Nguni

For the cattle breed see Nguni cattle.

Nguni (an older variant is Ngoni) commonly refers both to a group of clans and nations living in south-east Africa, and to a group of Bantu languages spoken in southern Africa including Zulu, Xhosa, Swati, and Ndebele.

It is sometimes argued that use of Nguni as a generic label suggests a historical monolithic unity of the peoples in question where in fact the situation may have been more complex (Wright 1987). The linguistic use of the label (referring to a subgrouping of the Bantu languages) has never been questioned.

Contents

1 Social organization
2 Language
3 Religion
4 References

Social organization

Within the Nguni nations, the clan - based on male ancestry - formed the highest social unit. Each clan was led by a chieftain. Influential men tried to achieve independence by creating their own clan. The power of a chieftain often depended on how well he could hold his clan together. From about 1800, the rise of the Zulu clan of the Nguni and the consequent mfecane that accompanied the expansion of the Zulus under Shaka, helped to drive a process of alliance between and consolidation among many of the smaller clans. For example, the kingdom of Swaziland was formed in the early nineteenth century by different Nguni groups allying with the Dlamini clan against the threat of external attack. Today the kingdom encompasses many dfferent clans who speak an Nguni language called Swati and are loyal to the king of Swaziland, who is also the head of the Dlamini clan.

Language

The Nguni languages are closely related, and in many instances mutually intelligible.

Compare the following sentences:

I love your new home - Ngithanda ikhaya elisha lakho (Zulu) Ndithanda ikhaya elitsha lakho (Xhosa)
I only understand a little English - Ngiqonda isiNgisi kancane, nje (Zulu) Ndiqonda isiNgesi kancinci, nje (Xhosa)

Religion

Nguni people can be Christians (whether Catholics or Protestants in Mozambique, South Africa, and Zimbabwe), or practitioners of African traditional religions, or practising forms of Christianity modified with traditional African values (such as the Shembe Church of Nazarites).

References

Wright, J. (1987) 'Politics, ideology, and the invention of the "nguni"', in Tom Lodge (ed.), Resistance and ideology in settler societies, 96-118.

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