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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
(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 ...
These title words indicate continued African traditions in Hoodoo and conjure. The title words are spiritual in meaning. In Central Africa, spiritual priests and spiritual healers are called Nganga. In the South Carolina Lowcountry among Gullah people, a male conjurer is called Nganga. Some Kikongo words have an "N" or "M" at the beginning of ...
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 .
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 ...
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
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 ...
Jamaican Maroon language, Maroon Spirit language, Kromanti, Jamaican Maroon Creole or Deep patwa is a ritual language and formerly mother tongue of Jamaican Maroons. It is an English-based creole with a strong Akan component, specifically from the Asante dialect of modern day Ghana .