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Fanagalo

Meaning of "Fanagalo" in the English dictionary

DICTIONARY

ETYMOLOGY OF THE WORD FANAGALO

From Fanagalo fana go lo, literally: to be like this; compare Zulu fand to be like, ka-lo of this.

Etymology is the study of the origin of words and their changes in structure and significance.

PRONUNCIATION OF FANAGALO

ˈfænəɡələʊ


GRAMMATICAL CATEGORY OF FANAGALO

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation
Fanagalo is a noun.
A noun is a type of word the meaning of which determines reality. Nouns provide the names for all things: people, objects, sensations, feelings, etc.

WHAT DOES FANAGALO MEAN IN ENGLISH?

Fanagalo

Fanagalo is a pidgin based primarily on Zulu, with English and a small Afrikaans input. It is used as a lingua franca, mainly in the gold, diamond, coal and copper mining industries in South Africa and to a lesser extent in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Although it is used as a second language only, the number of speakers was estimated as "several hundred thousand" in 1975. As with India, once the British went, English became the lingua franca enabling different tribes in the same country to communicate with each other, and Fanagalo use declined. Fanagalo is the only Zulu-based pidgin language, and is a rare example of a pidgin based on an indigenous language rather than on the language of a colonising or trading power. The variety in Zimbabwe is known as Chilapalapa and is influenced by Shona, while the variety in Zambia, called Cikabanga, is influenced by Bemba.

Definition of Fanagalo in the English dictionary

The definition of Fanagalo in the dictionary is a Zulu-based pidgin with English and Afrikaans components, esp associated with the mines.

WORDS THAT RHYME WITH FANAGALO

bangalow · beefalo · below · blow · brigalow · cembalo · clavicembalo · Fanakalo · fellow · flow · follow · hallo · hello · hollow · lo · low · Oslo · overflow · pedalo · polo

WORDS THAT BEGIN LIKE FANAGALO

Fanakalo

WORDS THAT END LIKE FANAGALO

Asiatic buffalo · buffalo · bummalo · calo · Cape buffalo · catalo · cattalo · cymbalo · enhalo · galactic halo · halo · Indian buffalo · Lalo · realo · robalo · tapalo · water buffalo · zocalo

Synonyms and antonyms of Fanagalo in the English dictionary of synonyms

SYNONYMS

Translation of «Fanagalo» into 25 languages

TRANSLATOR

TRANSLATION OF FANAGALO

Find out the translation of Fanagalo to 25 languages with our English multilingual translator.

The translations of Fanagalo from English to other languages presented in this section have been obtained through automatic statistical translation; where the essential translation unit is the word «Fanagalo» in English.
zh

Translator English - Chinese

Fanagalo
1,325 millions of speakers
es

Translator English - Spanish

Fanagalo
570 millions of speakers
en

English

Fanagalo
510 millions of speakers
hi

Translator English - Hindi

Fanagalo
380 millions of speakers
ar

Translator English - Arabic

Fanagalo
280 millions of speakers
ru

Translator English - Russian

Fanagalo
278 millions of speakers
pt

Translator English - Portuguese

Fanagalo
270 millions of speakers
bn

Translator English - Bengali

Fanagalo
260 millions of speakers
fr

Translator English - French

Fanagalo
220 millions of speakers
ms

Translator English - Malay

Fanagalo
190 millions of speakers
de

Translator English - German

Fanagalo
180 millions of speakers
ja

Translator English - Japanese

Fanagalo
130 millions of speakers
ko

Translator English - Korean

Fanagalo
85 millions of speakers
jv

Translator English - Javanese

Fanagalo
85 millions of speakers
vi

Translator English - Vietnamese

Fanagalo
80 millions of speakers
ta

Translator English - Tamil

ஃபங்காலோ
75 millions of speakers
mr

Translator English - Marathi

फनाग्लो
75 millions of speakers
tr

Translator English - Turkish

Fanagalo
70 millions of speakers
it

Translator English - Italian

Fanagalo
65 millions of speakers
pl

Translator English - Polish

Fanagalo
50 millions of speakers
uk

Translator English - Ukrainian

Fanagalo
40 millions of speakers
ro

Translator English - Romanian

Fanagalo
30 millions of speakers
el

Translator English - Greek

Fanagalo
15 millions of speakers
af

Translator English - Afrikaans

Fanagalo
14 millions of speakers
sv

Translator English - Swedish

Fanagalo
10 millions of speakers
no

Translator English - Norwegian

Fanagalo
5 millions of speakers

Trends of use of Fanagalo

TRENDS

TENDENCIES OF USE OF THE TERM «FANAGALO»

Principal search tendencies and common uses of Fanagalo
List of principal searches undertaken by users to access our English online dictionary and most widely used expressions with the word «Fanagalo».

