Colour words in Xhosa

black mnyama - black

white mhlophe - white

Expressions

  • ihobe elimhlophe - (white) dove
  • mhlophe gede - white as snow

red bomvu - red

Expression

  • Ukuba bomvu - to be illiterate (to be red)

yellow lubhelu / mthubi - yellow

Expression

  • icesina emthubi - yellow fever

blue luhlaza - blue; green; raw; rude; uneducated

 

brown ntsundu - brown

pink bomvana / pinki - pink

orange orenji - orange

grey ngwevu - grey

purple mfusa - purple

amber tyheli - amber

auburn bomvu-gwanqa - auburn

azure zulu - azure

beige ibala elilubhelu-bungwevu - beige

bronze umbala wobhedu - bronze

cream nocwambu - cream

crimson ngqombela - crimson

puce limfusa-mdaka - puce

imbala/umbala = color

Xhosa colours provided by Venessa R.

Information about the use of colours in Xhosa and Zulu beadwork
http://www.axisgallery.com/african_art/illuminated-signs/intro.html

Information about Xhosa | Phrases | Numbers | Colours | Family words | Tower of Babel | Books about Xhosa on: Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk [affilate links]

Colour words in other languages

[top]

Green Web Hosting - Kualo

You can support this site by Buying Me A Coffee, and if you like what you see on this page, you can use the buttons below to share it with people you know.

 

The Fastest Way to Learn Korean with KoreanClass101

If you like this site and find it useful, you can support it by making a donation via PayPal or Patreon, or by contributing in other ways. Omniglot is how I make my living.

 

Note: all links on this site to Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.fr are affiliate links. This means I earn a commission if you click on any of them and buy something. So by clicking on these links you can help to support this site.

[top]