68-531: Valdezia is a sprawling rural settlement situated at the foothills of the Soutpansberg mountain range in Louis Trichardt , Limpopo Province , South Africa. It was formerly known as Albasini before Swiss Missionaries renamed it Valdezia in 1875. The village itself was formally established in 1820 by Tsonga refugees who were fleeing despotic rule from Soshangane . It is roughly 10 km east of Elim Hospital in
136-766: A clinic and the Valdezia Primary School in 1888, which laid a foundation for future Tsonga elites. The small Valdezia clinic was a forerunner of Elim Hospital, which the Swiss established in the nearby Elim Mission Station in 1899. The Swiss Missionaries were at first not aware that the Tsonga people had recently colonised the whole Eastern Transvaal as well as the Northern Transvaal itself, once they became aware, they quickly lay claim to all speakers of Xitsonga as their 'people' and established Mission Stations everywhere in
204-716: A few variations. These may be classified as first person (the speaker), second person (the one spoken to), and third person (the one spoken about). They are also classified by grammatical number , i.e., singular and plural. There is no distinction between subject and object. Each pronoun has a corresponding concord or agreement morpheme . The vocabulary of Xitsonga is essentially similar not only to most South African languages but also other Eastern Bantu languages, for example, Kiswahili. Tsonga, like many other African languages, have been influenced by various European colonial languages. Tsonga vocabulary includes words borrowed from English, Afrikaans , and Portuguese . Also, due to
272-449: A high vowel, /i/ or /u/ , and low-mid [ɛ, ɔ] otherwise. Vowels may be realized as murmured [i̤, a̤] when following breathy consonants. Many of these consonants may be preceded by a nasal, but they are not prenasalized consonants: at least in word-initial position, they are nasal–obstruent sequences where the nasals are syllabic. Different consonant sounds may alternate the place of articulation. A number of Tsonga speakers vary
340-571: A ku endliwe misaveni; tani hi loko ku endliwa matilweni; u hi nyika namuntlha vuswa bya hina bya siku rin'wana ni rin'wana; u hi rivalela swidyoho swa hina, tani hi loko na hina hi rivalela lava hi dyohelaka; u nga hi yisi emiringweni kambe u hi ponisa eka Lowo biha, hikuva ku fuma, ni matimba, ni ku twala i swa wena hi masiku ni masiku. Amen. The sintu writing system, Isibheqe Sohlamvu/ Ditema tsa Dinoko , also known technically in Xitsonga as Xiyinhlanharhu xa Mipfawulo ,
408-407: A new language, which the Swiss named Xitsonga . According to Rev Junod, Ronga, Tswa and Chopi are so similar and related to 'Xigwamba' to an extent that they cannot be regarded as independent languages but rather, a dialects of 'Xigwamba'. As a result, Berthoud and Junod established a single standard for all these east coast dialects, known today as Xitsonga. The Swiss missionaries also realised that
476-520: A result made it possible for the Tsonga people to develop a common way of speaking and writing. The name "Tsonga" is the root of Xitsonga (culture, language or ways of the Tsonga) Mutsonga (a Tsonga person), Vatsonga (Tsonga people), etc. In the language of the Vatsonga themselves, the root never appears by itself. It is Tsonga for the ease and accessibility of the wider international community. As for
544-472: A standard way of writing and reading. "Shigwamba" was a term used by the missionaries in order to group the language under a unified identity, however the name was unfamiliar to many of the Tsonga people and had to be replaced with "Thonga/Tsonga". Harries makes reference to this: As the term Gwamba was unknown outside the Spelonken, Henri Berthoud recommended that the mission abandon the term and replace it with
612-480: A state of being also use the past tense. Ku karhala – To be tired, Ndzi karhele – I am tired, U karhele – S/He is tired, Va karhele – They are tired. (iii) In many cases merely changing the last a in the verb to an e indicates past action. Ku fika – To arrive, U fike tolo – S/He arrived yesterday, Ndzi fike tolo – I arrived yesterday, Hi tirhe siku hinkwaro – We worked all day, Ndzi nghene (e)ndlwini – I entered
680-508: A three-pronged attack and his royal village was torched. Mphefu's clan fled across the Limpopo River to Zimbabwe. The farms Rietvlei and Bergvliet were set aside in 1898 for a new town, and Trichardtsdorp was proclaimed the next year, named in honour of Louis Tregardt . Today the town commemorates his full name, Louis Trichardt . Approximately 2,500 to 3,000 vascular plant taxa, comprising 1,066 genera and 240 families are known to occur in