Examples of use in the English literature, quotes and news about Fanagalo

EXAMPLES

10 ENGLISH BOOKS RELATING TO «FANAGALO»

Discover the use of Fanagalo in the following bibliographical selection. Books relating to Fanagalo and brief extracts from same to provide context of its use in English literature.
1
Language Contact, Creolization, and Genetic Linguistics
Fanagalo lacks the Bantu concord system but has pleonastic third person subject pronouns. It also lacks Bantu noun classes entirely, but plural is marked on nouns by a Bantu prefix ma-, e.g., skatul 'shoe' : maskatul 'shoes'. Fanagalo does  ...
Sarah Grey Thomason, Terrence Kaufman, 1988
2
The Haves and the Have Nots: The Abuse of Power and ...
Fanagalo is a pidgin language used in South Africa's mines. It uses lots of Zulu words as well as some words that were borrowed from English and Afrikaans. Fanagalo is concerned with regulation. Imperative commands are at the language's ...
Harvey A. Hornstein, 2003
3
Saint Helenian English
Fanagalo (Pidgin Zulu), for instance, provides an excellent example (Mesthrie 1989). Fanagalo developed in the South African gold and diamond mines and was spoken as a lingua franca by workers from across southern and central Africa ...
Daniel Schreier, 2008
4
Concise Encyclopedia of Languages of the World
Fanakalo (also spelled Fanagalo) is a southern African pidgin language that continues to be used two centuries after its inception. It is used in parts of South Africa, Zimbabwe (where it is usually known as Chilapalapa), Mozambique, Malawi, ...
‎2010
5
English in Language Shift: The History, Structure and ...
(And given the range of languages anyway, a knowledge of, say, Tamil alone would not have been enough.) One informant recalled being taught in Fanagalo by his missionary-teacher in the first few days of school in the 1930s as follows: ' Ai ...
Rajend Mesthrie, 2006
6
Memories of a Scientist: The Carp Expedition to the Save ...
Talking. locally,. talking. in. Fanagalo. Communication between the white settlers and the African population in Zimbabwe was not easy and several forms of linguistic aid had to be invented. Command of the African languages (notably ...
William Büttiker-Otto, 2008
7
Language in South Africa
'Fanagalo and the Bantu languages in South Africa'. African Studies, 12: 1-9. Downes, W. 1 984. Language and Society. London: Fontana. Gal, S. 1989. ' Language and political economy'. Annual Review ofAnthropologv, 18: 345-67. Hancock ...
Rajend Mesthrie, 2002
8
Billboard
BOBBY. BRITTON. Ted. Heath's. Orchestra. AUTUMN. CONCERTO. LOST. Tunes With Greatest Radio -TV Audience Tunes, listed alphabetically, have the greatest audiences oil network nation programs in New York, Chicago and Los ...
9
Drama for a New South Africa: Seven Plays
HENRY: I mean — even I don't know what you charfing ninety percent a' the time, man. You hanna-hanna on at yourself in that stupid Fanagalo all the time and . . . and — what — I'm supposed to smell what you saying . . . ? STIX: Fanagalo .
David Graver, 1999
10
Focus on South Africa
A last line of influence in the distillation of SAflndE that has to be considered is the possibility that early SAflndE involved some measure of relexification of Fanagalo. Again, there is some degree of overlap between the two speech forms (the ...
Vivian De Klerk, 1996

10 NEWS ITEMS WHICH INCLUDE THE TERM «FANAGALO»

Find out what the national and international press are talking about and how the term Fanagalo is used in the context of the following news items.
1
Nkandla: Who are the real fools here?
It is this phrase, apparently culled from old mine workers' Fanagalo, that will dominate shebeen conversations for weeks and months to come. «News24, May 15»
2
TODAY'S EDITORIAL COMMENT: South Africans deserve respect …
Some had clinics and even schools, where the recruits were taught, first, Fanagalo, the lingua franca of southern Africa (fifteen hours of tuition ... «postzambia.com, May 15»
3
Cahora Bassa Counter-Narrative: Allen and Barbara Isaacman …
... lives and the lived experiences of the people who built the dam under harsh South African overseers speaking Fanagalo, the 25 000 people ... «Books LIVE, Mar 15»
4
Naledi: A community following its very own lucky star
Many of the older men worked the mines, and still spoke Fanagalo. There were Zimbabweans, Americans, Brits, Canadians and Indians ... «Daily Maverick, Feb 15»
5
Northam Platinum eyes place among top mining producers
The working language is English rather than the pidgin Fanagalo used widely in South African mines. The belief is a smaller, better educated ... «Financial Times, Dec 14»
6
The brave new world of mining puts machines at the rock face
We do not talk Fanagalo on this mine. We talk in English," said Theron. And mining this way is safer. The mine has had no fatalities and only 15 ... «Times LIVE, Sep 14»
7
Youth leagues & youth voter apathy: The clearly unclear relationship
The 'fanagalo' that youth use on day today bases is the language that should be used by youth to speak to the minds and hearts of other youth; ... «Mmegi Online, Sep 14»
8
Gang link to mine executions
“I ran away and hid at a place we call madala side – (Fanagalo for an area that does not have gold anymore). “I hid there until late at night. «Independent Online, Jun 14»
9
Same Time Next Year for the Fugard Theatre
... nominated ROUGH OR SMOOTH for Mzansi Magic and ROF OF SPOG for SABC 2 through his production company Fanagalo Films. «Artslink.co.za News, May 14»
10
The taming of Swaziland's judiciary
The use of the Fanagalo phrase, with its apartheid undercurrents, raised eyebrows. The speech also indicated that the new chief justice would ... «Mail & Guardian Online, May 14»
REFERENCE
« EDUCALINGO. Fanagalo [online]. Available <https://educalingo.com/en/dic-en/fanagalo>. May 2024 ».
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