For all your work on this Wikipedia :) Victorgrigas (talk) 19:44, 16 Eyo Kwindla 2014 (UTC)
Ndiyabulela!! I thank you very much.
Hey so when you reply on a talk page use this -->: like I just did :) and then if you type four of these: ~ it will automatically sign your name. Thanks again for all the additions you made and the improvements you made to the very crude articles I started! I found an online Xhosa dictionary and then said to myself that I can start a page and add a photo and mark it as a stub, that could help. Do you know any good Xhosa-English Dictionaries that are online? I'd love to continue collaborating in this way, even though I don't speak Xhosa. Vgrigas (talk) 23:21, 20 Eyo Kwindla 2014 (UTC)
Enkosi kakhulu ngokundibonisa (thank you for showing me). I also thank you for adding information on our young wikipedian Ntsiki. To be honest with you, I have not seen a good Xhosa on-line dictionary. But I am sure there are some. My problem is what I believe to be a good dictionary is what is a corpus-based dictionary. To my understanding I believe that an additional, or second or a foreign language learner requires a dictionary or language learning material with authentic language information and I believe that such infomation can be obtained from corpus. It is important though to note that, dictionary provides a clue or guidelines about a language you are learning. You seem like you are want to understand Xhosa, in the meantime, whilst I am searching for the online Xhosa dictionary for you, if you don't mind I can assist you a bit with few and features that look nonsensical but important in speaking Xhosa. Let me give you an example of what I have said to you concerning authenticity. Let us look at the Xhosa word 'ndi' for instance. What does the word 'ndi' mean in your dictionary? The word 'ndi' means 'I' in English.
At school, I was taught that in most cases 'I' goes with 'am' e.g I am hungry, I am tired, I am lazy. But in these instances the Xhosa word 'ndi' goes only with verb, Xhosa equivalent for 'am' does not exist, e.g. I would say: (ndi+lambile) = ndilambile (Today, when we talk spontaneously we can code switch and say 'ndihungry'. I think this can be very helpful to learn isixhosa.
So if you want to get used to the use of 'ndi' start by code switching and say for instance 'nditired'
In a sentence you can say 'you know what? nditired today'. By just using 'ndi' in this utterance, a Xhosa speaker who is listening from you talking, will think that you are the speaker, even though you have used more English words than Xhosa in your utterance. Now do the same with the following words
'tired' and 'lazy' 'worried'. (tired means 'diniwe'; lazy means 'yonqena'; worried means 'khathazekile').
That does not mean 'ndi' is only used in this manner. But for a start I think it can help.
Next time I will not translate the meaning of 'means' or 'meaning' as in 'the word tiredmeans ...) I will say 'i(the)gama(word) e(which)lithi(says)tired li(it)thetha(means) ukuthi(to say)...).
I hope this is not boring--Nomden (talk) 14:43, 24 Eyo Kwindla 2014 (UTC).
isilo-ni? Hayi, ndi yiba nomdla! ndithenga isiXhosa-isiNgesi incwadi. Ndiazi ndinako fundalunge. Yolisa umonde ndiumfundi! :) -- Ungafundisa u Wikipedia nini unaumbuzo, ne u fundisa ndiisiXhosa? (I'm sorry, I know I have many mistakes in there ndiumfundi) :D Victorgrigas (talk) 03:02, 27 Eyo Kwindla 2014 (UTC)
Good! there is no doubt that you are learning and you are serious about it. You may have mistakes but the reality is I understand what you are saying. However, correct me when I have misunderstood you. i will look at your first sentence below.
1. Hayi, ndi yiba nomdla! ndithenga isiXhosa-isiNgesi incwadi.
Here you say 'No, I am interested, I buy isiXhosa-English books.
Remove 'yi' in the word 'yiba' because once you yi+ba it means 'be!'. 'yiba' is a linguitic element whose function is to direct a command e.g. 'yiba lapha' meaning 'be here'!
so your sentence should be 'Hayi ndibanomdla' meaning that by bringing 'ba' you want to say 'I tend to be interested' or 'Hayi, ndinomdla' meaning that 'No, I am interested'. I will talk about the next sentence tomorrow--Nomden (talk) 12:31, 27 Eyo Kwindla 2014 (UTC)
I can just highlight those mistakes as follows:
Remember 'ndi' means 'I' in English, and 'I' is always followed by a verb e.g. I write, I am walking, and so on. 'I' cannot be followed by a noun. for instance we cannot say 'I book(s)' unless we are refering to book as a verb. In your last sentence (a question) 'ne u fundisa ndiisiXhosa?', remove 'ndi'before isiXhosa, then your sentence will be perfect if you are trying to say 'Are you teaching isiXhosa?'. But if you want to say 'Are you teaching me isiXhosa, then you should say 'Undifundisa isiXhosa?' In this sentence 'U' means 'you'; 'ndi' means 'I' followed by a verb 'fundisa' means 'teach' isiXhosa.
