ninehillsRAMBLE in the JUNGLE
"I AM A MAN"?
By Wanaku Verdzekov · · Africa & the Gulf of Guinea
Date note: Undated Facebook post, estimated to about 2021.
Tags: ubuntu, bantu, language, dignity
With UBUNTU, this is OBVIOUS.
PS: "Ubuntu" is the root philosophy of the aBANTU (people).
"aBANTU" simply means "PEOPLE".
"PEOPLE" are PEOPLE (with superficially distinct features).
GrandPa would wonder why one has to announce the obvious in public.
By the way, "person" is UMUNTU.
Quiz: how did the word "BANTU" become a "thing", instead of "aBANTU"? Well, the "writers" of history simply dropped the "a" for some reason. And now it is a "thing" with no real meaning attached. And one wonders why it is hard to truly and faithfully translate values from one culture to another (and vice versa).
- "A man", or "person", is UMUNTU.
- "People" are aBANTU.
- "People are people because of people" is UBUNTU.
"NTU" is common to all three. What is "NTU"?
Recap:
UBUNTU = "Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu": a person is a "person" through other people.
TM
— Wanaku Verdzekov
Reading & grammar
Reading level: Gr 8–10
Understand
- What do umuntu, abantu and ubuntu mean?
- How did "Bantu" become a "thing", according to the author?
- What does "a person is a person through other people" mean to you?
Grammar focus: prefixes in Bantu languages. In Zulu, um- marks one person (umuntu), aba- several (abantu), and ubu- the quality or idea (ubuntu). English does something similar with suffixes: friend / friends / friendship.
Try it: Make a table of three English words with a singular, a plural and an "idea" form (child / children / childhood).
Discuss: Does individual success matter more than community, or does a person only become a person through others?