inkunkuma
[íᵑkúᵑkuːma]
The Xhosa word for trash is inkunkuma.
inkunkuma is used to refer to things that are meant to be discarded, such as rubbish or waste.
Meaning: things to be discarded (noun)
Did you know?
- The noun class of inkunkuma allows it to be grouped with other 'collected' things, logically linking trash to piles of grain or stones.
- While English speakers might say someone is 'trash' to be insulting, using a derivative of inkunkuma to describe a person in Xhosa would sound linguistically unnatural and fail to convey the intended social stigma.
- Because Xhosa is an agglutinative language, a single word can be built around inkunkuma to describe a specific type of rubbish bin or a waste collection site.
Example conversation
Zoleka and Thando are cleaning the kitchen.
- ZolekaThando, nceda uyiguse inkunkuma.Thando, please take out the trash.
- ThandoIya kuyenzeka ngoku, Zoleka.It will be done now, Zoleka.
- ZolekaIbhakathe yenkunkuma iphelele.The trash bucket is full.
- ThandoNdiyayibona, ndiza kuyisusa.I see it, I am going to remove it.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry inkunkuma, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
