isicamtho, noun

/ˌis(i)ˈǀaːmtɔ/
Forms:
iscamto, isiqamthoShow more Also iscamto, isiqamtho, scamtho, scamto.
Origin:
IsiXhosa, isiZuluShow more IsiXhosa or isiZulu, see quotation 1987.
flaaitaal; but see quotation 1993.
Note:
See note at flaaitaal.
1980 Voice 20 Aug. 14Scamto goes hand in glove with Jit, khwela, marabi, mbaqanga, soul, jazz, disco-jive.
1982 Star 11 Nov. (Tonight) 4In Soweto..‘die majitas’ indulge in a colourful ‘taal’ called scamtho. This is a concoction of Zulu merged with other dialects and a bit of English. It also swallows other European words.
1987 C.T. Msimang in S. Afr. Jrnl of Afr. Langs Vol.7 No.3, 85Tsotsi terms from inflected Zulu words...Isiqamtho comes from the verb -qamutha or -qamunda (talk volubly or maintain a constant flow of language)...Never refer to their medium as Tsotsitaal...Among themselves, their medium is isiqamtho (or isicamtho), which implies that they really have a gift of the tongue. There is a possiblity that this word is derived from Xhosa, a sister language of Zulu, where to speak volubly is to qamtha.
1993 M. ka Harvey in Weekly Mail & Guardian 23 Dec. 15The Sophiatown influence can..be seen in township lingo, which varies from group to group. There is ‘tsotsi taal’ (mainly spoken in Meadowlands and Rockville), ‘isicamtho’ (spoken by the youth), ‘jive lingo’ (influenced by African Jah) and pristine ‘wietie’, directly from Sophiatown.
flaaitaal; but see quotation 1993.
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IsiXhosa
IsiZulu
isibongo, nounn.isicathamiya, nounn.
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