Why XHOSAROOTS?

IsiXhosa — like its isiNtu siblings — is one of the oldest and most beautiful languages the world has known. It is also dying a slow death. This resource was driven by the desire to preserve the language, for posterity.

The resource

This dictionary was built digital-first, and built for isiXhosa from inception. Words are not arranged alphabetically — search finds the specific word efficiently, and words arranged freely invite exploration. Nothing here tries to emulate an English dictionary; the design responds to the language itself.

Morphology

IsiXhosa is a polysynthetic language: the verb, for the most part, forms the foundation of word construction — the root. Through the agglutination of affixes, the root transforms into other word classes while remaining intact. XHOSAROOTS is born out of that: a resource centred on the roots. When you explore a word, you are taken to its root and shown the transformations in action — deeper into the language, and deeper into the culture that conceived it.

Game of tones

IsiXhosa is also tonal: part of the meaning is carried in the tone. Take simamele — depending on pronunciation it means “listen to us” or “we are listening”. Standard spelling does not record tone, so wherever possible each word is accompanied by a sound clip, with the aim of one for every word in our records.

Finally

This resource is a living thing, with the imperfections expected of anything that draws breath. Along the way we'll break it, and then heal what's broken — nurturing it into the best isiXhosa dictionary the world has seen.

Motlatsi, mfo kaPotla. Ndiyema apho!