A Beginner's Guide to siSwati

Most of us, if we have any experience with any language other than English, are used to Romance or Germanic languages. Bantu languages are utterly unlike those languages, and I’m hoping to introduce you to the basic history and structure of siSwati to demonstrate some of those differences.

A Little Bit of Background

The Bantu language family includes four major language groups: Nguni, Sotho, Tsonga, and Venda. The Nguni group includes two subgroups: Zunda and Tekela. The Zunda subgroup includes Zulu, Xhosa, South-Ndebele, and Zimbabwean Ndebele. The Tekela subgroup includes siSwati, Sumayela Ndebele, Lala, Nhlangwini, Phuthi, and Bhaca. Any language in the Nguni group can be understood fairly easily by a speaker of any other language in that group. For example, I spoke siSwati in a Zulu-speaking region of South Africa, and pretty much everyone understood me. I know that listing all those languages seems a bit unnecessary, but I really want to drive home the point that there are 12 million people that speak an Nguni language, and most of us have never heard of most of those languages. That’s a lot of people to ignore!

There is some tension between Swazis and Zulus relating to language. The z is a letter and sound in isiZulu, so speakers of siSwati try very hard not to use words with a z in them. When I first came to Swaziland my host family was Zulu immigrants and they named me Maswazi. My second host family, also Zulu, decided that that wasn’t feminine enough, so they changed it to Lomaswazi. My current host family is proud to be Swazi, and they changed my name to Temaswati. Zulus and English speakers say that the language here is Swazi and the country is Swaziland, but Swazis say that they speak siSwati and live in eSwatini. The Zulu king and King Mswati III are actually very close, united by the need to protect their traditional cultures, but the Zulu and Swazi people have a more complicated relationship.

Finally, it is worth noting that English is the official language of instruction in Swazi schools and all government functions, speeches, and publications (except by the king) are given in English. This has led to a divide between those who have completed school and those who haven’t, and it has also introduced some interesting new vocabulary words and slang. I’ll go more into those later, but for now, a good example is the slang for mom and dad: li-oledi (lee-ol-lady) and li-oltimah (lee-ol-timer).

Sounds

Most of the sounds here are similar to what you’d expect in English. Some of the most notable differences, however, are that k is pronounced like g and on all the c’s and x’s there is a click. The kh is pronounced like a k. T is pronounced like d and th is pronounced like t; similarly, ph is pronounced like p. Many of the sounds are nasally pronounced, like ng, ngi, nkhw, ntjw, and ndlw. It takes a lot of practice and is all very confusing.

How Nouns Work

Nouns are divided into noun classes.

Class	Singular Prefix	Plural Prefix	Examples
1	Umu-/um-	Ba-/be-/b-	Umuntfu (person), banftu (people) Umfati (woman), bafati (women)
1a	U- (sometimes)	Bo-	Gogo (grandmother), bogogo Mkhulu (grandfather), bomkhulu Thishela (teacher), bothishela Dokotela (doctor), bodokotela
2	Umu-	Imi-	Umuti (home), imiti Umfula (river), imifula
3	Li-	Ema-	Likati (cat), emakati Lijezi (jersey), emajezi Liawa (hour), ema-awa
4	Si-/s-	Ti-/tin-	Sinkhwa (bread), tinkwha Sihlahla (tree), tihlahla
5	In-	Ti-/tin-	Imbuti (goat), timbuti Inja (dog), tinja Indlu (house), tindlu
6	Lu-/lw-	Tin-	Lukhuni (firewood), tinkhuni Luphondvo (horn), tinphondvo
7	Bu-	None	Buhle (beauty) Bunandzi (enjoyment)
8	Ku-	None	Kudla (food) Kufa (death)

All verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and objects depend on these noun classes. It’s complicated, but we’ll get through it. Nouns are not masculine or feminine, like they are in the Romance languages. It’s a unique structure. Also, as we’ll see, alliteration is a rule and not a fun literary tool in siSwati.

How Verbs Work

First, you need a subject concord to define who is doing the action. Infinitive verbs start with ku-. For first person, you can replace the ku- with ngi- (me) or si- (us). For second person, u- (you) or ni- (you all). For third person, u- (him/her/it) or ba- (they).

I’ll conjugate a verb to demonstrate. Since I love doing it, let’s go with sleep: kulala. I sleep is ngilala, we sleep is silala, you sleep is ulala, you all sleep is nilala, he sleeps is ulala, and they sleep is balala.

In siSwati, that’s all grammatically incorrect. You have to have something after the verb. I can say ngilala kakhulu, which is I sleep a lot. If I don’t want to add something, I have to say ngiyalala.

There aren’t that many tenses, so let’s look at those quickly. I’ll conjugate ngilala throughout.

Tense	English	siSwati
Simple Present	I sleep	Ngilala
Long Present	I am sleeping	Ngiyalala
Present Progressive	I’m still sleeping	Ngisalala
Immediate Past	I slept	Ngilale
	I slept	Ngilalile
	I was sleeping	Bengilala
Remote Past	I slept a long time ago	Ngalala
Immediate Future	I will sleep	Ngitawulala
	I will sleep	Ngitakulala
	I am going to sleep	Ngiyolala
Remote Future	I will sleep in a long time	Ngiyawulala

Confused? Me too. Don’t worry, this is a very complicated language.