Your first sentence "ndilusizi ndifika kade" is perfect. I asume you want to say "Thank you for teaching and correcting me" You see, you are coming alright! the important thing is to know that in Xhosa we don't put two or more vowels in one place like in "ae" in "ndifundisaela" and "lungisaela". Let just say "Enkosi ngokundifundisa nangokundilungisa". i know very well that the word 'ngoku" may confuse you because it is also used as an adverb of time. But the difference is that as an adverb of time "ngoku' is not attached to the verb, for example it will be ndiyahamba "ngoku" 'I am going now' or 'Ngoku ndiyahamba' 'now I am going'. However, in your sentences "ngokundifundisa" ngoku means "by" in this sentence it will be 'by teaching me', or "ngokundilungisa" 'by correcting me'.
Oh, I love this Victorgrigas. I am also writing an article (academically) on these kinds of words--Nomden (talk) 07:58, 2 Ekatshazimpuzi 2014 (UTC).
Hi again Victorgrigas, I am lost a little bit. What is Ukat, is this a Xhosa spelling mistake or the meaning of 'Sun" in another language? Because in Xhosa we have "Ikati" meaning 'a cat'.
Hi Victorgrigas, could you please advise me on how could I get in to Xhosa wikipedia gaian. I hvae been trying to login. How ever, I failed several times. I wrote to Katris as well. 08:05, 21 May 2018 (UTC). In case my name does not appear, I am nomden.
If you speak isiXhosa then you can make it. Go ahead - and start working on your Encyclopedia. (Please Log-in or Create an account first)
Please help reinstate English version on part of the English article with the title Lebo Mathosa in English wikipedia page. I erroneously translated it into isiXhosa. You can look at 'view history' window. I thank you in advance.- Nomden
Hi! I've seen you have created several articles in Xhosa so I presume you speak the language. I don't know any word in Xhosa but I can help you, if you want to, improving this Wikipedia by suggesting articles, adding categories, images and templates. Shall we co-operate in enhancing this encyclopedia? --Katxis100 (talk) 18:18, 24 Eyo Kwindla 2015 (UTC)
I think that could be possible only if you can tell me what you intend to include,one topic at a time until I finish translating it. That will help in terms of difficult terms, especially academic related terms, which we might struggle to find in Xhosa at this stage.--nomden
It's fine. I was thinking about creating a list of all articles that Wikipedia should have and thus having the most important articles all together (just the list, and the articles would be done little by little). We did that on the Oromo Wikipedia and it has changed a lot! Besides, we created a list of articles that an African Wikipedia should have, taking into account that the main list is quite Eurocentric and also another list just for the Oromo Wikipedia.
Hi Oromo
You might be wondering why I am not responding. I have been busy with so many things including writing my examination. I have seen the list of articles that need to be translated in all languages i.e. 1000 and 100 vital articles. I have translated most of them except for the ones where I struggle to get equivalents in Xhosa. but I can assure you I will translate them as well. I also think that it will be important for me to add articles that are about South African topics as well in order to attract Xhosa readers. i have noticed that there are South African indigenous related information that can be very helpful in
So,my idea is to create three different lists:
Wikipedia: List of articles all Wikipedias should have. Which already exists.
Wikipedia: List of articles the Xhosa Wikipedia should have.
Wikipedia: List of articles all African Wikipedias should have.
So, as you can imagine, and answering your question (what you intend to includ?) my idea is to add the most basic articles, those ralted to Africa in general and ore specific ones related to Xhosa. So, could you please translate these words and phrases:
Insurgents defend a stronghold in the forested Water Kloof during the 8th Xhosa war of 1851. Xhosa, Kat River Khoi-khoi and some army deserters are depicted.
Ubudlelwane bomZantsi Afrika nelizwe lezikumkani ezimanyeneyo (leUnited Kingdom)
They are for completing the article. --Katxis100 (talk) 15:19, 31 Eyo Kwindla 2015 (UTC)
I am still struggling to understand the first sentence. My apologies for taking so long, I am doing many things --nomden
Don't worry, it is fine. It is better to have information than images in the article. Can you please translate the following nouns and phrases?
iJografi
Ubugcisa namasiko
ifilosofi nenkolo
Ichiza
Ekuhlaleni
iTeknoloji
izibalo (Arithmetic)
iMathematika
The Xhosa Wars (also known as the Cape Frontier Wars or "Africa's 100 Years War"), were a series of nine wars or flare-ups (from 1779 to 1879) between the Xhosa tribes and European settlers, in what is now the Eastern Cape in South Africa. These events were the longest-running military action in African colonialism history.
