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A Dissertation on the Phonetics of the Zulu Language

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 December 2009

Clement M. Doke
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Extract

The Zulu language proper, Isizulu, is now spoken by the natives of Zululand and of the greater part of Natal, though naturally there are dialectal differences within that area, and these differences become more pronounced as the Xosa border is approached. The language of the amaMpondo, for instance, seems to savour both of Zulu and of Xosa. One of the outstanding phonetic differences between Zulu and Xosa is that the latter uses the alveolar nasal combination nd where the former uses the velar ηg, e.g. Xosa ndi, and Zulu “cardinal” vowels and the use of the vowel chart, cf. the various phonetic readers published by the London University Press, and particularly the Italian Phonetic Reader. They are indicated on the chart by the numbers (1) to (8).

Type
Articles
Information
Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies , Volume 2 , Issue 4 , February 1923 , pp. 687 - 729
Copyright
Copyright © School of Oriental and African Studies 1923

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References

1 We have, further, recently discovered that Б is widely used in Swahili, e.g. maБεga, БuiБui, БaБa, Бalozi, Бunduki, etc., b being used with some words from Arabic, e.g. birika.

1 izilimi is also found.

1 [This sign is used in the revised edition of Grout's Isizulu (1893—see p. 13), but not in the original edition of 1859.—A.W.]

1 [I find this is disputed—e.g. by the Rev. C. U. Faye, of Zululand, who says that both sides are exploded simultaneously.—A.W.]

1 [But after ka, kwa (in some eases), and ku, and after na when following a negative, the initial vowel is elided.—A.W.]