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indaba – from Xhosa or Zulu languages – "stories" or "news" typically conflated with "meeting" (often used in South African English) japa – from Yoruba, "to flee" jazz – possibly from Central African languages From the word jizzi”. jenga – from the Swahili verb kujenga meaning "to build". [11] jive – possibly from Wolof jev
indaba – meeting of the community (from Nguni, 'a matter for discussion'); has become a mainstream word in South African English in the sense of consultative conference. inyanga – traditional herbalist and healer (compare with sangoma) jova – injection, to inject (from Zulu) kwedini - a popular word meaning a boy in Xhosa and Zulu
The sankofa symbol. Sankofa (pronounced SAHN-koh-fah) is a word in the Twi language of Ghana meaning “to retrieve" (literally "go back and get"; san - to return; ko - to go; fa - to fetch, to seek and take) and also refers to the Bono Adinkra symbol represented either with a stylized heart shape or by a bird with its head turned backwards while its feet face forward carrying a precious egg ...
The “Oxford Dictionary of African American English” has its first 10 words. See what they are.
(Informal) a ditzy woman (derogatory term), from the Afrikaans word pop, meaning a doll. potjie A cast iron dutch oven. robot Besides the standard meaning, in South Africa this is also used for traffic lights. The etymology of the word derives from a description of early traffic lights as robot policemen, which then got truncated with time. [34 ...
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Words of Afrikaans origin have entered other languages. British English has absorbed Afrikaans words primarily via British soldiers who served in the Boer Wars . Many more words have entered common usage in South African English due to the parallel nature of the English and Afrikaner cultures in South Africa .
A breed of dogs from West and North Africa; banana – West African, possibly Wolof banana; bongo – West African boungu; buckra – "white man or person", from Efik and Ibibio mbakara [3] chigger – possibly from Wolof and/or Yoruba jiga "insect" cola – from West African languages (Temne kola, Mandinka kolo) djembe – from West African ...