The beautiful thing about history is that it can help us develop a more complex understanding of the things we consider natural in our daily lives. People like to believe that their languages have ...

South Africa’s powerful Xhosa and Zulu nations sealed an important union as Nelson Mandela’s great-grandnephew and King Goodwill Zwelithini’s daughter wed. The marriage ceremony of Tembu Chief Nfundo ...

CAPE TOWN, South Africa — Arms outstretched and eyes locked on her audience, Koleka Putuma is a big stage presence for a young woman barely 5 feet tall. Her voice is velvet. But her words cut like a ...

IN 1991 AMERICAN audiences had an introduction to Xhosa, one of South Africa’s most click-filled languages, when Miriam Makeba (pictured) appeared on “The Cosby Show”. When the celebrated South ...

There was a traffic snarl-up in the streets leading to the Anglican Cathedral in Umtata in the Eastern Cape as the cavalcade of top-of-the-range luxury vehicles accompanied by wailing sirens whisked ...

The bride was dressed in cowhide, and the groom looked splendid in a skirt made of lion tails. Most of the 3,000 or so guests were similarly attired, except for the maidens who weren’t required to ...

On 15 October 2025, Google South Africa, in collaboration with the Pan South African Language Board (PanSALB), launched a groundbreaking initiative in Johannesburg: a glossary of 100 artificial ...

Jochen S. Arndt received funding from the Social Sciences Research Council, American Historical Association, and Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa. The beautiful thing about ...