My apologies for the delay, I have been writing exams. I will continue responding to your requests, including the last paragraph about Xhosa wars.--nomden
I noticed that you are the most active editor in this wiki. There are no administrators here, and there is some tasks that must be done by an administrator, such as deletion of unneeded pages, so I think that you should be an administrator.
Do you accept this nomination? --Amire80 (talk) 12:21, 4 Eyesilimela 2015 (UTC)
Hi Amir
I accept your invitation. i think with your guidance I will make it. --Nomden (talk) 12:29, 4 Eyesilimela 2015 (UTC)
Molo Nomden! Unyameko ncokola phezu kwaifoni? (I'm going to type in English) Are you be interested in being interviewed on the telephone or over email for the Wikimedia Foundation blog? User:Amire80 told me that he met you in person, and was happy to see you demonstrate how to use translation tools. Please let me know if you are interested! As a volunteer, I am User:Victorgrigas, but in my professional capacity I am an employee of the Wikimedia Foundation. I can be emailed at vgrigas@wikimedia.org VGrigas (WMF) (talk) 14:26, 11 Eyesilimela 2015 (UTC)
Ewe Victorgrigas! Enkosi kakhulu, bhuti wam {Thank you very much, my brother} I hope you are a brother not a sister. I am happy to be invited by you. Thank you for your e-mail address, I will write to you tomorrow to make proper arrangements for an interview. Yes I met Amir, the great guy. He motivated us and left us with joy about Wikipedia. My e-mail address for now is nomden@unisa.ac.zaNomden (talk) 15:25, 11 Eyesilimela 2015 (UTC)
Hi amire80, in have been in a Linguistics conference In one of the South African provinces. i have a problem,sometimes I translate a topic then it disappears. for example I have just translated a topic under 'Reptile' but now it does not show that I have done any translation. I started at the end of the page. Will you help? [User:nomden|nomden]Nomden (talk) 11:22, 25 Eyesilimela 2015 (UTC)
I moved iEurope to IYurophu because I've seen it translated like that in the article about Germany. --Katxis (talk) 12:39, 30 Eyesilimela 2015 (UTC)
Thank you Katris, you did well. i will attend to your list as soon as I get time.-- nomdenNomden (talk) 06:47, 1 Eye Khala 2015 (UTC)
how do you translate "medicine": Amayeza or Ichiza? --Katxis (talk) 08:35, 1 Eye Khala 2015 (UTC)
both of them mean medicine. However, 'amayeza' is frequently used, whereas, amachiza is an an archaic work which is used lesser, if it is used at all by the new generation both in spoken and written. --nomdenNomden (talk) 10:07, 1 Eye Khala 2015 (UTC)
I've seen you've created the article I-Mathematics. However, when I asked you, your translation of the term was "iMathematika". Shouldn't it be better to move the article to that page? Katxis
you know what, Katris, this is one of the term we are not very sure about. Others say so others say izibalo 'Arithmetics'. once I got the big volumes of Xhosa dictionary I will be sure. but I think you can move it in the meantime.--nomdenNomden (talk) 09:08, 7 Eye Khala 2015 (UTC)
I would like to ask you about th euse of the hyphen. Sometimes, as in the prio case, it is written (I-Mathematics´´) and sometimes is not (IMathematika). Which is the rule? --Katxis (talk) 11:33, 9 Eye Khala 2015 (UTC)
I should always put a hypen in words like these (nouns) that begin sentences and that are titles of the topic because, their initial letter should be in capital letters and so they don't begin with these letters in Xhosa they should begin with their prefixes, and then follow their initial vowels. Hyphen is used to show that the initial vowel is a pre-prefix and the following letter is where the actual noun begins. In the middle of the sentence where these nouns are small letters of alphabet both the initial vowel (pre-prefix) and the initial letter of the actual noun there should be a hyphen as well. My apologies for this, I am trying to figure out what might make sense in Xhosa in these kinds of words. This might change in future or it might be kept like this.
