The Kaffir words given below may be useful to enable some visitor to
South Africa to make known to the Kaffirs a few of his wants.
I will not vouch for the correctness of the grammar of which I have made
use, but the Kaffirs will understand what may be required from even
these sentences.
Each word ought to be pronounced as it is written, the last syllable but
one being always rested on longer than the others. The _a_, _e_, and
_i_, are pronounced as in French. The plural is in general formed by
prefixing _ama_, and dropping in some cases the first syllable; as,
_indoda_, a man; _amadoda_, men; _ihashi_, a horse; _amahaski_, horses.
The numerals are more easily explained by holding up the
fingers,--_shumi_ being ten; _amashumi_, tens. Thirty would be
explained as tens, three, _amashumi m'tatu_, or by opening and shutting
the hands three times.
The click which is used, by the Kaffirs need not be attempted by the
beginner in the language,--there are so very few words which require the
click, and these few are quite easily understood without it. The
ambitious linguist frequently renders himself quite unintelligible to a
Kaffir, in consequence of clicking with every word, whether this click
is required or not. It is far better to pronounce distinctly the simple
word, than to attempt to adorn it by a performance which, as I have
before remarked, cannot be perfectly accomplished until the individual
has lost nearly all his teeth.
To any person who may wish to advance in the Kaffir language I submit a
conjugated verb as a model; but I generally found that _ile_, placed at
the end of the infinitive mood, was quite understood by the Kaffirs for
the past tense: as, _uku hamba_, to go; _hambile_, gone; _tanda_, to
love; _tandile_, have loved, etc.