Ndebele
/ˌ(ə)ndəˈbiːliː
/noun (plural same or Ndebeles)
1A member of a people of Zimbabwe and NE South Africa. See also Matabele.Now we are whites, blacks, coloureds, Asians, Shonas, Ndebeles…...
- The anger of the Ndebeles - who make up roughly 20% of Zimbabwe's 12.7 million people - has reached crisis level.
- The Ndebeles consider themselves part of the Zulu nation and would ideally like to break away and form a new country with the Zulus in South Africa.
2 [mass noun] The Bantu language of the Ndebele, with over 1 million speakers. It is one of the official languages of South Africa. Also called Sindebele.The official language is English, and there are four indigenous languages - Shona, Ndebele, Venda, and Tonga....
- As a further mark of its ethnic diversity, South Africa has 11 official languages, including Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, and Sotho.
- It is a Bantu language closely related to Zulu, Swazi, and Ndebele.
adjective
Relating to the Ndebele or their language.Our rallying cry is ‘Sokwanele’ in the Ndebele language and ‘Zvakwana’ in Shona, meaning quite simply ‘Enough is enough’....
- Toward the end of the first half of the twentieth century, their identity being threatened, Ndebele women began to paint walls of their houses and yards in colored geometric motifs.
- The murals became a highly visible assertion of Ndebele identity.
Origin
The name in the Nguni languages.