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ArchivesRe: Zola in Hebrew
in reply to a message by thegriffon
I bumped into this old post and found it fitting to comment since I am Nguni (Ngoni if you are from Zambia, Malawi etc and I'm culturally Zulu with Xhosa and Swazi heritage) of South Africa.
I'm not going to argue on the origins and the meaning of Zola from an Italian or Hebrew perspective because I know nothing of these languages therefore I don't qualify to argue.
I just want to state the following facts concerning the Zulu/Nguni version of the name/word:
1. Ukuzola : Means to be calm in Southern Nguni (Xhosa and Zulu, unsure of Swazi and Ndebele version)
2. Nokuzola : Exclusively feminine version of Zola, meaning mother or bearer of calmness
3. Zola: Masculine version of number 2 above, generally given to the male child but can also be given to a female although I've seen fewer instances of this.
4. Zolile : Meaning the calm one.
On the other hand, Xola (pronounced with a click not with the "z" sound) means to be peaceful or forgiveness. It is important to understand the origins of the clicking generally found within the Nguni and Southern Sotho stock. The clicks come from our neighbors, the Khoi and the San people. This means on arrival in the South, we did not posses these sounds. It is therefore without a doubt that Xola and Zola are variations of the same word by root or etymology. Further, Zulu, Xhosa, Ndebele and Swazi languages are so closely related that sometimes to associate a word/name with anyone of the languages(dialects in my view) exclusively is prone to error, except for a few distinct words.
So if an African American chooses that his "Zola" is from a Zulu/Xhosa sense of the word, then it shall be as he chooses and his choice should not be subject to any unfounded scrutiny by a people who understand not either African or African American heritage.
I'm not going to argue on the origins and the meaning of Zola from an Italian or Hebrew perspective because I know nothing of these languages therefore I don't qualify to argue.
I just want to state the following facts concerning the Zulu/Nguni version of the name/word:
1. Ukuzola : Means to be calm in Southern Nguni (Xhosa and Zulu, unsure of Swazi and Ndebele version)
2. Nokuzola : Exclusively feminine version of Zola, meaning mother or bearer of calmness
3. Zola: Masculine version of number 2 above, generally given to the male child but can also be given to a female although I've seen fewer instances of this.
4. Zolile : Meaning the calm one.
On the other hand, Xola (pronounced with a click not with the "z" sound) means to be peaceful or forgiveness. It is important to understand the origins of the clicking generally found within the Nguni and Southern Sotho stock. The clicks come from our neighbors, the Khoi and the San people. This means on arrival in the South, we did not posses these sounds. It is therefore without a doubt that Xola and Zola are variations of the same word by root or etymology. Further, Zulu, Xhosa, Ndebele and Swazi languages are so closely related that sometimes to associate a word/name with anyone of the languages(dialects in my view) exclusively is prone to error, except for a few distinct words.
So if an African American chooses that his "Zola" is from a Zulu/Xhosa sense of the word, then it shall be as he chooses and his choice should not be subject to any unfounded scrutiny by a people who understand not either African or African American heritage.
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