Sanibonani, Molweni, Dumelang, Bonjour!

We've included a French salutation in this edition of The African Voice because we have moved offices to No. 3 Arthur Road in Muizenberg, where lots of French-speaking people live ... so you could well ask Unjani? and get the reply Ca va. But hey, that's very lekker, because then you know you are in Africa, mos, where the Congolese are learning Xhosa, and the Xhosa are using brand names to describe people (see page 2).

AFRICAN VOICES <> AARDVARK PRESS

If any of you have visited our website recently, you will have seen the logo of Aardvark Press, a small Proudly South African publisher, with which we now have a happy association.

New on Aardvark Press's list are:

• Beekeeping - A practical guide for Southern Africa
  by Dominique Marchand and Jenny Marchand-Mayne
• South Africa - Reasons to Believe!
  by Guy Lundy and Wayne Visser
• How NOT to launder money! A guide to the Financial Intelligence Centre Act
  by Tracey Tomlinson.

Coming in September 2003:

• how 2 help - A guide to worthy causes in Cape Town by Tracey Young and h2h
• Die Alchemis - an Afrikaans translation of Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist.

For more info, please visit www.aardvarkpress.co.za.

Since Aardvark Press offers a book on beekeeping, we thought we would include a Xhosa expression that refers to bees:

Iinyosi zinebhunga phi namhlanje?
Literally: Where do the bees have a council (meeting) today?
Figuratively: Where do we meet today?/Where is the jol?

COMPLIMENTS

It is also nice to be a woman in Muizenberg, because French men are always so complimentary, sweetly remarking J'aime votre jupe I like your skirt, or saying that one is looking tres jolie. It does so much to lift the spirits after one has detected yet another 'laughter line' and the children greet one as 'Granny'! Ah well. To get back to compliments, maybe we just don't compliment each other enough in English - African language speakers certainly do. Try these!

Awumuhle, ulilanga liphuma! (Zulu)
You are not (just) beautiful, you are the sun coming out!

Awusemhle! (Xhosa)
Are you not beautiful!

Umhle! (Xhosa)
You are beautiful!

Uyiguzberi iphuma ekhasini. (township slang)
You are a gooseberry coming out of its shell.

BRAND NAMES IN AFRICAN LANGUAGES

African Voices has recently done some research on the way brand names are used in African languages in the townships. Have a look at these - they're really fun:

• Aquafresh - new, virgin, not exposed to life
  Ungakhe ulinge umphathe uNomsa, akazi nto - uyi-Aquafresh.
  Don't try to touch Nomsa, she knows nothing - she is Aquafresh.

• Sta-Soft - very tame, conservative, quiet
  UThobeka akathandi ukulwa nabantu, uyiSta-Soft.
  Thobeka doesn't like to fight with people, she is Sta-Soft.

• Tastic - unconventional, wild, not law-abiding
  UMpumezo akafuni ukuya kwaluka - tyhini, uyiTastic!
  Mpumezo doesn't want to go for initiation - wow, he is Tastic!