An ethnic and language group living predominantly in northeastern South Africa and southern Mozambique. Abel is Tsonga and teaches Trevor the language; when he visits the Tsonga homeland, Trevor notes that the culture is deeply patriarchal.
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Tsonga Term Timeline in Born a Crime
The timeline below shows where the term Tsonga appears in Born a Crime. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 14
...and the white minority; Zulu, Xhosa, Tswana, and Ndebele are major native languages; while Swazi, Tsonga, Venda, Sotho, and Pedi are less widespread. There are “dozens more” local African languages too...
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Chapter 17
...seen” gets thrown into his cell and “everyone was terrified.” But the man is speaking Tsonga—the same language Abel speaks—and the guard is speaking Zulu, so Trevor steps in to translate...
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Chapter 18
...his dual personality: his English name is “the good son” from the Bible, but his Tsonga name, Ngisaveni, means “be afraid.” They get married anyway, and soon Patricia has another son,...
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