi	uMrhayili	UNhlaba
June	uNhlangula	uMgwengweni	UNhlangulana
July	uNtulikazi	uVelabahlinze	uNtulikazi
August	uNcwabakazi	uRhoboyi	UNcwaba
September	uMpandula	uKhukhulamungu	uMandulo
October	uMfumfu	uSewula	uMfumfu
November	uLwezi	uSinyikhaba	uLwezi
December	uMpalakazi	uNobayeni	uZibandlela


English	Northern Ndebele
One	Kunye
Two	Kubili
Three	Kuthathu
Four	Kune
Five	Kuhlanu
Six	Isithupha
Seven	Isikhombisa
Eight	Sitshiyagalombili
Nine	Sitshiyagalolunye
Ten	Kulitshumi
Fifty	Amatshumi amahlanu
One hundred	Ikhulu
One thousand	Inkulungwane


English	Northern Ndebele
Monday	uMvulo
Tuesday	Olwesibili
Wednesday	Olwesithathu
Thursday	Olwesine
Friday	Olwesihlanu
Saturday	uMgqibelo
Sunday	iNsonto

Grammar

Nouns

Northern Ndebele nouns have two main parts: a prefix and a stem. These prefixes help group nouns into classes, making it easier to compare with other Bantu languages.

¹ umu- replaces um- before short stems, like in umuntu (person).

Verbs

Verbs in Northern Ndebele use prefixes that match the noun class of the subject and object. While matching the subject is required, matching the object only happens when the object is mentioned.

For example:

U-Thabani

A-1Thabani

u-za-yi-pheka

1s-FUT-9o-cook

i-nyama

A-9meat

U-Thabani u-za-yi-pheka i-nyama

A-1Thabani 1s-FUT-9o-cook A-9meat

"Thabani will cook the meat."

There are signs that object markers in Northern Ndebele, similar to Zulu, may have evolved from pronoun-like elements.

Class	Singular	Plural
1/2	um(u)-¹	aba-, abe-
1a/2a	u-	o-
3/4	um(u)-¹	imi-
5/6	i-, ili-	ama-
7/8	is(i)-	iz(i)-
9/10	iN-	iziN-
11/10	u-, ulu-
14	ubu-, ub-, utsh-
15	uku-
17	uku-

Person/ Class	Subject marker	Object marker
1st sing.	ngi-	-ngi-
2nd sing.	u-	-wu-
1st plur.	si-	-si-
2nd plur.	li-	-li-
1	u-	-m(u)-
2	ba-	-ba-
3	u-	-m(u)-
4	i-	-yi-
5	li-	-li-
6	a-	-wa-
7	si-	-si-
8	zi-	-zi-
9	i-	-yi-
10	zi-	-zi-
11	lu-	-lu-
14	bu-	-bu-
15	ku-	-ku-
17	ku-	-ku-
reflexive		-zi-