Molo, sisi. Uxolo, ndihlale eDikeni '97-'99. Ndisebenze e-yuniversiti yase Forté, kodwa ngoku ndisilibele sonke, isiXhosa, so English it is. I vaguely remember that you put a hyphen after i- if the word starts with a vowel, so I made ozone into i-ozowuni. But then if it is capitalized in the title is I-ozowuni correct? Or I-Ozowuni? I don't think I can be much help to you but I'll try now and then. Jcwf (talk) 03:14, 10 Eye Khala 2015 (UTC)
Wow! it's nice to hear that. I-Ozowuni will be the best in this regard only if it is written in capital letters from the source text. But where 'o' is in small letter in the source text, we should write the word as 'i-ozowuni'. Your opinion is highly appreciated in this regard. Mamela ke Jcwf, in my opinion, information on wikipedia should be more communicative and right now we are working on wikipedia to be language specific, that is, to be in Xhosa in a communicative manner in Xhosa wikipedia. However, ever since Xhosa began to be taught at school, only grammatical elements that has been the focus of learning at the expense of communicative learning. Now if we want Xhosa to be read and understood by anybody in wikipedia we should provide pragamtic elements which are totally neglected in Xhosa teaching and learning area, so that those who are reading can have more understanding.
Hi Jcwf and Nomden. I have to say I have no idea of Xhosa nor of any other African language. So my opinion is of little regard in here. However, the following sentences are very interesting in my opinion:
[...] information on wikipedia should be more communicative and right now we are working on wikipedia to be language specific, that is, to be in Xhosa in a communicative manner in Xhosa wikipedia. However, ever since Xhosa began to be taught at school, only grammatical elements that has been the focus of learning at the expense of communicative learning. Now if we want Xhosa to be read and understood by anybody in wikipedia we should provide pragamtic elements which are totally neglected in Xhosa teaching and learning area, so that those who are reading can have more understanding.
I reminds me of the situation of another language called Aragonese, which until recently didn't have any official ortography. What the users of Aragonese Wikipedia did was to agree on certain rules to be used in that Wikipedia until an official academy dictated anything with regards to those rules. For instance, if there is no rule with regards to hyphen between I and the word, both of you can agree on what to do and apply it here until an academy dictates the rule. In the case of Aragonese, it was called "consensual spelling" and, in fact, the Academy of Aragonese Language took into account all the debates generated on Wikipedia and the ortography used in there.
I hope this is of help for this issue. --Katxis (talk) 07:39, 10 Eye Khala 2015 (UTC)
I think so too!-nomdenNomden (talk) 08:09, 10 Eye Khala 2015 (UTC)
Could you translate this into Xhosa, please? It is to create a template for countries.
Name - igama
Flag - iflegi
Coat of Arms
Map - imephu
Capital - ikomkhulu
Official Language - ulwimi lwaseburhulumenteni
Area - isiphaluka
Population - uluntu
Density
What's the meaning of Ezinye iintlobo zenzululwazi? (Other types of science)
Thanks for your help. --Katxis (talk) 11:49, 10 Eye Khala 2015 (UTC)
I will try to look for the two words from the dictionary. Thanks-nomdenNomden (talk) 08:17, 13 Eye Khala 2015 (UTC)
2) I would like to ask you to translate the following sentences from the main page. My idea is to change it completely as I did in the Oromo Wikipedia
Siyacela, mawethu, niwuhloniphe lo msebenzi. Musa ukubhala ngesiNgesi okanye isiBhulu apha. Siyavana?
ngesiXhosa qhâ !!
1. Imeko yoLwimi lwesiXhosa - the condition of Xhosa language
2. Ezendalo - nature
3. Ezentlalo - social life
Xhosa speaking people are people who admire the beauty, people who believe in living in harmony with other people (people of different tribes and nations). Xhosa nation just like all other African tbelieves in spiritual realm, they live life that is based on spiritual things.Tor example: these people believe that for them to live a real life they must satisfy their creator, Qamata.
4. Health
5. Ezoqoqosho noshishino - economic and trading
6. Ezombangazwe - ezopolitiko
7. Ezamandulo - history
8. Iziduko okanye Ukuzithutha - clan names
3) How do you say "References" and external links in Xhosa?
Kufundwe kule mibhalo
Thanks for your help.
Hi, I once wanted to do the same (but in my case I wanted to bring culture of Xhosa and its variations on the main page)> I wanted to list various varieties of Xhosa.
I would try to create a new Main Page in English and then, if you like it, you can amend it and translate it. --Katxis (talk) 12:08, 17 Eye Khala 2015 (UTC)
Thanks for your help. --Katxis (talk) 16:10, 17 Eye Khala 2015 (UTC)
I think I should tell you this. I am experiencing difficulties with our internet connection.As a result you may find that I am not productive as I want to be. Right now I cannot do any translations because of the same reason. But don't worry, there is nothing you can do about that, I have already taken the matter up to the relevant people. All I can say for now you may not see much from my side until the problem is fixed. Please accept my apology.
