Absolute and partial false friends between isiZulu and isiXhosa of South Africa

Even though people can communicate fluently, the development of ‘false friends’ has resulted in misunderstandings and misinterpretations among closely related tribal languages. Studies show that ethnic groups belonging to closely related tribes often share common languages, resulting in several comparable phrases. However, these phrases may have the same form but have different meanings in related languages. The primary focus of the study is to establish the existence of absolute false friends as well as partial false friends between the isiZulu and isiXhosa languages. The study further investigates the extent to which the existing absolute false friends and partial false friends affect mutual intelligibility among the speakers of isiZulu and isiXhosa. The study adopted a qualitative research approach and followed a case study design. Data were collected through interviews with 12 purposively selected participants who were isiZulu and isiXhosa speakers residing in Soshanguve Township, Pretoria. ATLAS.ti software was utilised for data analysis, with the study grounded in contrastive analysis theory. The results of the study revealed that absolute false friends and partial false friends exist between isiZulu and isiXhosa. The study further revealed that absolute and partial false friends between the two Nguni languages were more prevalent among speakers who were not proficient in both languages than among those who were proficient. Additionally, the results indicated that mutual intelligibility was negatively affected by these false friends, as some speakers failed to convey their intended messages, leading to misinterpretations by listeners. The study highlighted the presence of absolute and partial false friends, emphasising their potential impact on mutual intelligibility between the two languages. Contribution: The study’s findings are expected to enhance our understanding of the linguistic complexities of isiZulu and isiXhosa. Keywords: absolute false friends; partial false friends; Nguni languages; ethnic groups; misunderstandings; common languages; polysemous words.