Nguni
1
9.9
- noun
- References to the high esteem with which metals were regarded by the early Nguni-speaking peoples appear in descriptive accounts of the region during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
- Nguni coiffures
- Nguni-style
- Nguni peoples
Examples
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The Xhosa, also known as the South Nguni or Cape Nguni, are united by dialects of the Xhosa language and other cultural features, but they consist of several distinct peoples.
Academic text (2003) -
Many Nguni tribes have rich cultural traditions that include unique music and art.
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Scholars now prefer the term "North Nguni" for work from this region.
Academic text (1994) -
I just wanted you to know, this is a Nguni assegai.
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Visual art for these Nguni peoples was located mainly in abstract forms and in beadwork.
Academic text (2003) -
Located in present-day South Africa, it incorporated numerous small, less powerful Nguni chiefdoms.
Academic text (1991) -
The history of the Zulu Kingdom begins with the reign of Dingiswayo, chief of the Mthethwa, an Nguni-speaking group of the Bantu population in southeastern Africa.
Academic text (1999) -
The Nguni languages, including Zulu and Xhosa, are spoken by millions in southern Africa.
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Learning Nguni languages can help preserve the diverse cultural heritage of South Africa.
Surface Forms
Etymology
The word Nguni comes from the name used by a group of people in southern Africa; in Zulu and Xhosa they are called amaNguni, where ama- is a plural prefix meaning 'people'. So Nguni now names that community and the family of languages they speak, such as Zulu and Xhosa.