If you prefer, ou can translate the article about engineering here and I can post it. --Katxis (talk) 14:57, 30 Eye Khala 2015 (UTC)
Ok thank you so much. I think my problem is fixed for now, I will do so when it comes back again.
== Translate = to all passengers please be informed that all bookings are to be made via
Could you please translate this?
The reality of the conflicts between the Europeans and Xhosa involves a balance of tension. At times, tensions existed between the various Europeans in the Cape region, tensions between Empire administration and colonial governments, and tensions and alliances of the Xhosa tribes. Alliances with Europeans introduced to the Xhosa tribes the use of firearms; even so, the Xhosa lost most of their territory and were incorporated into the British Empire. The Xhosa include some groups that have adopted the Xhosa language and several groups that are now classed as being Xhosa, such as the Mfengu nation, that had an alliance with the Cape Colony.
Hi Dear Nomden,
Please delete all no useful pages tag for speedy deletion.Thank for your work on this wiki :) . Regards.--Grind24 (talk) 18:13, 18 Eye Thupha 2015 (UTC)
Oh thank you so much Grind. I will do that Nomden (talk) 06:56, 24 Eye Thupha 2015 (UTC)nomden that163.200.101.56 06:53, 24 Eye Thupha 2015 (UTC)
Hello, the temporary access you requested on this wiki has expired. Just to let you know that If you want it back, feel free to make a local announcement and open a new request on stewards' permission request page on Meta-Wiki later. Moreover, if you think the community is big enough to elect a permanent administrator, you can place a local request here for a permanent adminship, so stewards can grant you the permanent access. Please ask me or any other steward if you have any questions. Thank you! Stryn (talk) 07:57, 11 Eyo Msintsi 2015 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you Stryn, what does it mean to me when temporary access has been expired? Do I stll have to contribute on wikipedia as an administrator and a Wikipedian? Nomden (talk) 07:30, 14 Eyo Msintsi 2015 (UTC)nomden[reply]
Lesotho, officially the Kingdom of Lesotho (Sotho: 'Muso oa Lesotho), is an enclaved, landlocked country in southern Africa completely surrounded by South Africa.
Hi Katxis, thank you for asking and editing this article. Amapolisa is the plural of ipolisa. igosa may refer to an official person. We have decided to use the singular form. So you are right.
Hi Katxis, could you please please help me with logging in. It has been a while not working on Xhosa wikipedia page and I am worried about that. I have tried several times to log in. However, I failed. Could you please advise me.
Hi Nomden, I want to give you a big "thank you" for all the work you have done editing Xhosa Wikipedia! According to Xhosa Wikipedia Statistics you are by far the most active Wikipedian on Xhosa language Wikipedia. Please let Wikimedia South Africa if you are interested in organising or participating in the organising of any Xhosa language Wikipedia editing outreach programs to get more people to edit the Wikipedia.--Discott (talk) 10:19, 7 Eyo Mdumba 2016 (UTC)
Hi Discott, thank you. Yes we are in that process of recruiting other South African indigenous language speakers to become not only editors but to be Wikipedians.
Thanks a million! Gert (Pharmacist at Lady Grey Hospital) Aliwal2012 (talk) 11:03, 2 Eyo Kwindla 2016 (UTC)
Hi Aliwal
I tried to help you, but I need your source text to edit successfully. I have not seen the text you have translated. I is highly possible that it your own original version, because simple English version is very short and it does not correspond with yours. The English version does not have the title that is equivalent to 'Tshisa nyama', instead it has this title: "Regional variations of barbecue", which is too long and also does not correspond to your version.