748-493: A written language. However, there are many dialects within the language that may not pronounce words as written. For example, the Tsonga bible uses the word byela (tell), pronounced bwe-la, however a large group of speakers would say "dzvela" instead. The Lord's Prayer as written in the Xitsonga Bible (Bibele) Tata wa hina la nge matilweni, vito ra wena a ri hlawuriwe; a ku te ku fuma ka wena; ku rhandza ka wena
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#1733085250024816-570: Is a derivation of Ronga. Much of the written history about the Tsonga regards the aftermath of the mfecane where the Nguni people overran many of the pre-existing African tribes of South Africa, Eswatini, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe. Tsonga is a Bantu language (Guthrie code S.53), closely related to other members to the Tswa-Ronga group (S.50): Some dialects are subdialects but have been mentioned here for completeness. For example, Valoyi and Luleke comprise
884-637: Is for in one of three ways, depending on the word. (i) Generally, one drops the a from the verb and adds the prefix -ile Ndzi nghenile ndlwini – I entered the house, Hi tirhile siku hinkwaro – We worked all day, U hembile – You lied, U hembile – S/He lied, Va hembile – They lied. (ii) With verbs that end with -ala , the past tense changes to -ele or -ale . ku rivala – to forget, Ndzi rivele – I forgot, U rivele – you forgot, Va rivele – they forgot, Ku nyamalala – To disappear, U nyamalarile – S/He – disappeared, Words used to describe
952-491: Is generally typical of Bantu languages with a subject–verb–object order. The structure changes to subject—object—verb when addressing another person: Almost all infinitives have the prefix ku - and end with - a . The main exception to this is the verb ku ri – "to say" It corresponds to "ti" in many other Bantu languages. Examples of its usage include: u ri yini? – What do you say? (What are you saying?) ndzi ri ka n'wina – I say to you all. In many instances
1020-566: Is located in Vhembe District , Limpopo . It is named for the salt pan ( Venda : Thavha ya muno , or "place of salt") located at its western end. The mountain range reaches the opposite extremity in the Matikwa Nature Reserve, some 107 kilometres (66 mi) due east. The range as a whole had no Venda name, as it was instead known by its sub-ranges which include Dzanani , Songozwi and others. The Soutpansberg forms part of
1088-618: Is mutually intelligible with Tswa and Ronga and the name "Tsonga" is often used as a cover term for all three, also sometimes referred to as Tswa-Ronga. The Xitsonga language has been standardised for both academic and home use. Tsonga is an official language of the Republic of South Africa, and under the name "Shangani" it is recognised as an official language in the Constitution of Zimbabwe. All Tswa-Ronga languages are recognised in Mozambique. It
1156-456: Is not official in Eswatini (formerly Swaziland). The Xi-tsonga language was studied in great detail by the Swiss missionary, Henri-Alexandre Junod between the years 1890 and 1920, who made the conclusion that the Xitsonga language (which he called the "Thonga language" at the time) began to develop in Mozambique even before the 1400s. In his own words, Junod states the following: My conclusion
1224-457: Is one of the Tsonga languages. The physical evidence of most Tsonga people residing along the eastern coast of Africa in the south, extending inland in a westward direction, makes this explanation especially inviting. However Junod had initially used the Ronga appellation but had also realized that the northern clans did not frequently use the name 'Ronga' as their identity name, but most certainly Tsonga
1292-419: Is only 2% difference between Ronga, Tswa and Xitsonga. Valdezia has been a "Community Authority" since 1875 and does not belong to any tribal authorities in the area, it is independent from any form of despotic tribal rule. However, Chief Njhakanjhaka, a major tribal chief living at a village in front of Elim Hospital, was the only major Tsonga Chief in the whole Spelonken district that exercised authority over
1360-842: Is the highest peak at 1,747 metres (5,732 ft). The Nzhelele River and its tributary the Mutamba , the Nwanedi River and its tributary the Luphephe River , as well as the Levubu River and its main tributaries, the Mutshindudi and Mutale Rivers , and the Letaba River rise in the slopes of the Soutpansberg Mountains. The Brak River , a tributary of the Sand River, flows diagonally at
