NKOSI' SIKE WORDS/TRANSLATION/HISTORY
whlg...@uctvax.uct.ac.za
Here are the WORDS, TRANSLATIONS and HISTORY of NKOSI SIKELEL' iAFRIKA and DIE
STEM (to follow), if anyone wants a repost mail me.
Taken from the Cape Argus 18-05-94.
Nkosi sikelel' iAfrika
**********************
XHOSA (English After)
Nkosi sikelel' iAfrika
Maluphakamiso phondo Iwayo
Yiva nemithandazo yethu
Nkosi sikelela, thina lusapholwayo (x2)
Yiza moya sikelela nkosi sikelela nkosi sikelela
Yiza moya sikelela nkosis sikelela
Yiza moya oyingcwele
Nkosi sikelela; thina lusapholowayo
Morena boluka sechaba saHesu
Ofedise dintwa lemantswenyeho (x2)
Osiboluke Osiboluke
Osiboluke morena siboluke
Sechaba seHesu
Sechaba saAfrika (x2)
ENGLISH
Lord bless Africa
May horn be raised
So also hear our prayers
Lord bless us
We the families of Africa
Come spirit, bless us Lord, bless us (x2)
Come Holy Spirit
And bless our families
lord take care od the Nation
Stop the struggle and frustrations
Save it, save it (x2)
Save our Nation, save it
Our Nation Our Africa
HISTORY
Written in 1897 by Enoch Sontongo, a teachr at a mission school in the
Transvaal.
According to the Standard Encyclopaedia of Southern Africa, the hymn was first
sung in 1899 at the ordinationof the first black minister of the Methodist
Church in Nancefield, Transvaal.
It is not know who composed the tune.
The word appeared in the print for the first time in 1927 in the Jonhannesburg
weekly newspaper Umteteleli wa Bantu.
Samuel E K Mqhayi wrote seven additional verses, all like the first in the form
of a prayer.
Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika became the national anthem of the Tanskei in 1963 when
the territory was given "self-governing" status.
It is also the National Anthem of Zambia and Zimbabwe, although there are moves
for Zimbabwe to change to another anthem.
(DIE STEM TO FOLLOW)
Grant Whiley
whlg...@uctvax.uct.ac.za
Department of Mechanical Engineering
University of Cape Town
South Africa
Emmanuel Sopeju
place I could buy a tape of the anthem? Regards.
+-----------------+------------------------+-----------------+
| Emmanuel Sopeju | Pickering, Ont. Canada | 05-22-94 |
+-----------------+------------------------+-----------------+
< Internet address: emmanue...@canrem.com >
* 1st 1.11 #3250 * He who asks timidly makes denial easy.
David Lloyd-Jones
working on translations to adopt it as *their* "national" anthem.
For comparison, Beethoven's Ninth, Ode To Joy or Alle Manner Sinde
Bruder (sp?) is the "national" anthem of the European Community, at the
same time as being the Christmas/New year Peace Anthem of Japan.
Two lovely symbolic developments.
-dlj.
* 1st 1.11 #3818 *
Drom du Toit
>From: whlg...@uctvax.uct.ac.za
>Subject: NKOSI' SIKE WORDS/TRANSLATION/HISTORY
>Date: 19 May 94 07:59:24 +0200
>Hi there
>
>Here are the WORDS, TRANSLATIONS and HISTORY of NKOSI SIKELEL' iAFRIKA and DIE
>STEM (to follow), if anyone wants a repost mail me.
>Taken from the Cape Argus 18-05-94.
>
>Nkosi sikelel' iAfrika
>**********************
>
>XHOSA (English After)
>
>Nkosi sikelel' iAfrika
>Maluphakamiso phondo Iwayo
>Yiva nemithandazo yethu
>Nkosi sikelela, thina lusapholwayo (x2)
>
>Yiza moya sikelela nkosi sikelela nkosi sikelela
>Yiza moya sikelela nkosis sikelela
>Yiza moya oyingcwele
>Nkosi sikelela; thina lusapholowayo
>
>Morena boluka sechaba saHesu
>Ofedise dintwa lemantswenyeho (x2)
>
>Osiboluke Osiboluke
>Osiboluke morena siboluke
>Sechaba seHesu
>Sechaba saAfrika (x2)
>
>whlg...@uctvax.uct.ac.za
>
>Department of Mechanical Engineering
>University of Cape Town
>South Africa
>
>
>
written here. The first words there are "Yihla moya...." and not "Yiza...
Not to worry, same mistake is made very often. The words litterally mean "
"eat the wind", therefore probably "consume the Holy Spirit", or "the
Spirit of God" (my interpretation).
More interresting is the fact that the real second part, the one that
starts with "Morena boluka..." is the Sesotho version of Nkosi, which
has apparently been incorporated into our new anthem - the other day I
heard a military band play it at some big do. The tune is different - a
more rolling type of cadence - but equally beautiful.
At our graduation ceremony here at the Univ of Fort Hare (a historically
Black tertiary institution started by Scots missionaries long before
apartheid was even dreamt of - 1916 if I remember correctly) I was
surprised by the fact that very few of my White colleagues knew that the
second part was Sesotho. Equally surprising was the fact that many of my
isiXhosa speaking colleagues did not seem to know the Sesotho part.