Would you mind to give me a source text of your article? Nomden (talk) 11:21, 2 Eyo Kwindla 2016 (UTC)
Sorry Nomden, I forgot to state in the article: Translated from Afrikaans. The article af:Braai was written by various contributors. Its just that my Xhosa grammar is terrible! Will you manage? Otherwise I can do a proper translation into simple English, that you can work from then. Thanks, Aliwal2012 (talk) 13:21, 2 Eyo Kwindla 2016 (UTC)
Ok! Now I understand. I can read Afrikaans, but I cannot fully understand all the information provided through it. I think you are right when you say you are going to translate it into simple English. Then I will get it from there. I can see you are doing well with Xhosa and you surprise me with your fluency in other areas of your text. Never mind about grammar, you will become perfect as you continue learning it. It is normal when you are learning the language, especially the language that is totally different from yours, that is agglutinated language (e.g.Xhosa) vs disjunctive language (e.g. English). Have a wonderful day Nomden (talk) 07:52, 3 Eyo Kwindla 2016 (UTC)
Thanks for the kind words Nomden! Gheewiz, no those BRAAI text are machine translated, andi kwase! Ha-ha! Gert 12:19, 3 Eyo Kwindla 2016 (UTC)
Hi, I created a new template for languages that you can check here. Could you please tell me how do you say "speakers" and "Official in" in Xhosa? --Katxis (talk) 08:31, 3 May 2016 (UTC)
Hi, to say 'speakers' is Xhosa you say 'Izithethi' in plural and 'isithethi' in singular. the word 'official' is ngokuse'mthethweni' or ngokuse'sikweni' Nomden (talk)
Hi Nozibele,
my name is Tomasz W. Kozlowski and I work with the Communications team at the Wikimedia Foundation. On 2 August, I sent you an e-mail regarding an interview you gave to Victor Grigas in June 2015. Can you confirm whether you received my e-mail successfully? I would like to do a follow-up to that interview and to ask you a few additional questions and clarify some of the things you said. Please let me know if you received my message; if not, I will send it again to you as soon as I can. If that's not too much of a problem, please let me know about this on my Meta talk page as I don't check this wiki regularly. Thank you, TKozlowski (WMF) (talk) 10:18, 11 Eye Thupha 2016 (UTC)
Hi again Nozibele, thanks for getting back to me about this. I just re-sent my e-mail to the address you gave on Meta, please check your inbox :-) I look forward to hearing from you, TKozlowski (WMF) (talk) 13:07, 12 Eye Thupha 2016 (UTC)
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Hi, I am not sure whether I should participate in the survey. I am not a member of Wikimedia foundation. I would like to know further about it, though.Nomden (talk) 06:25, 24 Eyo Mdumba 2017 (UTC)
Hi. There is a mail and a phone at Iphepha Elingundoqo, is that right? (Sorry I'm not on my account, I just wanted to see what a text in Xhosa would look like) Regards, 190.251.12.212 22:43, 1 Eyesilimela 2017 (UTC)
Hi, and thank you for asking. When I joined Xhosa Wikipedia, I also had the same question. I do not know who wrote the Xhosa main page. I was also considering to rewrite it, but I can only do that when approved by the management. In my opinion, I do not think we should write our e-mail addresses and phone numbers. I think someone should have written about the background of Xhosa and its varieties. that has been touched a bit in religion. However, I will have to find out more about this.Nomden (talk)
Who is this management you're talking about? I notice you're an admin and there is a rule among all wikis about doing what is the best for that wiki. I think we can ask in Metawiki anyway, just let me know. Regards, ·×ald·es 04:20, 3 Eyesilimela 2017 (UTC)
Yes I am an admin,I am considering to remove these details. But I think it will be good to consult before I can do that. I have been away for health purposes for a long time. I will also write to the author and about this and ask him/her to put such information on his/her page. regards.Nomden (talk)
I hope you get better. Let me know if you need some help. ·×ald·es 17:53, 6 Eyesilimela 2017 (UTC)
Thank you so much. I will let you knowNomden (talk)
Molo Nomden, my name is Samir and I work with the Wikimedia Foundation's communication's team. I'm writing a blog profile about you to be published on the Wikimedia blog using a transcription of your interview with Victor Grigas. Some parts of the ineterview were inaudible due to connectivity issues and I was wondering if I can send you some follow-up questions? I've tried to reach you using your email address @unisa.ac.za but sounds like it doesn't work. If you're interested would you please contact me at selsharbatyiThemplethi:@wikimedia.org or provide me with a working email address? Thank you so much! --Selsharbaty (WMF) (talk) 12:13, 3 Eye Khala 2017 (UTC)
Dear Selsharbaty, I'm so sorry about your trouble. there are times when I am deep in my applied linguistics research, and not looking at other things. I vividly remember about our conversation with Victor Grigas. But because of my job contract, sometimes I am out from the connection, particularly when it expires. Could you please remind me about the questions? Please bear with me. My email address is nomden2unisa.ac.za another one is unisanomden@gmail.com Nomden (talk) 08:25, 4 Eyo Mnga 2017 (UTC)[reply]