1428-439: Is the letter "x" taken from Portuguese orthography, which is pronounced /ʃ/ . Therefore, the following words, [ʃuʃa], [ʃikolo], [ʃilo], are written in Tsonga as -xuxa, xikolo, and xilo . Other spelling differences include the letter "c", which is pronounced /t͡ʃ/ . However, where the emphasis of a word is on the following vowel the letter is hardened by adding "h" this the Tsonga word -chava (fear) A sound equivalent to
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#17330852500241496-463: Is then that the Thonga language was already-spoken by the primitive occupants of the country more than 500 years ago and that, together with a certain number of customs, it formed the great bond which bound the Thonga clans together in past centuries. Further studies were carried out by Junod and other Swiss missionaries such as Henri Berthoud and Ernest Creux, who began to unify the language in order to have
1564-541: The ri is often omitted and thus ku on its own can also mean "say". Va ri ndza penga – They say I'm crazy. Va ri yini? – What do they say? (What are they saying?) Present tense The present tense is formed by simply using the personal pronoun along with the verb. Ndzi lava mali – I want money, Hi tirha siku hinkwaro – We work all day, Mi(u) lava mani? – Who are you looking for? U kota ku famba – S/He knows how to walk. Present progressive Generally, to indicate ongoing actions in
1632-507: The Hlanganani district in the former Gazankulu homeland, South Africa . It was the site of a Swiss mission station , and it was named after the Swiss canton of Vaud . Valdezia's population, according to the official census of 2011, currently stands at between 7,600 and 8,000 people. It is considered the birthplace of the written Tsonga language in South Africa. When Soshangane invaded
1700-472: The Soutpansberg flat lizard are all endemic and named after this range. The Soutpansberg is known for a high level of endemism of its invertebrate fauna. In today’s world, natural areas are under a lot of pressure from human activity. Exploitation of natural resources, human encroachment due to expanding developments, poaching and general pollution – these all affect the Soutpansberg in some way. At
1768-544: The Transvaal where Tsonga people could be found. The most important Swiss Missions was Njhakanjhaka village, (Elim Mission Station, 1878, next to Elim Hospital), Shirley (Shirley Mission Station in 1890), next to Waterval township, Shiluvane Mission Station near Tzaneen , and Masana in Bushbuckridge , where there was a large concentration of Vatsonga people. At Valdezia, the Tsonga people were referred to as 'Magwamba' by
1836-719: The Venda people , the Venda also called the Tsonga language 'Tshigwamba', while the Pedi in the South called them 'Makoepa' and their language 'Sekoapa'. The Swiss Missionaries adopted this racial slur and also called the Tsonga people 'Magwamba' and their language 'Xigwamba'. After an ethnographic and scientific study of the 'Xigwamba language and culture' by the Swiss Missionaries, Reverend Henri Alexandra Junod and Reverend Ernest Creux, they correctly named
1904-690: The 'Vhembe Biosphere Reserve', which was designated as a biosphere reserve by UNESCO in 2009. The latter reserve also includes the Blouberg Range , Kruger National Park and the Mapungubwe Cultural Landscape . The mountain is intersected by two defiles , the Waterpoort in the west, containing the Sand River (Polokwane) and a railway line, and Wyllie's Poort, which allows N1 road traffic to pass from Louis Trichardt to Musina . Lajuma
1972-589: The Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Valdezia. Despite the intervention by the Swiss Missionaries, Valdezia remains an underdeveloped area, the only development that has happened in the last few years was the development of the Mambedi Country Lodge. A church conference centre is currently being built and the original Church has been turned into a museum. Valdezia is still owned and managed by
2040-570: The Hlanganu dialects. The Xitsonga vocabulary and phonetic permutations are also largely based on these dialects (cf. Junod 1912, p. 470–473) For "language of", the various languages and dialects employ one or more of the following prefixes: Bi-, Chi-, Ci-, Gi-, Ici-, Ki-, Ma-, Shee-, Shi-, Txi-, Va-, Wa-, and Xi-. For "people of", they use either "Ba-" or "Va-". Tsonga has a distinction between modal and breathy voiced consonants: /bʱ, bvʱ, vʱ, dʱ, ɖʐʱ, dʒʱ, ɡʱ/ vs /b, bv, v, d, ɖʐ, dʒ, ɡ/ among
