Zuma and the 1915 dictionary

Zuma and the 1915 dictionary

In case you didn’t already know the word ‘zuma’ means a person who goes about in the night intent on fornication. That is according to the Kafir-English dictionary published circa 1915 by the Lovedale Mission Press.

Zuma and the 1915 dictionary

 

Authors were Albert Kropf and Robert Godfrey. They further cited that the verb ‘uku-zuma’ meant to lie down in ambush, to take by surprise or to fall upon something unexpectedly. Fascinating stuff and almost a prediction of things to come.

The Lovedale Missionary Institute was a mission station and educational institute in the Victoria East division of the Cape Province (now in Eastern Cape). It was built on the banks of the Tyhume River, a tributary of the Keiskamma River, some 3.2kms north of Alice. Founded in 1824 by the Glasgow Missionary Society (GMS) it was named after Dr John Love, one of the leading members of the society.

The first buildings were destroyed by ‘the natives’ in 1834 and were rebuilt slightly further north. Until 1841 the missionaries  devoted themselves almost entirely to evangelistic work and soon they built a college for education which they controlled until 1955, passing to the state through the Bantu Education Act of 1952.

It was to become the campus that still exists at Alice and continues with an emphasis on agriculture. Famous alumni include Steve Biko,  Govan MbekiKing Sobhuza II, Sir Mwanawina Lewanika III, Ellen KuzwayoSam Nolutshungu, Sir Walter Stanford, the Princes Makweti, Isiteketo and Ngombala Lewanika of Barotseland.