U

UBUHLANTI. (isiXhosa). Transkeian Thembu term used to denote a cattle byre, an area also associated with man, religious ritual, burial and the storage of grain.

UBULONGO. (siNdebele). The clay and cow dung finish to a floor.

Ucango. (isiXhosa). A door.

Udonga. (isiXhosa). Generic term for a wall.

UFOKONA. See under BAFOKONA.

Ufulela. (tshiVenda). A generic term for a thatch roof.

UITGEBREIDE GESINEENHEID. (Afrikaans). See under EXTENDED HOMESTEAD.

UITGESKUINSTE DAGWANG. (Afrikaans). See under SPLAY.

UITSTEEKLAE. (Afrikaans). See under SET-OFF.

Ukugangato. (isiXhosa). A raised compacted earth floor.

Ukukhanda. (isiXhosa). Clay wall plaster.

UMFUGUZELO. (isiZulu). The inner insulation layer of grass (Hyparrhenia pilisissima & H. glauca) in a hemispherical Zulu dwelling.

Umgubasi. (isiXhosa). A door frame.

Umgxutsho. (isiXhosa). Wattle-and-daub wall construction.

UMHLANGA. (isiZulu). The hard reeds (Phragmites communis) used in the construction of a hemispherical Zulu dwelling.

UMLUNGU. Generic Nguni noun generally applied to white male South Africans as a whole.  The term is normally used in a neutral sense although it has gained pejorative undertones in some parts of the eastern Cape. See also LIKGOWA.

UmNyango. (isiXhosa). A threshold or doorway.
Umqhoba. (isiXhosa). A center post used during roof construction, when it carries the greater part of the thatcher’s live load. After the roof has been completed, it is cut off immediately below the cross-brace, or isiphambano. Should the roof require subsequent maintainance or re-thatching, a new center post is inserted immediately below it as a temporary prop. Also known as the intsika.

UMSAMO. (siNdebele). An internal seat located at the rear of a dwelling, on axis with the doorway and the hearth.

UMSAMO. (isiZulu). Raised shelf at the back of a dwelling, on axis with the entrance and the central hearth, where food may be stored, and where traditionally the father of the house will commune with his ancestors.

Umsele. (isiXhosa). A drainage trench running the outside perimeter of a dwelling.

UMUZI. (isiZulu). Generic term for a Zulu homestead.

UMXHEBULO. (isiZulu). The external grass layer (Hyparrhenia pilisissima & H. glauca) of a hemispherical Zulu dwelling.

UMYAGAZO. (isiZulu). Woven grass mats laid as ceiling cover on either side of the main, isihlandla ceiling mat, over a hemispherical Zulu framework. It is also used as an external covering of the finished dwelling, when it is wound about its lower reaches as a protective skirt.

Uphahla. (isiXhosa). A generic term which can be used to denote either a timber roof rafter, or the roof structure as a whole.

Ushula. (tshiVenda). Clay floor plaster, often used together with cow-dung.

UTSHANI. (isiZulu). Generic Zulu term for grass. However this was also the name of an ancestral Zulu Chief, Tshani, and out of respect for him, they use the substitute term, iNca.

UXANDE. (isiXhosa). Transkeian term used to describe a rectangular plan pitched roof dwelling.

Copyright @ francofrescura.co.za