2108-777: The Magwamba of Spelenkon were not a homogeneous group, rather they were a collection of various tribes from the east coast, that is; the Vahlanganu, Tembe, Chopi, Hlengwe, Nkuna, Khoza, Mabunda, Maluleke, etc. but they all spoke a similar dialect of 'Xigwamba'. Once a new language was formed, the word 'Xigwamba' fell into disuse and a new language, Xitsonga replaced 'Xigwamba'. As a result, Chopi, Ronga and Tswa became extinct languages in South Africa and were swallowed or disappeared into Xitsonga. However, in Mozambique , Chopi, Ronga and Tswa continue to exist as independent languages from Xitsonga, still,
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2176-590: The Mozambican Census continue to group Tswa, Chopi, Ronga and Xitsonga as one super language group. In the City of Maputo, for example, the language that is spoken there is Ronga and Tswa, not Xitsonga, many people tend to confuse or misinterpret the language that is spoken by people from Maputo and Matola as Xitsonga, that is not true. Xitsonga is not a dominant language in Maputo and Matola, in fact, Maputo and Matola are not
2244-435: The N'walungu dialect. There is no Gwamba dialect as Gwamba is another name for Xitsonga itself. Formally Xitsonga has been called Gwamba. Tswa-Ronga dialects not considered part of the family include Pulana (Xipulana, Sepulane). What is commonly referred to as "Shangana/Changana" is not a recognized language in South Africa and is not a dialect that falls within the Xitsonga language group, as its distinctiveness stems mainly from
2312-586: The Soutpansberg, accounts for the species Brackenridgea zanguebarica , Millettia stuhlmannii , Oxytenanthera abyssinica , Trilepisium madagascariense , Brachystegia utilis - torrei (assimilated into a dominant B. spiciformis genome) and Syzygium masukuense . These species are not associated with the central Zimbabwean Miombo floristic element, but rather with the Eastern Highlands floristic element, and particularly its foothills. A total of at least 116 reptile species have been recorded in
2380-571: The Soutpansberg. This biodiversity is remarkably high for such a small area and makes up 36% of the total number of reptile species that have been recorded in South Africa. This is roughly the same number of species (119) that occur in the Kruger National Park . The diversity is high compared to biodiversity hotspots of the world and the species diversity per unit area is higher than that of most of these hotspots. The Soutpansberg rock lizard , Soutpansberg worm lizard , Soutpansberg dwarf gecko and
2448-465: The Spelonken district, Albasini appointed all the headman in villages in a place known today as Hlanganani . Before the arrival of the Swiss Missionaries, Valdezia was formerly known as "eka-Albasini" by the local Tsonga refugees, meaning "Albasini Village". When Albasini died in 1888, no successor was appointed to lead the Tsonga people and the Valdezia Chieftainship fell into disuse. Before
2516-530: The Swiss Missionary and Anthropologist, Dr Henri-Alexandra Junod, decided that Tswa and Ronga are not independent languages, they are just a dialect of Xitsonga and must therefore be swallowed by Xitsonga. According to Dr Junod, 98% of grammar that is found in Tswa and Ronga are also found in Xitsonga, that is why the Swiss Missionaries came to a conclusion that Xitsonga is a mother body of Tswa and Ronga, because there
2584-718: The Swiss agency known as the Evangelical Presbyterian Church . Unlike in the past where the Swiss missionaries used to run the village and the church, the current leadership of the Presbyterian Church is composed solely of Tsonga people, but the Church in Switzerland still take some of the major decisions concerning the activities of the church and the village of Valdezia. In 1876, the Swiss Missionaries, Reverend Paul Berthoud and Reverend Ernest Creux, who were based at
2652-490: The Tsonga country, large numbers of Tsonga people fled and settled at Valdezia and Bungeni . Around the 1840s, Joao Albasini , a Portuguese adventurer, joined the Tsonga people and made himself their tribal chief. Albasini was a warmonger and he established a powerful Tsonga army, consisting of 2,000 men. After the death of Joao Albasini in 1888, the Afrikaner people took over Albasini's Tsonga army and used it to wage war against
2720-415: The Tsonga refugees that were scattered all over Spelonken hills, including Valdezia. Njhakanjhaka exercised authority over all the Tsonga refugees in the area known today as Hlanganani and was recognised as such by the scattered Tsonga refugees everywhere in the Spelonken district. But Joao Albasini , a Portuguese adventurer, also claimed authority over the Tsonga refugees in the Spelonken district. With all
