ubuntu

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Bantu *bʊ̀ntʊ̀

Zulu ubúntubor.

Proto-Bantu *bʊ̀ntʊ̀

Xhosa úbúntubor.

English ubuntu

Loanword from Zulu ubuntu (“humanity”) and Xhosa ubuntu (“humaneness, solidarity”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʊˈbʊntuː/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

ubuntu (uncountable)

1. (South Africa) A Nguni Bantu ideology focusing on people's allegiances and relations with each other.
   • 2006 October 26, “South Africa: LGBT Groups Respond To CONTRALESA’s Stance On Same Sex Marriage”, in OutRight Action International‎^[1], archived from the original on 26 October 2015:

     Through Ubuntu the worth of all individuals are recognized and respected. As such, homophobia is an unAfrican^[sic] because it denies people the opportunity to express their full humanity.

   • 2015 July 21, “Sustainable development is failing but there are alternatives to capitalism”, in The Guardian‎^[2]:

     This includes buen vivir (or sumak kawsay or suma qamaña), a culture of life with different names and varieties emerging from indigenous peoples in various regions of South America; ubuntu, with its emphasis on human mutuality (“I am because we are”) in South Africa; radical ecological democracy or ecological swaraj, with a focus on self-reliance and self-governance, in India; and degrowth, the hypothesis that we can live better with less and in common, in western countries.

   (The addition of quotations indicative of this usage is being sought:)

Translations

ubuntu

• Chichewa: umunthu
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 烏班圖 / 乌班图 (wūbāntú)

• Nyoro: obuntu
• Polish: ubuntu (pl) n
• Portuguese: ubuntu (pt) m
• Russian: общинность (ru) f (obščinnostʹ), соборность (ru) f (sobornostʹ)
• Rwanda-Rundi: ubuntu
• Shona: unhu
• Swahili: utu (sw) class 14
• Tswana: botho
• Xhosa: ubuntu
• Zulu: ubuntu (zu) class 14

Portuguese

Noun

ubuntu m (uncountable)

1. (politics) ubuntu (ideology focusing on people’s allegiances and relations)

Xhosa

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Bantu *bʊ̀ntʊ̀.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [úɓúːⁿtu]

Noun

úbúntu class 14

1. humaneness, solidarity

Inflection

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

Zulu

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Bantu *bʊ̀ntʊ̀.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /uɓúːntu/

Noun

ubúntu class 14

1. humanity, the human race
2. humanity, human nature
3. humaneness, solidarity
4. ubuntu

Inflection

Class 14 (locative ebuntwini)

	singular		plural
full form	ubuntu		—
simple form	buntu		—
locative	ebuntwini		—
copulative	ngubuntu		—
Possessive forms
	singular		plural
	modifier	substantive	modifier	substantive
class 1	wobuntu	owobuntu	—	—
class 2	bobuntu	abobuntu	—	—
class 3	wobuntu	owobuntu	—	—
class 4	yobuntu	eyobuntu	—	—
class 5	lobuntu	elobuntu	—	—
class 6	obuntu	awobuntu	—	—
class 7	sobuntu	esobuntu	—	—
class 8	zobuntu	ezobuntu	—	—
class 9	yobuntu	eyobuntu	—	—
class 10	zobuntu	ezobuntu	—	—
class 11	lobuntu	olobuntu	—	—
class 14	bobuntu	obobuntu	—	—
class 15	kobuntu	okobuntu	—	—
class 17	kobuntu	okobuntu	—	—

References

• C. M. Doke; B. W. Vilakazi (1972), “-ntu”, in Zulu-English Dictionary, →ISBN: “-ntu (3.2.9)”