Finally, the "hl" in "Yihla" is pronounced like the Welsh "ll" - I don't
know the phonetic term - while the "r" in Sesotho (e.g. in "Morena",
which means Nkosi) is the hard "r" like in Scottish. I mention this
because in isiXhosa r is pronounced the same as a hard "g" - that
peculiar sound that only the amaXhosa and Afrikaners seem to cope with
naturally - sounds as if you are clearing your throat!
Does somebody out there perhaps know the origin of the Sesotho version?
Drom du Toit
Dept. of Biochemistry
University of Fort Hare >
Fundi Mbangi
Drom du Toit <dut...@ufhcc.ufh.ac.za> wrote:
>In article <1994May19...@uctvax.uct.ac.za> whlg...@uctvax.uct.ac.za writes:
>>From: whlg...@uctvax.uct.ac.za
>>Subject: NKOSI' SIKE WORDS/TRANSLATION/HISTORY
>>Date: 19 May 94 07:59:24 +0200
>>Hi there
>>
>>Here are the WORDS, TRANSLATIONS and HISTORY of NKOSI SIKELEL' iAFRIKA and DIE
>>STEM (to follow), if anyone wants a repost mail me.
>>Taken from the Cape Argus 18-05-94.
>>
>>Nkosi sikelel' iAfrika
>>**********************
>>XHOSA (English After)
>>
>>Nkosi sikelel' iAfrika
>>Maluphakamiso phondo Iwayo
>>Yiva nemithandazo yethu
>>Nkosi sikelela, thina lusapholwayo (x2)
>>
>>Yiza moya sikelela nkosi sikelela nkosi sikelela
>>Yiza moya sikelela nkosis sikelela
>>Yiza moya oyingcwele
>>Nkosi sikelela; thina lusapholowayo
>>
>A few spelling mistakes here, none serious except for the "second verse" as
>written here. The first words there are "Yihla moya...." and not "Yiza...
>Not to worry, same mistake is made very often. The words litterally mean "
>"eat the wind", therefore probably "consume the Holy Spirit", or "the
>Spirit of God" (my interpretation).
Well, now I think you're confusing 'yidla' with 'yiza'. The former means 'eat'
whereas the latter translates to 'come'. And 'yihla' means 'come down/descend'.
I've seen/heard some versions of the anthem which use either 'yihla moya' or
'yiza moya'. They pretty much convey the same message.
>
>More interresting is the fact that the real second part, the one that
>starts with "Morena boluka..." is the Sesotho version of Nkosi, which
>has apparently been incorporated into our new anthem - the other day I
>heard a military band play it at some big do. The tune is different - a
>more rolling type of cadence - but equally beautiful.
I personally think the SeSotho version is the most melodic part of the
anthem.
>Does somebody out there perhaps know the origin of the Sesotho version?
>Drom du Toit
>Dept. of Biochemistry
>University of Fort Hare >
Traditionally, the anthem was sung in all 3 major languages: Xhosa, Zulu
and Sotho. The Zulu version is not very different from the Xhosa version.
It goes 'Woza moya...' instead of "Yiza Moya...", etc.
Now, I don't know if Enoch Sontonga, originally composed it in all three
languages, or whether the translations were added later.
---
Fundisile Mbangi
Tola Soyode
It's a lovely song. I've always thought of Nkosi Sikelei Africa
as the 'continental' anthem.
Strangely enough, I'm sure I've seen a similar tune in the Methodist
hymn book somewhere.
Tola
HADI SALIM JAMAL
David Lloyd-Jones <david.ll...@canrem.com> wrote:
>Ain't that the truth! Even better, several other countries are now
>working on translations to adopt it as *their* "national" anthem.
>
FYI:
Botswana, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Mozambique and Zambia
had adopted the tune for their national anthems a long time ago
(during tbeir respective independences) ...
well, this way long before anyone thought anything like this
would happen in SA ... Just food for thought!
Cheers
==>ME
Steve Hayes
>For comparison, Beethoven's Ninth, Ode To Joy or Alle Manner Sinde
>Bruder (sp?) is the "national" anthem of the European Community, at the
>same time as being the Christmas/New year Peace Anthem of Japan.
>
>Two lovely symbolic developments.
It was also the "national" anthem of Ian Smith's UDI Rhodesia.
============================================================
Steve Hayes, Editorial Department, University of South Africa
P.O. Box 392, Pretoria, 0001 South Africa
Internet: haye...@risc1.unisa.ac.za Fidonet: 5:7106/20.1
steve...@p1.f20.n7106.z5.fidonet.org
Zane Wilson
>written here. The first words there are "Yihla moya...." and not "Yiza...
>Not to worry, same mistake is made very often. The words litterally mean "
>"eat the wind", therefore probably "consume the Holy Spirit", or "the
>Spirit of God" (my interpretation).
The Zulu version (as taught to me at school) uses the words "Woza moya".
And "woza" means "come". I always understood the English translation to
be "Come, spirit, come".
--
______________________________________________________________
Zane Wilson, Computer Science, University of the Witwatersrand
Telephone: +27 11 716-4080 Internet: za...@cs.wits.ac.za
Steven Rix
In article <60.17550.42...@canrem.com>, emmanue...@canrem.com (Emmanuel Sopeju) writes:
->Thanks for the translation of this wonderful anthem. Is there any
->place I could buy a tape of the anthem? Regards.
The song is the last track on Side 1 of the soundtrack to the film
"Cry Freedom". Ask your local record shop.
--
Steve Rix,
Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Edinburgh.
E-mail: ste...@chemeng.ed.ac.uk, phone: +44 (31) 650 8565.