2788-703: The Valdezia Mission Station, started the process of translating the Bible from French into Xitsonga. Valdezia is a birthplace of the modern written Tsonga language . During the late 1880s and early 1890s, Reverend Junod and Reverend Henry Berthoud (Younger brother to Reverend Paul Berthoud) studied 'Xigwamba' and realised that Xigwamba is a collection of various dialect of people from the east coast. According to Berthoud and Junod, 'Xigwamba' consist of dialect from Ronga , Tswa (Xitswa), Chopi and 'Xigwamba' (Tsonga). These east coast dialects were blended together to form
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2856-602: The Welsh "ll" ( /ɬ/ ) is written "hl" in Tsonga, e.g. -hlangana (meet), -hlasela (attack), -hleka (laugh) A whistling sound common in the language is written "sw" or "sv" in Zimbabwean ChiShona. This sound actually belongs to the "x-sw" class within the language. E.g.: Another whistling sound is spelled "dy" but has no English equivalent, the closest being the "dr" sound in the English word "drive" Xitsonga has been standardised as
2924-724: The affricates from alveolar [ts], [tsʰ], [dz], [dzʱ], [dzʷʱ] to retroflex [tʂ], [tʂʰ], [dʐ], [dʐʱ], [dʐʷʱ] ; the latter are weakly whistled in Tsonga proper and in Changana dialect. Labiodental [ɱ] and dental [n̪] appear in homorganic consonant clusters. Unlike some of the Nguni languages , Tsonga has very few words with click consonants , and these vary in place between dental [ᵏǀ], [ᵏǀʰ], [ᵏǀʷʰ], [ᶢǀ], [ᶢǀʷ] and postalveolar [ᵏ!], [ᵏ!ʰ], [ᵏ!ʷʰ], [ᶢ!], [ᶢ!ʷ] . Examples are: ngqondo (mind), gqoka (wear/dress), guqa (kneel), riqingo (phone), qiqi (earring), qamba (compose), Mugqivela (Saturday). The grammar
2992-558: The arrival of a relief commando, the Venda's mountain strongholds could not be taken. The voortrekkers abandoned the town on 15 July 1867 and established Pietersburg . An open-air museum was established to recreate the modest settlement. In October 1898 the Boere returned to regain control over the territory. General Piet Joubert 's commando occupied a strategic position over the Doorn River in preparation. In November, Mphefu 's kraal suffered
3060-583: The assimilation of the Shangaan nation, it has taken some words from Nguni languages. Words borrowed from English Words borrowed from Afrikaans Words borrowed from other Nguni languages: Xitsonga uses the Latin alphabet . However, certain sounds are spelled using a combination of letters, which either do not exist in Indo-European languages , or may be meant to distinguish the language somewhat. An example of this
3128-542: The death of Joao Albasini, the Swiss Missionaries used the policy of "Indirect Rule" to control the Tsonga people since Joao Albasini was still a powerful tribal chief for Valdezia. Currently, Valdezia does not have a tribal chief, instead, a church council, appointed from the Swiss Mission Church, to rule the village. A dispute for chieftainship cannot be resolved easily until the Albasini family intervene because they are
3196-1104: The endemic flora can be regarded as succulents. Of the mountain's endemic flora, the Asclepiadaceae with 5 genera and 6 species displays a high generic diversity. Aloe presents the highest species diversity among native genera with 5 endemic species, and the monotypic Zoutpansbergia is the only endemic genus. The floral endemics include Encephalartos hirsutus , Duvalia procumbens , Euphorbia rowlandii , E. aeruginosa , E. zoutpansbergensis , Ceratotheca saxicola , Stapelia clavicorona , Tylophora coddii , Huernia nouhuysii , Aloe angelica , A. petrophila , A. soutpansbergensis , A. vossii , Combretum vendae , Blepharis spinipes , Mystacidium braybonae , Justicia montis-salinarum , Khadia borealis , Orbeanthus conjunctus , Streptocarpus parviflorus subsp. soutpansbergensis , Searsia magalismontana subsp. coddii , Vangueria soutpansbergensis and Pavetta tschikonderi . The tropical floristic element, which reaches its southern distribution within
3264-660: The first to arrive at the Delagoa Bay and around the Natal Bay, transitioned the Rhonga "Rh" into the Zulu form of "Th". An example is rhuma (Tsonga word for "send") becomes thuma (Zulu word for the same action). The third and most accepted is that it is another pronunciation for "Rhonga", the root for the word "vurhonga" for east or the direction where the sun rises. Vurhonga also means dawn in Xitsonga. Rhonga (commonly and wrongly spelt as Ronga)
