IsiNgqumo, or IsiGqumo, (literally "decisions" in the language itself) is an

argot A cant is the jargon or language of a group, often employed to exclude or mislead people outside the group.McArthur, T. (ed.) ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (1992) Oxford University Press It may also be called a cryptolect, argo ...

used by

homosexuals Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to pe ...

of South Africa and Zimbabwe who speak

Bantu languages The Bantu languages (English: , Proto-Bantu: *bantʊ̀) are a large family of languages spoken by the Bantu people of Central, Southern, Eastern africa and Southeast Africa. They form the largest branch of the Southern Bantoid languages. The t ...

, as opposed to Gayle, a language used by the homosexuals of South Africa who speak

Germanic languages The Germanic languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family spoken natively by a population of about 515 million people mainly in Europe, North America, Oceania and Southern Africa. The most widely spoken Germanic language, ...

. IsiNgqumo developed during the 1980s. Unlike Gayle, IsiNgqumo has not been thoroughly researched or documented, so figures on numbers of speakers are nonexistent. IsiNgqumo is often considered a Western invention by indigenous Zimbabweans but it was actually a creation of indigenous homosexuals, an only recently self-aware group.

Sample

Although the following sample conversation may be slightly obscene, it is a good representative of IsiNgqumo's use as most of its vocabulary has some connection to sex or gay men. IsiNgqumo: :"''Isiphukwana sake, kuyavuswa na?''" :"''Maye''" :"''Injini!''" :"''Kuncishiwe''" (or) "''kuyapholwa''"

Ndebele Ndebele may refer to: *Southern Ndebele people, located in South Africa *Northern Ndebele people, located in Zimbabwe and Botswana Languages * Southern Ndebele language, the language of the South Ndebele * Northern Ndebele language, the language ...

translation (to show difference): :"''Ubolo sake, kuyakhulu na?''" :"''Yebo''" :"''Imbuqo!''" :"''Kuyancane''" English (

literal translation Literal translation, direct translation or word-for-word translation, is a translation of a text done by translating each word separately, without looking at how the words are used together in a phrase or sentence. In translation theory, anoth ...

): :"His little stick, has it awoken?" :"Yes" :"Lie!" :"It's not talented" (or) "it makes one cold" English translation: :"His penis, is it big?" :"Yes" :"Lie!" :"It's small" (both terms mean the same thing, and are very derogatory)

Etymology

The origin of the vocabulary used in the above sample is given below: *The word ''isiphukwana'' comes from the

word ''uphuku'' (meaning "stick") with the suffix "-ana" (meaning "small"); it is the IsiNgqumo variant of the Ndebele word ''uphukwana''. *''Vuswa'' is the Nguni word for "woken up" in the passive tense. *''Maye'' comes from the Zulu word for expressing shock. This is used instead of the Zulu word for yes, ''yebo''. *''Injini'' literally means "taking on for a ride", and finds its origins in the Zulu word for "engine". In Zulu, the word ''imbuqo'' word is used for the same purpose. *The word ''uncishiwe'' originates from Zulu as "not given", but is used in IsiNgqumo to mean "not talented". ''Kuncishiwe'' has the same meaning as "It is not talented". ''Uncishiwe'' can also mean "ugly", or can be used as a generic insult. *''Pholwa'' is passive tense for the Zulu word for "cool". ''Kuyapholwa'' could be translated as "it makes one cool". Like ''ncishiwe'', ''pholwa'' can be used as an insult.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Isingqumo Languages of South Africa Nguni languages LGBT culture in South Africa LGBT in Zimbabwe LGBT slang Cant languages LGBT linguistics

Sample

Etymology

See also

References