zama zama, n.

zama-zama
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zama-zama_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
First published 2015

# zama zamanoun

## Factsheet

### What does the noun zama zama mean?

There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun zama zama. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definition, usage, and quotation evidence.

This word is used in South African English.

### How common is the noun zama zama?

About 0.04occurrences per million words in modern written English

2017 | 0.0058
2018 | 0.0063
2019 | 0.0064
2020 | 0.024
2021 | 0.041
2022 | 0.052
2023 | 0.063
2024 | 0.082

### How is the noun zama zama pronounced?

#### British English

/ˌzamə ˈzamə/
zam-uh ZAM-uh
/ˌzɑːmə ˈzɑːmə/
zah-muh ZAH-muh

#### U.S. English

/ˌzɑmə ˈzɑmə/
zah-muh ZAH-muh

#### South African English

/ˌzʌmə ˈzʌmə/
/ˌzæmə ˈzæmə/

### Where does the noun zama zama come from?

Earliest known use

2000s

The earliest known use of the noun zama zama is in the 2000s.

OED's earliest evidence for zama zama is from 2006, in the Guardian.

zama zama is a borrowing from Zulu.

Etymons: Zulu zama zama.

### Nearby entries

1. zaitech, n. 1986–
2. zakat, n. 1668–
3. Zakka Khel, n. 1860–
4. zakuska, n. 1885–
5. zalambdodont, adj. 1885–
6. zalcitabine, n. 1991–
7. zamacueca, n. 1855–
8. Zamak, n. 1926–
9. zamang, n. 1819–
10. zamarra, n. 1841–
11. zama zama, n.2006–
12. Zamazim, n. a1400–
13. Zambian, adj. & n. 1959–
14. Zambianization, n. 1964–
15. Zambianize, v. 1964–
16. zambo, n. 1819–
17. Zamboni, n. 1965–
18. zambra, n. 1672–
19. zambuk, n. 1906–
20. zamburak, n. 1825–
21. zami, n. 1977–

## Etymology

### Summary

A borrowing from Zulu.
Etymon: Zulu zama zama.
< Zulu zama zama, reduplication (for emphasis) of ‑zama, stem of ukuzama to try, strive, make an attempt to obtain something…
< Zulu zama zama, reduplication (for emphasis) of ‑zama, stem of ukuzama to try, strive, make an attempt to obtain something.

### Notes

The Zulu expression has also been used in English contexts since 1994 as the name of a national lottery and its associated television game show; compare:

1. 1994

   > Games Africa..runs three out of the four major lotteries: Ithuba, Viva and Zama-Zama... The first daily draw game ever in South Africa called Zama-Zama has just been launched by Games Africa... Zama-Zama's draw takes place every night during prime time on CCV Television.

   Weekly Mail & Guardian (South Africa) 23 September 8/1

## Meaning & use

South African colloquial.

1. 2006–
   A person who works illegally in abandoned mine-shafts in order to retrieve metals, minerals, etc.
   1. 2006

      > The news of the Zama Zama—which translates loosely as ‘let's try our luck’—emerged this week after 60 men appeared in court on charges of breaching mining regulations and illegal possession of explosives.

      Guardian 17 November 29/2
   2. 2010

      > Police were informed about three seriously injured zama-zamas—the informal name given to illegal miners—at a mine at 9.30am.

      Times Live (South Africa) (Electronic edition) 12 October
   3. 2014

      > Illegal mining of abandoned shafts is common in South Africa... The men, known as zama zama, are typically from poorer African countries and often live underground in dangerous and precarious conditions.

      Guardian (Nexis) 16 February
   4. 2018

      > Nare had access to zama zamas, rhino smugglers and bank robbers because of his past.

      news24.com South Africa 25 January (news website, accessed 25 Jan. 2018)
   mining South African English colloquial and slang

## Pronunciation

### British English

/ˌzamə ˈzamə/
zam-uh ZAM-uh
/ˌzɑːmə ˈzɑːmə/
zah-muh ZAH-muh

### U.S. English

/ˌzɑmə ˈzɑmə/
zah-muh ZAH-muh

### South African English

/ˌzʌmə ˈzʌmə/
/ˌzæmə ˈzæmə/

####

##### Consonants

- ppea
- ttea
- kkey
- bbuy
- ddye
- ɡguy
- tʃchore
- dʒjay
- ffore
- θthaw
- ssore
- ʃshore
- vvee
- ðthee
- zzee
- ʒbeige
- xloch
- hhay
- llay
- ɬrhingyll
- rray
- wway
- jyore
- mmay
- nnay
- ŋsing

Some consonants can take the function of the vowel in unstressed syllables. Where necessary, a syllabic marker diacritic is used, hence /ˈpɛtl/ but /ˈpɛtl̩i/.

##### Vowels

- iːfleece
- ihappy
- ɪkit
- ɛdress
- atrap, bath
- ɑːstart, palm, bath
- ɒlot
- ɔːthought, force
- ʌstrut
- ʊfoot
- uːgoose
- əletter
- əːnurse
- ɪənear
- ɛːsquare
- ʊəcure
- eɪface
- ʌɪpride
- aʊmouth
- əʊgoat
- ɔɪvoice
- ãgratin
- ɒ̃salon
- ᵻ(/ɪ/-/ə/)
- ᵿ(/ʊ/-/ə/)

##### Other symbols

- The symbol ˈ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with primary stress.
- The symbol ˌ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with secondary stress.
- Round brackets ( ) in a transcription indicate that the symbol within the brackets is optional.