Hi Nomden, sorry write in English but I can not write IsiXhosa, I use the Google Translate but sometimes the text is not good enough. I changed the article above, now it is the article and 'Confucius' a redirect. I changed the image, the old one does not 'open', and I added the text ... "Umzobo kaConfucius ngumculi waseMing u-Qiu Ying (u-1494-1552)" ... in the image but I do not is correct ... so it is not visible, you can see it when you open the Edit source (see [2]). Could you please correct it? remove the 2 arrows and it will be visible. Many thanks. DARIO SEVERI (talk) 02:20, 4 Eyo Mnga 2017 (UTC)[reply]
Dear DARIO SEVERI, please bear with me I will integrate the two before we can delete anyone of them. note that the page with 'U-Gqoba, William Wellington' has more information which is not included in 'Gqoba, William Wellington'. Similarly, the latter has some information, such as a picture,which does not appear in the page with 'U-gqoba, William Wellington'. I am compiling the two to be in one page. After that we can delete one. Would you mind to remind me on how to add a picture. I am trying but I am struggling a bit. I used to do it with ease, but I do not know now where I have gone wrong. Once again, thank you. Nomden (talk) 08:33, 2 Eyo Mdumba 2018 (UTC)
Dear Nomden, Thanks for your message. For add a picture in one article copy from another article the text of one image and then made the change ... or copy this one
Thank you so much DARIO SEVERI, i think we should keep the one with U-Gqobha, because the U- shows that the is a Xhosa article.Nomden (talk) 06:40, 7 Eyo Mdumba 2018 (UTC)
Dear Nomden, I would like to create more articles from countries in Africa, we have ... E-Algeria, ITopiya, Mauritania and INigeria (see [3]) but I do not the correct name in Xhosa, could you write some of them? I will create them.
Hi DARIO SEVERI, I don't think we have Xhosa names for all countries. I can assist you with the name of the country you want to translate at that point in time Nomden (talk) 08:55, 6 Eyo Kwindla 2018 (UTC)
We have this article, E-Bhizana but I think it is a part of South Africa, but which one? Thanks DARIO SEVERI (talk) 05:35, 23 Eyo Mdumba 2018 (UTC)
Hi, Bhizana is a Southern part of South Africa, towards KwaZulu Natal Province. It is a Mpondo region which was part of the ex-Transkei homeland before 1994.People of this region are called amaMpondo. The amaMpondo prominent figures are Winnie-Madikizela Mandela, the former wife of Nelson Mandela; the former ANC president Oliver Tambo, and others.
DARIO SEVERI, let me clarify this. The use of prefixes in isiXhosa are very important, but a bit complicated to non-speakers because using them requires a knoeldge of noun classes. For example, in most cases (of cause there are exceptions), prefix i- is used when we refer to something as in yintoni le? (check i in yintoni which means what is this?.However, we can use i-when we are referring to people whom we are not sure about their gender for instance when a new baby is born as in uyintoni na lo mntu mtsha? What is this new baby? or uzele mntwana mni? means the same. The answer would be yintombazana it (she) is a girl; or uzele intombana (check i- in intombazana)'She has given birth to a girl'. Most importantly, Xhosa speakers use i- in borrowed or adopted words, especially those borrowed and adopted from English.
In this regard, you know that in most cases we don't use 'What' as a key question when we are referring to countries, proper nouns. We use which country or where, who or whom. For instance we can respond with in America, in Bhizana, and so on, which in Xhosa becomes eMelika and eBhizana, respectively. referring to proper nouns we can use Whom and Who as key questions as in ngubani lo 'Who is this?' or ubani? 'Who?' and the answer might be nguDARIO SEVERI or uDARIO SEVERI, respectively.
Based on this background, I think we should use pre-prefix e- when we refer to countries. So we should have said e-Algeria, eTopiya, eMauritania, eNigeria. We had a long discussion around that, but I think we should make some corrections.
Hi Nomden, thanks for your explanation. The grammar is a bit difficult but you explained that the correct thing would be to start the name of the countries with the letter "e", I'll try created some pages using the template that is being used in the article Mauritania. I do some think you disagree please delete it. Thanks again. DARIO SEVERI (talk) 13:27, 6 Eyo Kwindla 2018 (UTC)
Hi DARIO SEVERI, thank you for your response. Please do not worry, I will look at your translations and make some editing where possible. don't even worry about grammatical element, I will take good care of everything. Thank you for your willingness to contribute. Nomden (talk) 10:35, 9 Eyo Kwindla 2018 (UTC)
Hi Nomden, I created two countries, E-Angola and EZambia. It is not possible created with "e" so I use "E". Could you check and correct what is wrong? Thanks. DARIO SEVERI (talk) 15:29, 24 Eyo Kwindla 2018 (UTC)
Thank you for this contribution. The only thing I think I have missed in my previous explanation is that, e- is equivalent to 'in' as when we say "in America", and i- refers to anything that is not human. for example:
When we ask about a person we say ngubani lo? "Who is this?" , we don't say Yintoni le? "what is this?".
the answer might be nguDARIO SEVERI 'He is DARIO SEVERI. But in Xhosa we cannot refer to a human being as i- 'it', because a human being is not somthing or a thing.
