Xhosa: Theme 9 - The human body and wellness
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greetings and courtesies | asking for help, emergencies | numbers, days, months, seasons | question words, quantities, weather and time | banks, taxis and restaurants | transportation and finding your way | touring and socializing | at the filling station | the human body and ailments | shopping and sport |  |
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South African docters are very well qualified and there are excellent hospitals in South Africa, whether private or provincial. Xhosa people either visit a Western docter or a traditional docter. In the traditional Xhosa culture the inyanga (herbalist) and the igqirha (soothsayer) heal people. Where the inyanga is usually a man, the igqirha may be a woman. The inyanga utilises an extensive knowledge of herbs, treebark, grasses, etc. inherited from previous generations to cure his patients, while the isangoma throws bones and shells to identify various illnesses.
When going to a traditional docter, it may be useful to know different body parts when you want to express what illness you are suffering from. The sentence usually starts with Ndiphethwe, e.g.
Ndiphethwe sisisu (I have stomach ache)
Ndiphethwe yintloko (I have a headache)
Ndiphethwe sisifuba (I have a chest pain).