3332-495: The graves of missionaries and their families, the graves are in bad conditions as there are no Swiss community to take care of the graves. The graves were restored during the 140 year celebrations of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church(Swiss Mission) held in valdezia on 8-12 July 2015. The grave of Mrs Berthoud was turned into a monument alongside the grave of Mrs Shihlomulo who was the first convert to
3400-546: The homelands of Vatsonga. Rather, Xitsonga is a dominant language in the Homeland of Vatsonga, which are Xai-Xai , Bilene and the Gaza Province . The Tsonga people who reside in Maputo and Matola are recent arrivals and did not originate in the area, where traditionally the Tswa and Ronga people were found. Nonetheless, Tswa, Chopi and Ronga are grammatically very similar and related to Xitsonga to an extent that in South Africa,
3468-563: The house. Future tense This is formed by the adding ta in between the personal pronoun and the verb. Ndzi ta nghena (e)ndlwini – I will enter the house, Hi ta tirha siku hinkwaro – We will work all day, Va ta tirha siku hinkwaro – They will work all day, Mi ta tirha siku hinkwaro – You (plural) will work all day. Tsonga has several classes, much like other Bantu languages, which are learned through memorisation mostly. These are: Personal pronouns in Tsonga are very similar to those of many other Bantu languages, with
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#17330852500243536-428: The language 'Xitsonga' and the speakers Vatsonga or just Tsonga. Junod and Creux are credited by Tsonga intellectuals and Academic as the first people to create a sense of 'nationalism' amongst the Tsonga in South Africa. The Swiss Mission Church further build Tsonga pride when they changed the name of the church to Tsonga Presbyterian Church in 1960. The 'Valdezia Ward' at Elim Hospital was named after Valdezia. The Ward
3604-516: The military abilities, Njhakanjhaka was undermined by Albasini, who declared himself a paramount chief for all Vatsonga of Spelenkon and the Tsonga also recognised Albasini as their Chief as well. The result was that the authority of chief Njhakanjhaka was reduced to five small villages, which are: Elim, Shirley, Lemana, Waterval and Njhakanjhaka only. Valdezia was a stronghold and a power base for Joao Albasini's rule and he ruled Valdezia until he died in 1888. As paramount chief for all Tsonga refugees in
3672-404: The missionaries were familiar with it and had to dedicate much of their time to learn it. The language of the Tsonga people and the dialects were put into print and the first books were published. The language was later on finally registered as "Xitsonga" within the Constitution of South Africa (Act 108 of 1996) and it was declared an official language. The standardization of the Xitsonga language as
3740-524: The moment the mountains are a World Heritage Site and they form part of the newly proclaimed Vhembe Biosphere reserve. Organisms endemic to the Soutpansberg Download coordinates as: Tsonga language Tsonga ( / ˈ ( t ) s ɒ ŋ ɡ ə / (T)SONG -gə ) or, natively, Xitsonga , as an endonym , is a Bantu language spoken by the Tsonga people of South Africa . It
3808-745: The mountain. A species list from plots done at the Mutshidudi catchment area revealed 109 plant families, 397 genera and 619 species. 24 plant species are endemic to the mountain, and an additional 33 to the Vhembe Biosphere Reserve. 594 species of tree are native to the mountain or its direct vicinity. The Soutpansberg's immense floristic diversity can be attributed to several distinct floristic elements acting on it, namely Tropical, Moçambique coastal, Lowveld , Afromontane , Bushveld , Waterberg , Kalahari and Limpopo Valley. Approximately 10% of Soutpansberg plants can be considered succulent, and 32% of
3876-475: The obstruents (the one exception being /ɮ/ ), and /m̤, n̤, ŋ̈, r̤, ȷ̈, w̤/ vs /m, n, ŋ, r, j, w/ among the sonorants (the one exception being /ɲ/ ). The segmental inventory is as follows: Long vowels are written double. Nasalized vowels are not distinguished in writing; [ĩ, ẽ, ə̃] are only found in words for 'yes' and 'no', while [ã] is found in a few mimetic words. Mid vowels can vary from close-mid to open-mid; they are generally close-mid [e, o] before
3944-527: The origins of the name, there are three theories. The first states that Tsonga is another pronunciation for Dzonga, which means "South" and also the name of one of the dialects of Xitsonga. The second theory is that it is an alternate spelling of the old ancestral name of the Chopi and Tembe groups, Tonga/Thonga. The other Zulu explanation for the alternative spelling of "Thonga" is that the Tembe and Rhonga people, who were
