Sindebele, noun

/sinˈdebele//sɪndəˈbeːli/
Forms:
isiNdebele, SendebeleShow more Also isiNdebele, Sendebele, Setebele, Sitabele, Sitebeli, Sitibela.
Origin:
In the Nguni languages isiNdebele, singular noun prefix isi- (denoting language or culture) + noun stem Ndebele, see Ndebele.
The language spoken by the Ndebele people (see Ndebele sense 1); Ndebele sense 2. Also attributive.
1835 D. Lindley in D.J. Kotze Lett. of American Missionaries (1950) 86The Sitebeli is much the same with the Sichuana in its structure, many words are the same in both languages, and many more so little changed in the Sitebeli as to be immediately known by one acquainted with Sichuana.
1836 A.E. Wilson in D.J. Kotze Lett. of American Missionaries (1950) 105The Sitibela is the proper language of [the] Matebela.
1871 J. Mackenzie Ten Yrs N. of Orange River 338Mr Sykes..who is a..student of the Zulu language, of which Setebele is a corruption, was availing himself of the opportunity of meeting with the chief’s sons and other Zulus, to compare the language as spoken by them with that given in a Zulu lexicon.
1872 T.M. Thomas 11 Yrs in Central S. Afr. 194The Isindebele (as the language of the Amandebele is called)..is a dialect of the Zulu Kafir.
1913 J. O’Neil (title)A grammar of the Sindebele dialect of Zulu.
1919 H.H. Johnston Comparative Study of Bantu & Semi-Bantu Lang. I. 798Tebele (Sin-debele) This dialect of the Matebele (Amandebele) Zulus.
1930 S.T. Plaatje Mhudi (1975) 95You must speak Setebele too? I would like to send you as a spy to Inzwinyani before we proceed to attack Mzilikazi.
1950 C. Bullock Mashona & Matabele 147I should be the last to advocate the translation of our word God by the Shona word Mwai or the Sindebele word Mlimo.
1961 D. Bee Children of Yesterday 42‘You! Remove the hand!’ he commanded sharply in Sindebele.
c1988 S. Afr. 1987–8: Off. Yrbk (Bureau for Info.) 68In the past the Ndebeles used mainly Zulu for their literary needs. Recently, however, isiNdebele became the fourth Nguni language to receive official recognition.
The language spoken by the Ndebele people (see Ndebele sense 1); Ndebele sense 2. Also attributive.
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