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The indigenous African languages of South Africa which are official, and therefore dominant, can be divided into two geographical zones, with Nguni languages being predominant in the south-eastern third of the country (Indian Ocean coast) and Sotho-Tswana languages being predominant in the northern third of the country located further inland ...
Zulu (/ ˈ z uː l uː / ZOO-loo), or IsiZulu as an endonym, is a Southern Bantu language of the Nguni branch spoken and indigenous to Southern Africa.It is the language of the Zulu people, with about 13.56 million native speakers, who primarily inhabit the province of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. [4]
Zulu is the most widely spoken language in South Africa, where it is an official language. More than half of the South African population can understand it, with over 13.78 million first-language and over 15 million second-language speakers. [10] Many Zulu people also speak Xitsonga, Sesotho and others from among South Africa's 12 official ...
Xhosa (/ ˈ k ɔː s ə / KAW-sə, / ˈ k oʊ s ə / KOH-sə; [5] [6] [7] Xhosa pronunciation: [kǁʰóːsa]), formerly spelled Xosa and also known by its local name isiXhosa, is a Nguni language, indigenous to Southern Africa and one of the official languages of South Africa and Zimbabwe. [8]
Sotho (/ sɛˈsuːtuː /) [a] Sesotho, also known as Southern Sotho or Sesotho sa Borwa is a Southern Bantu language of the Sotho–Tswana ("S.30") group, spoken in Lesotho, and South Africa where it is an official language. Like all Bantu languages, Sesotho is an agglutinative language that uses numerous affixes and derivational and ...
isiNdebele (English: / ɛndəˈbiːliː /), also known as Southern Ndebele[1][4][5] is an African language belonging to the Mbo group of Bantu languages, spoken by the Ndebele people of South Africa. Northern Ndebele or Ndebele also known as isi Ndebele is spoken in Limpopo in areas such as Polokwane (Bhulungwane), Ga-Rathoka (KaSondonga), Ga ...
Map of modern distribution of "Khoisan" languages. The territories shaded blue and green, and those to their east, are those of San peoples. The San peoples (also Saan), or Bushmen, are the members of any of the indigenous hunter-gatherer cultures of southern Africa, and the oldest surviving cultures of the region. [1]
These cultural groups are also found across southern Africa. The BaSotho are the majority ethnic group of Lesotho. The Tswana make up the majority of the population of Botswana. The Swazi are the majority in Swaziland. The Tsonga are also found in Southern Mozambique. Zulu people in KwaZulu-Natal.