ld forth on world politics and political theory, in Shona at least. Much of the vocabulary persists but it has not developed. The fact that Zimbabwe does not have a language policy means that things have been left to drift and only the energy of language enthusiasts leads the progress.
The study of Shona and Ndebele has progressed from being studied in English to a position now when they can be studied [analysed and commented upon] in their own languages. There is now a ‘dictionary of literary and linguistic terms’ in Shona in the making, to facilitate formal academic discussion of the language. In science however, these developments are still very far beyond the horizon.
In order to make some progress in this it is essential to develop a significant amount of written material that discusses scientific ideas in our languages. This will permit the development of the necessary vocabulary and dexterity in handling the ideas in the vernacular. It is not likely that Shona or Ndebele would supplant English [or whatever the dominant language in the future might be], but they would survive and carry the history and culture of the people into the 21st century and beyond, the same way as German or Swedish.
Nyuteni anga agree zvake pasi pemuti wemuchero. Aiwanzo onekwa zvake ari ega, ari kutsi kwe pfungwa dzake. Musi uyu paaive agere paka donha muchero. Vamwe vanoti muchero uyu waive epuru, vamwe vachiti hapana anoziva nekuti akangoreva kuti ‘epuru’ semufananidzo. Zvimwe raive damba. Zviripo ndezvekuti paka donha damba iri, akatarisa mumuti, ndokucherechedza kuti pabva damba neparawira paka nangana. Izvi zvakamupa pfungwa yekuti: madonhero aya anoita kunge zvinonzi damba iri raita zvekukakatwa. Rarovera pasi zvine samba asi rambotanga rakamira paranga rakarembera. Izvi zvinoreva kuti pane simba riri kushanda apa. Izvi zvakaramba zvichimugegedura pfungwa, akati izvi zvinotoda kunyatso tsanangurwa. Tsanangudzo yaakawana yakadai: munhu uka donhedza dombo rino wira pasi pepawaridonhedzera. Ukaita rekukanda rakati tande nepasi, rinomboenda kanhambwe, rotanga kudzika kusvika rabata pasi. Ukazorikanda zvakasimba rino enda chinhambwe chirefu rotanga kudzika zve kudzamara razobata pasi. Simba raunenge wapa kudombo rinoita kuti dombo rimboti mberi tande, rozo donha. Izvi zvino reva kuti pane masimba kana kuti mafosi mairi: fosi rekuti dombo riende mberi rakati tande, nefosi rino kakatira dombo pasi. Pano tanga dombo kuenda, ese anenge aripo, asi remberi rinoita richi shomeka, remakakatirwa richiramba riri rimwe chete. Saka ndiro rinozo kurira, dombo rodonha. Asika, dombo rika kandwa nesimba rakanyanya chaizvo rino svika kure chaizvo risati ratanga kudonha. Saka munhu akatora nganunu woiisa pamusoro pegomo, wochaya bara rayo rakatiwo tande nepasi, toti nesimba rakanyanya zvekuti hari pimike, bara iri rinogona kuramba richingoenda nekuenda pasina mugumo rakangoti tande nepasi nekuti ririkungo kakatirwa pasi nesimba ratingati zvino gakato. Rikaramba richienda kudaro rino dzamara radzoka paratangira, rapoterera. Paakaita pfungwa iyi abva angoona kuti ndizvo zvinoita mwedzi. Mwedzi une simba chairo rekuenda mberi uri mudenga asi uno gara waka donzwa nepasi pano, saka uchingo gara uchi poterera. Mapoterero anoita mwedzi ndiwo mapotererowo anoita pasiredu richi poterera zuva. Se munhu aive neruzivo nezve nyenyedzi, akabva aona kuti gakato iri ringato |
From the above we can harvest some words useful for a further discussion about gravity [gakato, giravhiti, g’ravhiti], particularly defining concepts and raising the level of discussion further, for example about orbits [poterero, obhiti], forces [simba, fosi] etc.
In South Africa the apartheid establishment and government made a deliberate effort to develop Afrikaans into a fully-fledged language able to be used in politics, science and every walk of life. In East Africa despite the fact that Swahili is spoken in at least three countries as a language of communication and government, it is only Tanzania that has led the way in the development of the language because it has organised structures for the development of Kiswahili. There is a Swahili Language Committee and the Institute of Swahili Research and other high and low level organisations all dedicated to the development of the language. As a result it flourishes. Microsoft brought out ‘windows’ in Swahili. Many universities across the world have Swahili programmes. Swahili novels are translated into foreign languages and studied on language courses abroad. Andre Brink describes how he writes English and Afrikaans versions of his novel simultaneously. Whatever progress Shona or Ndebele will make will or could also benefit the other languages in Zimbabwe and beyond. So everyone can do a little to make a big difference!