Phiway Mbuyazi has invented more than 450 new science and technology words in Zulu, as he strives to secure the survival of the language in an increasingly technology-focused world.
The founder of Mbuyazi Publishing and Sunday Times Zulu Edition columnist is passionate about his mother tongue, and has been working tirelessly to ensure it claims its rightful place on the technological stage.
His hopes for the future of Zulu are to expand its utility in education and in the world of work; to make it scientifically and mathematically expressive; and to see more shelf-space devoted to trade books in Zulu, "for as long as written books survive".
"One must be able to study, for example, Oceanography, in Zulu and get a university degree," he says.
Living the dream
Born on 2 May 1971, in north KwaZulu-Natal, to a government clerk father and nurse mother, Mbuyazi grew up in Mtubatuba and Ulundi, with aspirations to become an engineer, a feat he recognises is difficult for most Zulu children to achieve.
He realised that childhood dream, completing a BSc in Electrical Engineering at the University of Cape Town, in 1993, and going on to obtain a BA (philosophy, politics, economics) at Oriel College, Oxford University, in 1998.
He has held various positions in his chosen field, including junior engineer and diamond valuator at De Beers. Aside from his roles at Mbuyazi Publishing and the Sunday Times Zulu Edition, he also serves as non-executive director at Umbono Capital, Village Main Reef, and Madulamoho Housing Association.
Birth of a word
Mbuyazi started developing technical Zulu terms when he realised no one else was. "I also had a burning desire to enable Zulu speakers to participate in conversations in which they can't at the moment, because they are seen as the preserve of the English language," he explains.
Mbuyazi is a fierce advocate of language change, believing language and thought are intimately related. "Language and thought are like Siamese twins; you develop the one and the other automatically comes along; if one dies, both die," he says. "Thoughts that we need to think for survival today are different to the thoughts that were necessary two centuries ago, therefore the language must change to enable new thoughts to take place."
When formulating new words, Mbuyazi says he takes one of many approaches, all of which involve consultation with others to various degrees. He outlines some of the methods available to him.
"Some words exist, but are in danger of falling out of common usage; if scope exists to tweak them and expand their meaning, then you do that," he says.
He explains that new discoveries come with automatic naming rights. "One has greater possibilities of making new discoveries if one does mental exploration and engages in deep thinking."
None of the languages we consider to be technically savvy started out that way.
Another method is to consider an object in its entirety. "Consider its utility, what it looks like, what noises it makes, what it reminds you of, what your experience of it is; then use that as the basis. If there is already a word in the language that is related, or whose root can be used as a derivation, follow that route," he advises.
"If a word exists in another language, trace its roots in that or another language (eg, an English word with Greek roots), and if that root exists as a word in Zulu, then I'll use it to derive another word." He also refers to "neologism through 'Zulufication'", which involves taking words from other languages and making them sound Zulu.
Mbuyazi believes the words he has created will one day become standard usage, especially by those who follow his writings. "My words come through my novel, [a science and technology book for children] AmaYIPHENDLEYA - IsiQalo Sakho Konke (The WIBY Kids - How It All Began) - and that novel has a numbered glossary of the new words. I should imagine that once I've written at least five books, there'll be a rationale for compiling all the new words in a single dictionary. Those who follow my writings will have known my new words quite well to be able to follow what I'm on about."
The book follows four South African teenagers as they learn about mathematics, science, technology, philosophy, history and culture. Play Your Part reports that, while writing the Zulu version of the book (which took five times as long as writing the English version, owing to a lack of technical terminology), Mbuyazi also developed a new Zulu numbering system that lends itself to being spoken and translated into other languages with greater ease. It quotes Mbuyazi as saying: "The WIBY Kids are to science and technology what Harry Potter is to magic and wizardry."
Mbuyazi says: "I see the greatest value of what I'm doing as that of galvanising Zulu speakers to engage in it in constructive ways, as opposed to leaving the language to perish through neglect."
Rose by any other name
Mbuyazi is confident Zulu can be used to discuss matters of technology. "Any language can be used to discuss anything... None of the languages we consider to be technically savvy started out that way; in each of them, there is a long history of people who made the contribution - over hundreds of years - to get them where they are today."
He rejects the idea that Zulu is not strong enough as a language to warrant, for example, its own software, operating systems and suchlike. "I meet a lot of people who say that would never happen in the globalising world of today. But I think that what we tell ourselves will provide the limit to what we can do. If we continually tell ourselves that it's impossible, and that there's a better language in which that can happen, then the outcome is quite plain to see. But if we believe that it can happen, and we are motivated enough to see that become a reality, even in the face of seemingly insurmountable challenges, we can get Zulu interfaces for any gadget."
Perfect timing
Mbuyazi's technological Zulu terms could not have been better timed.
According to the 2011 Census results, more people speak Zulu as their first language (22.7%) than any other language in SA, including Xhosa (16%), English (9.6%) and Afrikaans (13.5%).
The language is slowly gaining market share in the industry, and the tech giants are noticing. Zulu forms part of Microsoft's Local Language Program, which gives people access to technology "in a familiar language while respecting linguistic and cultural distinctions". The program localises common features within Microsoft products through Language Interface Packs. These can be downloaded free of charge, enabling users to install a local language version as a "skin" on top of an existing installation of the Windows operating system and standard Microsoft Office system applications, says the company.
Software programs available in Zulu include Windows 7, 8, Vista and XP, and Outlook 2003, 2007 and 2012.
Carla Hurd, senior programme manager, Microsoft Local Language Program, says the main aim of the programme is to remove the language barrier to education. "We believe the impact of learning in one's first language on educational development is enormous. When we learn new things, especially as a child, our first language is the foundation for this learning. For example, it is far easier for children (and adults) to learn to read in their own mother tongues, as they are able to use their spoken language as a reference point. And computer literacy education is much the same - once a user has mastered a software program in his/her own language, s/he finds the progression to using it in English far easier."
Another goal, says Hurd, is to help keep native languages modern, mainstream and relevant to their speakers. "One of the main causes of 'language death' is that bilingual speakers start to use their 'second' language gradually more frequently - usually because it has more utility and is more applicable to their daily lives."
Like Mbuyazi, Hurd believes all languages have a role in technology if the community or other entities embrace it to be so. "There are several initiatives that a community or the government can engage in to help revitalise the language. For example, creating an IT glossary in the language and making it available for third-party developers to develop W8 apps in the Zulu language."
She notes that Microsoft makes its IT glossaries available for download for free.
"It is really up to the community, developers and/or government as to whether or not they wish to create a movement or momentum around their language in the area of technology," she says.
Mbuyazi is not finished. His plans for the future include converting his Zulu writings into audio files, so those who cannot read the language can follow his work. He is also working on a number of books, two of which are close to publication. "That's not to mention that I have to write part two of 40 in the book series that gave birth to 450 new words."
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