View the pronunciation model here.

####

##### Consonants

- ppea
- ttea
- kkey
- bbuy
- ddye*
- ɡguy
- tʃchore
- dʒjay
- ffore
- θthaw
- ssore
- ʃshore
- vvee
- ðthee
- zzee
- ʒbeige
- xloch
- hhay
- llay
- rray
- wway
- jyore
- mmay
- nnay
- ŋsing

* /d/ also represents a 'tapped' /t/ as in

Some consonants can take the function of the vowel in unstressed syllables. Where necessary, a syllabic marker diacritic is used, hence /ˈpɛd(ə)l/ but /ˈpɛdl̩i/.

##### Vowels

- ifleece, happy
- ɪkit
- ɛdress
- ætrap, bath
- ɑlot, palm, cloth, thought
- ɑrstart
- ɔcloth, thought
- ɔrnorth, force
- ʊfoot
- ugoose
- əstrut, comma
- ərnurse, letter
- ɪ(ə)rnear
- ɛ(ə)rsquare
- ʊ(ə)rcure
- eɪface
- aɪpride
- aʊmouth
- oʊgoat
- ɔɪvoice
- ɑ̃gratin
- æ̃salon
- ᵻ(/ɪ/-/ə/)
- ᵿ(/ʊ/-/ə/)

##### Other symbols

- The symbol ˈ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with primary stress.
- The symbol ˌ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with secondary stress.
- Round brackets ( ) in a transcription indicate that the symbol within the brackets is optional.

View the pronunciation model here.

####

##### Consonants

- ppea
- ttea
- kkey
- bbuy
- ddye
- ɡguy
- tʃchore
- dʒjay
- ffore
- θthaw
- ssore
- ʃshore
- vvee
- ðthee
- zzee
- ʒbeige
- xgogga
- hhay
- llay
- rray
- wway
- jyore
- mmay
- nnay
- ŋsing
- ɬlekgotla

Afrikaans uses a sound similar to /t/ and /k/ but made in the same part of the mouth as /j/, which may appear in some speakers’ pronunciations in English, but the OED reflects their common anglicized forms of /tʃ/ or /k/. Similarly, African click sounds are shown as their common anglicized forms, highly variable but often as /g/, /k/ and/or /h/.

Some consonants can take the function of the vowel in unstressed syllables. Where necessary, a syllabic marker diacritic is used as in British and US English.

##### Vowels

- iːfleece
- ihappy
- ɪkit
- edress
- ætrap
- ʌstrut
- ɒlot, cloth
- ɔːthought, north, force
- ʊfoot
- uːgoose
- ɑːbath, palm, start
- ɜːnurse
- ɪənear
- ɛːsquare
- ʊəcure
- aʊmouth
- əʊgoat
- aɪpride
- eɪface
- ɔɪvoice
- əletter
- ᵻ(/ɪ/-/ə/)

The symbols used for several of the South African vowels are less precise than their use in other varieties. For example, in some words the /ɪ/ vowel will sound closer to /ə/ whilst still being in a stressed syllable. Some vowels reflected as /ɒ/ may sound similar to /ɔː/ but significantly shorter. Some vowels transcribed as /e/ may sound longer, or some transcribed as /eɪ/ sound more steady (a sound like /eː/). In some words, /ʌ/ and /æ/ may also sound very similar to each other.

##### Other symbols

- The symbol ˈ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with primary stress.
- The symbol ˌ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with secondary stress.
- Round brackets ( ) in a transcription indicate that the symbol within the brackets is optional.

View the pronunciation model here.

####

Simple text respell breaks words into syllables, separated by a hyphen. The syllable which carries the primary stress is written in capital letters. This key covers both British and U.S. English Simple Text Respell.

##### Consonants

b, d, f, h, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, v, w and z have their standard English values

- gguy
- jjay
- yyore
- chchore
- khloch
- shshore
- ththaw
- dhthee
- zhbeige

##### Vowels

- atrap
- ahpalm
- airsquare
- arstart
- arrcarry (British only)
- awthought
- ayface
- a(ng)gratin
- edress
- eefleece
- eerdeer
- errmerry
- ikit
- ighpride
- irrmirror
- olot (British only)
- ohgoat
- oogoose
- oorcure
- orforce
- orrsorry (British only)
- owmouth
- oyvoice
- o(ng)salon
- ustrut
- uhletter
- urnurse
- urrhurry
- uufoot

## Forms

### Inflections

Plural: zama zamas, unchanged

## Frequency

zama zama typically occurs about 0.04 times per million words in modern written English.

zama zama is in frequency band 3, which contains words occurring between 0.01 and 0.1 times per million words in modern written English. More about OED's frequency bands

Frequency data is computed programmatically, and should be regarded as an estimate.

### Frequency of zama zama, n., 2017–2024

* Occurrences per million words in written English

Modern frequency series are derived from a corpus of 20 billion words, covering the period from 2017 to the present. The corpus is mainly compiled from online news sources, and covers all major varieties of World English.

Smoothing has been applied to series for lower-frequency words, using a moving-average algorithm. This reduces short-term fluctuations, which may be produced by variability in the content of the corpus.

Period | Frequency per million words
--- | ---
2017 | 0.0058
2018 | 0.0063
2019 | 0.0064
2020 | 0.024
2021 | 0.041
2022 | 0.052
2023 | 0.063
2024 | 0.082

zama zama, n. was first published in June 2015.

zama zama, n. was last modified in July 2023.