Zulu Words in South African English
South African English has absorbed many words from the Zulu language. Others, such as the names of local animals (impala and mamba are both Zulu names) have made their way into standard English. A few examples of Zulu words used in South African English:
- muti (from umuthi) – medicine
- donga (from udonga) – ditch (udonga actually means 'wall' in Zulu)
- indaba – conference (it means 'an item of news' in Zulu)
- induna – chief or leader
- shongololo (from ishongololo) – millipede
- ubuntu – compassion/humanity.
Read more about this topic: Zulu Language
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