4012-432: The present one takes the personal pronoun, drops the i and adds a . Ndzi nghena (e)ndlwini – I am entering the house, Ha tirha sweswi – We are working right now, Ma hemba – You (plural) are lying, Wa hemba – You (singular) are lying, Wa hemba – S/He is lying, With the plural va (they) there is no difference. Thus va hemba = "they lie" and "they are lying". Past tense This
4080-476: The sea. Eleven years later, in 1848, a settlement named Zoutpansbergdorp was established at the site of an earlier Tregardt camp. It was founded by Jan Valentyn Botha, who led a faction of Andries Potgieter 's trek. Potgieter died at Zoutpansbergdorp in 1852, and his son shortly afterwards. In 1855 the town's de facto leader was Stephanus Schoeman who named the growing, though disorderly reed-hut settlement Schoemansdal , after himself. Augmented by renegades,
4148-558: The town was a successful ivory trading centre by 1855, when its population numbered 200. Venda hunters supplied the Voortrekkers with ivory, and were in return supplied with fire arms. Relations between the Voortrekkers and Venda soured due to taxation, cattle rustling and lax control over the supply of fire arms. Total discord broke out in 1866, when the voortrekkers intervened in a Venda succession dispute, and one claimant, Makhado , attacked an outlying voortrekker settlement. Despite
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#17330852500244216-501: The tribal royal family of Valdezia. Even though chief Njhakanjhaka was known as a Paramount chief of all Tsonga refugees of Spelonken, he cannot claim chieftainship over Valdezia because he was defeated (not by war) by Joao Albasini over the control of the Tsonga refugees. Soutpansberg The Soutpansberg (formerly Zoutpansberg ), meaning "Salt Pan Mountain" in Afrikaans , is a range of mountains in far northern South Africa . It
4284-406: The unconquered Venda alongside the Soutpansberg mountain range. In 1875, the Swiss Missionaries were given a friendly reception by Joao Albasini and they established a Mission Station amongst the Tsonga people. In the same year, the Swiss Missionaries renamed the place from Klipfontein to Valdezia, the name derived from the Swiss canton of Vaud, where the missionaries came from. The Swiss erected
4352-400: The use of the Nguni language and grammar. Only six Thonga/Tsonga dialects exist and these were identified by the dawn of the 1900s. These are namely xiRonga, xiHlanganu, xiBila, xiDjonga, xiN'walungu, and xiHlengwe. All other variations within South Africa are sub-dialects of the aforementioned. The dialects most spoken in the rural communities of Limpopo are the N'walungu, Bila, Hlengwe, and
4420-453: The western end of the Soutpansberg, separating it from the Blouberg further west. The first white person to reach, and name, the mountain was Coenraad de Buys , a colonist who fled from Graaff Reinet after a failed rebellion in 1795. He settled near the mountain in 1820 and was the patriarch of a half-caste clan, the "Buysvolk" or Buys People, who are still to be found at Buysdorp . De Buys
4488-406: The widely accepted genericism, Tonga/Thonga. Swiss missionaries worked with the Tsonga people, assisting in the translation of the Bible from English and Sesotho into Tsonga. Paul Berthoud published the first book in 1883, thanks to assistance from translations by Mpapele (Mbizana) and Mandlati (Zambia). The two men were active in teaching and translating the language to the missionaries since none of
4556-406: Was followed by voortrekker Louis Tregardt who sojourned at the salt pan from May to August 1836. In November 1836 Tregardt moved camp to the vicinity of the later Schoemansdal and Louis Trichardt town, where he stayed until June 1837. From June to August 1837 Tregardt's party camped at the Doorn River, on the current Doorn River farm, whereafter they departed for good to find a trading route to
4624-533: Was officially opened in 1975, the 100 year anniversary of the founding of the Swiss Mission Station, by the Gazankulu Government. The Swiss missionaries who started Valdezia Mission Station are the same Missionaries who started Elim Hospital in 1899. Swiss missionaries withdrew from Valdezia and Elim in 1994 when the dawn of democracy came to South Africa. The only thing that is left at Valdezia are
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