How Possessives, Adjectives, and Relatives Work

Possessive Concords

Noun Class	Singular	Plural
1	Wa-	Ba-
1a	Wa-	Ba-
2	Wa-	Ya-
3	La-	A-
4	Sa-	Ta-
5	Ya-	Ta-
6	Lwa-	Ta-
7	Ba-
8	Kwa-

Possessive Stems

First person	-mi	-itfu
Second person	-kho	-inu
Third person	-khe	-bo

First, find the concord. Let’s talk about my dog. Dog is inja, and that’s noun class 5. Since it’s my dog, it’s a first person possessive stem. So my dog is inja yami. My dogs are tinja tami. Our dogs are tinja tetfu. See what I meant about alliteration above? There must always be agreement. My rabbits – bologwaja bami. His table – litafula lebo. Your food – kudla kukho. This gets even more fun with adjectives.

Adjective Concords

Noun Class	Singular	Plural
1	Lomu-	Laba-
2	Lomu-	Lemi-
3	Leli-	Lama-
4	Lesi-	Letin-
5	Len-	Letin-
6	Lolu-	Letin-
7	Lobu-
8	Loku-

Adjectival Stems

siSwati	English
-khulu	Big or old
-ncane	Small or little
-dze	Tall
-fisha	Short
-hle	Beautiful
-sha	New
-nye	One
-bili	Two
-tsatfu	Three
-ne	Four
-hlanu	Five
-nengi	Many or too much

To make an adjective, find the noun you want to describe and then pick a stem. Say I want to say that my two brothers are tall. Bobhuti bami lababili labadze (literally, brothers mine two tall). My rabbit is small. Logwaja wami lomuncane (rabbit my big). His three dogs are old. Tinja tabo letintsatfu letinkhulu (dogs his three old).

Relative Concords

Noun Class	Singular	Plural
1	Lo-	Laba-
2	Lo-	Le-
3	Leli-	La-
4	Lesi-	Leti-
5	Le-	Leti-
6	Lolu-	Leti-
7	Lobu-
8	Loku-

Relative Stems

siSwati	English
-mnyama	Black
-bovu	Red
-bhidzi	Brown
-mhlope	White
-luhlata	Green
-luhlata sasibhakabhaka	Blue (literally translates to “green sky”)
-bubendze	Maroon
-mtfubi	Yellow

Same deal as with adjectives, but these only apply to colors the way I use them. My vocabulary isn’t all that advanced, so I’m doing my best. Let’s do another sentence! My three old dogs are brown. Tinja tami letintsatfu letinkhulu letibhizi (dogs mine three old brown).

Verbal Extensions

I really try with siSwati, but this is a challenging language. I just made simple sentences. What about a composition? What about if I say that I gave you three old brown dogs last week? Then we’d need to get into verbal extensions. English uses prepositions and linking verbs, but siSwati does not. This is where verbal extensions come in. I’m not going to get too into this, but also keep in mind that each extension has its own tense, and this table is just in the present tense.

Name	Use	Example
The passive extension	An action has been done to someone	To give: kupha, add -iw- or -w- Inja phiwa inyama. – The dog was given meat.
The intensive extension	Something is done intensely	To wash: kugeza, add -isis- Ugezisisa tandla. – You thoroughly wash your hands.
The diminutive extension	Something is done a little	To eat: kudla, add -y- Bayidla inyama. – They eat a little meat. To sleep: kulala, repeat the stem Ngilalalala kushisha. – I sleep a little when it’s hot.
The neuter	Used to express “able”	To write: kubhala, add -ek- Lo ubhaleka. – It can be written easily.
The reciprocal	The subjects are doing an action to each other	To like: kutsandza, add -an- Make na babe batsandzana. – Mom and dad like each other.
The causative	Something is causing an action to happen	To learn: kufundza, add -is- Thishela ufundzisa mine. – The teacher causes me to learn.
The applied	Someone is performing an action for someone else	To speak: khuluma, add -el- Ngikhulumela make wami. – I speak on behalf of my mother.

I haven’t covered how to make a negative of a normal verb, and then there’s a way to make a negative out of each verbal extension, and a negative for each verb tense. Then there are pronouns, conjunctions, words to express time, and a whole bunch of vocabulary. Since this is intended to be a basic introduction, and I’m wearing out, I think I’ve said about all I can say.

Borrowed Words and Slang

English has crept into siSwati in some interesting ways. Some of these words are slang, and some are intended for everyday use.

siSwati Word	Phonetic Pronunciation	English Word
Umthoyi	Oom-toy-ee	Toilet
Impompi	Eem- pomp-ee	Pump
Ipheni	Ee-pen-ee	Pen
Liphepa	Lee-pay-per	Paper
Li-oledi	Lee-ol-lay-dee	Old lady (Slang for mother)
Li-timah	Lee-ol-time-ah	Old Timer (Slang for father)

You can also speak siSwenglish. If you add i- or ema- to the start of any word, it magically becomes siSwati. I was asking a man to pass me my water bottle when we had moved seats at a table. I kept asking and he kept staring and doing nothing. Finally, I asked for i-water bottle, and he immediately handed it to me. My host make also asked me if I had any music by the ema-Rolling Stones.

Although siSwati is a challenging language, I have enjoyed learning it. Hopefully this little introduction illustrates the complexity and unique structure. If there are any questions, or you want to know how to say something, hit me up! I’ll do my best to get you a translation.