I don’t think I have ever explained what Sinethemba means (Sinethemba is the organization I work with in Khayelitsha). It is Xhosa and in English means “We have hope”. Ukuthemba is hope in Xhosa. To conjugate a Xhosa word you attach either NDI(I), U(you, he, she), SI(we), NI(you all), or BA(they) to the front of the word. For example ukuhlala is to stay, so…I stay in Rosebank is Ndihlala eRoesbank. The NDI is attached to the root or the verb. So the “Si” in Sinethemba is conjugating the verb to means “we”. To say “have” NA is added the root as well. There is vowel coalescence that causes the “na + i” to turn into an “e” so nethemba. We = Si, have = ne, hope = themba. We have hope…Sinethemba!
Hi, How is it going there? It is quite insteresting that one word,Sinethemba, can represent a sentence…..I bet you that only old Chinese language could be like that.