A Song for Beginner-students of Afrikaans (including Thotmes 3)
igs.net
TULA,TULA NOU
Tula, tula nou,
terwyl my babatjie slaap.
O muisies, staak jul wilde gejakker;
ou kriekie, tula,
jy raas hom wakker!
Tula, tula nou,
terwyl my babatjie slaap.
tula : "Thula" is Zulu for "to be quiet."
nou: now
terwyl my babatjie slaap: while my baby sleeps
muisies: little mice
staak jul wilde gejakker: stop your wild running
around
kriekie: little cricket
jy raas hom wakker: you are waking him by
making a noise. Wakker: awake
Words by Theo Jandrell
Music by Pierre Malan
The FAK ( collection of Afrikaans folksongs)
gives the spelling as "tula" for "to be quiet." But
the Zulu spelling is actually "thula" for the word
meaning "quiet, silent, peaceful." I am not quite
sure that the Afrikaans "tula" used as a command
to "shut up" is used in the same way in Zulu.
thulasizwe: Zulu for person in authority.
thule: silent, quiet, peaceful
thuli: reserved person
Gloudina Bouwer
Wen
>meaning "quiet, silent, peaceful." I am not quite
>sure that the Afrikaans "tula" used as a command
>to "shut up" is used in the same way in Zulu.
It is. The command would be 'Thula!' meaning 'Be quiet!' It is commonly used
by mothers to tell their children to be still. One would often hear the
phrase 'Thula wena! 'zokushaya!' when in the company of mothers and unruly
youngsters, meaning 'Be quiet you! I'll hit you!'; the deed is not added
to the word nearly as often as the threat is uttered.
The infinitive of 'thula' is 'ukuthula', which translates as 'to be quiet'
(Afrikaans: om stil te wees/bly). Interesting is that this word, used as a
noun, is also the Zulu word used for 'peace' (Afrikaans: Vrede).
Also, 'Thulani', the plural equivalent of the 'Thula!' command is commonly
found as a male first name amongst Zulu speakers. Another derivitive is
'Thulebona', also used as a male first name, which implies 'to be quiet and
see (look)' appropriately used for 'strong silent types'.
The locative of 'Thula' is 'Ekuthuleni', meaning 'Where there is peace'
(Afrikaans: Waar daar vrede is/heers). This is a relatively common name given
to places such as farms, schools and even general dealer stores.
As a matter of interest, all Zulu verb stems can be used as commands
(imperatives) by using them on their own without any prefixed concord.
I hope this wider background does not offend anyone who sees this newsgroup as
being strictly dedicated to Afrikaans. I thought it might contribute to a
better understanding of our country and its people in general.
AM de Lange
Wen <a@b.c> wrote in article <5lehsc$fuh$1...@news01.iafrica.com>...
> In article <86363430...@nntpcache.igs.net>, <@igs.net> wrote:
>
> >meaning "quiet, silent, peaceful." I am not quite
> >sure that the Afrikaans "tula" used as a command
> >to "shut up" is used in the same way in Zulu.
>
> It is. The command would be 'Thula!' meaning 'Be quiet!' It is commonly
used
> by mothers to tell their children to be still.any prefixed concord.
[snip]
>
> I hope this wider background does not offend anyone who sees this
newsgroup as
> being strictly dedicated to Afrikaans. I thought it might contribute to a
> better understanding of our country and its people in general.
Wen, thank you very much for this contribution. No, even if it should have
offended anyone, we undertook in the face of the international community
of Newsnet users never to discourage or denigrate such contributions.
Should we do so, administrators of Newsnet all over the world may decide
not to support this newsgroup anymore.
Best wishes
At de Lange