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 | Learning materials

Colour words in other languages

Green Web Hosting - Kualo

Why not share this page:

 

If you need to type in many different languages, the Q International Keyboard can help. It enables you to type almost any language that uses the Latin, Cyrillic or Greek alphabets, and is free.

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.

JapanesePod101.com
Learn French with Frantastique
Talk In Arabic
Learn a new language fun, fast and easy! Get 90% off Mondly!
Learn a new language fast with uTalk

Learn a nuevo language while you browse with toucan

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.