Danger, Xhosa and Wikipedia

Danger sign
Inkozi (pronounced "ing-caw-zee") is the Xhosa word for danger and in this case is found on a sign posted at the location of an electricity substation in the Wooltru building (mentioned in my previous post).

Even though it's commonly spoken in our Western and Eastern Cape provinces, when considered in a global context, Xhosa is a relatively small language. What I was happy to find out is that there's a Xhosa edition of Wikipedia available! While it is a relatively small edition, with only 115 articles at the time of writing this post, it was once explained to me that it's a major step towards documenting what the Xhosa elders have through the centuries passed on to their children by word of mouth only.

I found this interesting and alternative usage of an abbreviated form of the word, and although I doubt it's legitimacy I found the dialogue at the bottom of the text terribly entertaining. :)

2 thoughts on “Danger, Xhosa and Wikipedia

  1. mjw

    I am very frustrated that more professional Xhosa speakers (university professors and teachers, for example) don’t work on the Xhosa Wikipedia project to generate indigenous-language reference articles for learners, especially since we have such a large problem with young children often not being taught in their home language, but rather English.

  2. Paul

    Post author

    Well, I can’t say that I’m frustrated, but you’re right, it would be nice if a few of these took up the responsibility and set fingers to keyboard.

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