Angola is a country not a Human being, when we say e-Angola we mean 'in Angola'. But when we want do dwell much on it, we can say "i-Angola lilizwe lase-Afrika 'Anglola is an African country'. So it is good to have e-Angola as a heading.
Thanx Nomden (talk) 12:54, 28 Eyo Kwindla 2018 (UTC)
Dear Nozibele (Nomden), I'm so happy and excited to meet you! Today I made my first edits in the XH WP and discovered you - so to introduce myself: My name is Deborah Jacobs (hence User:Deborahjay), originally active on the English Wikipedia, then with my acquired Hebrew and some other languages, then the Commons, and lately Wikidata. Especially of mutual interest is my daily volunteering (since summer 2017) on the isiZulu Wikipedia. The ZU WP has no administrator (and I'm ineligible because I don't know the language!) and very few active editors. In part, I'm there to prove that with some Wiki markup language, good typing skills and Internet connection, attention to detail, and an interest in other languages, a volunteer editor can make serious improvements - also with valued help from @DARIO SEVERI: and others on the Small Wiki Monitoring Team. For now, I hope you like the little tweaks I made to your User page (and if you'd rather not keep them, go ahead and revert my edit - I won't take offense!), and I'm willing to share with you everything I know that can help you here. Best regards from Deborahjay (talk) 12:14, 3 Ekatshazimpuzi 2018 (UTC)
Waw! that's sounds good. Thank you for your message Deborah, I am also glad to interact with you. Let me also thank you for your interest in these two Nguni languages. You will get fluent in them through participation. Rest assured, I will never feel offended by anything you wrote in Wikipedia. We will discuss about our contributions, anyway. Would you mind to tell me where are located? Thanks
I'm from the USA (New York/Los Angeles) but since 1984 live in Israel - so I think we're in the same time zone or close enough. My main concern is not to create mistakes here, so it would be a blessing if you will check my edits in "Compare versions" and correct whatever's wrong. (That includes: if I create a mis-named page or category, it would require a Move.) I don't want to be a burden, but it's so interesting to find what I can do. For example: I see many pages here are already in Wikidata, but few pages have categories - which is one of my specialties. What do you think? -- Deborahjay (talk) 13:08, 4 Ekatshazimpuzi 2018 (UTC)
Edited to add: I will learn from your corrections, because I check Utshitsho olusandokwenziwa frequently and will see all your activity there. -- Deborahjay (talk) 13:12, 4 Ekatshazimpuzi 2018 (UTC)
Mholweni, Nozibele! By clicking on Random page, I've found where I can already make improvements. I don't want to overload you with changes to review - so I'll only link one request here:
I have more in mind, just now these first three suggestions. Let's see how we can progress. Please note that I'm employed only part-time from my home (as an editor and translator from Hebrew to English) and our two daughters are living near their jobs - so I have time to volunteer in Wikipedia and in my community. You, take your time! I'll watch for your activity. -- Cheers, Deborahjay (talk) 15:14, 5 Ekatshazimpuzi 2018 (UTC)
Ewe! I can see that you are passionate about your work. We are lucky to have you. Enkosi Nomden (talk) 07:06, 6 Ekatshazimpuzi 2018 (UTC)
I am so glad to help! I now marked five new categories of two types - if you would kindly visit them and approve or correct them:
I will watch for your remarks to those, and then I'll create and populate those new categories. Enkosi, Deborahjay (talk) 15:44, 6 Ekatshazimpuzi 2018 (UTC)
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Molo Deborahjay, ilizwekazi is in a singular form and amazwekazi in plural. I think if we are referring to a student as in 'Cape Town student' we should say 'Umfundi waseKapa'. However, if we mean to say 'Cape Town Education' we should say 'Imfundo yaseKapa'. Because the word begins with 'um..', I think it is refering to human being which is umfundi, a student in this case. Always remeber that we rarely use prefix 'i...' to a human being. Unless we are using a title or a gender, as in intombazana 'a girl' or igqwetha 'a lawyer'. We can also use a prefix 'i' and its plural referring to human being when we use formulaic expressions such as idiomatic, metaphoric and proverbial expressions. I hope this make sense. If not please let me know. Nomden (talk)
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