From: Karl Aloritias
To: choral-net
Subject: [choral-net] N'kosi vs. Nkosi (long elaboration)
Date: 17 Feb 2003 09:58:59 +0800

Perhaps I should explain what prompted me to research a corrected
version of Nkosi's lyrics:

It all began when I started collating the PUCS 2003 freshers' songbook
(to be incorporated in the PIV 2004 songbook).  Noticing variations in
spelling, word assignment and punctuation, I searched the internet for
anything approaching the original version.  I did find a couple of
websites, all of which agreed with the others (and none of which agreed
with the AICSA version/s).  However, to confirm, I decided to e-mail the
South African Ministry of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology.

After being passed on to several different people, I eventually reached
a woman who was considered an expert on the song, and who did a masters
degree researching the song (she grew up with several dialectical
versions from birth - apparently, her parents were freedom campaigners
during apartheid before they were killed), and she is also currently
researching a biography of Enoch Sontonga.

She informed me that although Nkosi is a folk song, it was written
comparatively recently (with many of the modern lyrics being added in
the late 1920s), and although there are some musical variations, the
lyrics are actually quite consistent within each dialect.

I sent her a copy of the AICSA lyrics, and she remarked that while being
fairly close to the original, it sounds as though being sung by someone
with a very bad accent, and that some syllables "make no sense".  In
particular, the changing of the original 'heso' to the AICSA 'leso'
makes it sound like something in Xhosa and Sesotho that, given the
nature of the song, is "entirely inappropriate" (she didn't elaborate,
so I can only speculate).  

She also noted, as Mr. Bat also pointed out, the title very definitely
has an 'i'/'ee' sound, and not the 'eh' sound associated with the AICSA
version (ie. it should be "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika", and not "Nkosi
Sikelele Afrika").

(Incidentally, I remember similar remarks being made from a fellow
chorister, a South African expat anti-apartheid campaigner, when we
first encountered the AICSA version of Nkosi some years ago).

A couple of people have commented that the AICSA version is a pretty
good anglicised version, bar a few individual syllables here and there.
Well, I agree - hence I have tried to follow the AICSA version as
closely as possible while still correcting the more glaring mistakes.
However, I believe that some corrections should be made - some syllables
just sound very wrong, especially when you compare them to any of the
recordings that I have managed to track down.

I did do a fair bit of research into the spelling and pronunciation of
the lyrics, and I believe that the version I've submitted does a better
job of anglicising pronunciation than  the current AICSA version
(although I'm willing to defer to popular opinion here - I'm sure that
other people might find other spellings that better capture the native
pronunciation).

If this were just another songbook piece, I'd just let it go.  After
all, I'm not going to follow up with my corrected lyrics for 'Since
First' and 'Pastime' (yes, I have done these too - but purely as an
intellectual exercise, and I'm not going to inflict them on AICSA!).
However, there are many for whom 'Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika' has a
significant, special meaning, especially for anyone old enough to
remember the dark days of apartheid.

Given how important this song is to many people, surely we shouldn't
just say "ahh, close enough, it'll do"?  A couple of syllables and a
different word emphasis here and there isn't really that much trouble to
correct.  After all, it's not as if I've proposed completely different
lyrics - someone singing the AICSA lyrics will probably blend in well
with a group singing the corrected lyrics.

I should also point out that when the new lyrics are written down
without the music they may seem quite different and difficult (e.g. "But
Sikelel' iAfrica looks more difficult than Sikelele Afrika").  However,
when you actually write the lyrics to the music the issue doesn't arise,
as naturally the lyrics are assigned to each note by syllables, making
the new lyrics quite easy to follow and pronounce.

Having tried it out, I believe that the new lyrics do make a difference
- making it sound a lot less like a bunch of foreigners with really bad
accents who don't understand the words (think the Red Army chorus
singing 'Land Down Under' - very amusing, but I'm sure not QUITE the
effect we're after with Nkosi.  We have plenty of other songbook pieces
for that!).  And honestly, for anyone who's already familiar with the
AICSA version, it's not much more effort to learn the corrected version.


Anyway, I hope this offers some insight into why I went to all this
bother, and provides some more information on the matter.


- Karl Aloritias