Members of Pan South African Language Board (Pensalb) hosted an imbizo at Mayfair Hotel, in Mthatha, with the aim of outlining Xhosa words that people find hard to use as they are associated with vulgar language, last week.
Pensalb chairperson, Xolisa Tshongolo, said they hosted this Imbizo because they wanted to explain some of those words, so that the society could know that they are words that are supposed to be used in other ways.
He said they decided to host it in Mthatha because it was a central location for people who wanted to attend the imbizo.
“This place is next to Amampondo and Amampondomise and they are also speaking languages which include isiXhosa. According to him, the Amampondo and Amampondomise are also having a problem because people always accused them of being rude when talking.”
He said they wanted to correct those challenges because there is no word that is rude. It depends how it is used.
“At the same time people think that they are rude when they are using some words like Idikazi,” said Tshongolo.
He added that this imbizo was attended by people who are working in the Xhosa language, who would assist them to pass their message on to others.
He said the imbizo was also attended by officials from the Department of Education who would teach learners about these particular words. Tshongolo said this was not an annual imbizo, but had been specially called because they identified a problem that needed solving.
