The Xhosa Riddle

Abstract

The common word for the riddle in Xhosa is ighina. Literally: this noun means. a knot on a string or tree, or a sharp or difficult ascent in a road or a mountain. Figuratively it means a difficulty, a hard problem. It is formed from the verb- qhina which means to fasten or bind. therefore a riddle, in Xhosa is a knot/ an intellectual knot to be untied, a puzzle to be worked out or to be solved. It is a puzzling statement, question or description intended to make a person use his wits.