Language
Kalanga language. Kalanga, or TjiKalanga (in Zimbabwe), is a Bantu language spoken by the Kalanga people in Botswana and Zimbabwe. It has an extensive phoneme inventory, which includes palatalised, velarised, aspirated and breathy-voiced consonants, as well as whistled sibilants. Kalanga is recognised as an official language by the Zimbabwean Constitution of 2013 and is taught in schools in areas where its speakers predominate. The iKalanga language is closely related to the Nambya, TshiVenda, and KheLobedu languages of Zimbabwe and South Africa. Classification and varieties Linguists place Kalanga (S.16 in Guthrie's classification) and Nambya (in the Hwange region of Zimbabwe) as the western branch of the Shona group (or Shonic, or Shona-Nyai) group of languages, collectively coded as S.10. Kalanga has a dialectal variation between its Botswana and Zimbabwean varieties and they use slightly different orthographies...
wikidata.org 0 views · 2024-12-26 20:01:54
Chewa language. Chewa (also known as Nyanja, ) is a Bantu language spoken in Malawi and a recognised minority in Zambia and Mozambique. The noun class prefix chi- is used for languages, so the language is usually called Chichewa and Chinyanja. In Malawi, the name was officially changed from Chinyanja to Chichewa in 1968 at the insistence of President Hastings Kamuzu Banda (himself of the Chewa people), and this is still the name most commonly used in Malawi today. In Zambia, the language is generally known as Nyanja or Cinyanja/Chinyanja '(language) of the lake' (referring to Lake Malawi). Chewa belongs to the same language group (Guthrie Zone N) as Tumbuka, Sena and Nsenga. Throughout the history of Malawi, only Chewa and Tumbuka have at one time been...
wikidata.org 0 views · 2024-12-26 20:01:51
Language
Shona language. Shona (; Shona: chiShona) is a Bantu language of the Shona people of Zimbabwe. The term is variously used to collectively describe all the Central Shonic varieties (comprising Zezuru, Manyika, Korekore and Karanga or Ndau) or specifically Standard Shona, a variety codified in the mid-20th century. Using the broader term, the language is spoken by over 10 million people. The larger group of historically related languages???called Shona or Shonic languages by linguists???also includes Ndau (Eastern Shona) and Kalanga (Western Shona). In Guthrie's classification of Bantu languages, zone S.10 designates the Shonic group. Languages that are related to Shona Shona is closely related to Ndau, Kalanga and is related to Tonga, Chewa, Tumbuka, Tsonga and Venda. Ndau and Kalanga are former dialects of Shona but became independent languages in 2013 because their grammar is very slightly...
wikidata.org 0 views · 2024-12-26 20:01:49
Northern Ndebele language. Northern Ndebele (English: ), also called Ndebele, isiNdebele saseNyakatho, Zimbabwean Ndebele, Sindebele or North Ndebele, associated with the term Matabele, is a Bantu language spoken by the Northern Ndebele people which belongs to the Nguni group of languages. Ndebele is a term used to refer to a collection of many different African cultures in Zimbabwe. As a language, it is by no means similar to the Ndebele language spoken in kwaNdebele in South Africa although, like many Nguni dialects, some words will be shared. Many of the natives that were colonized by the Matabele were assimilated into Mzilikazi's kingdom to create a version of isiZulu. The Matebele people of Zimbabwe descend from followers of the Zulu leader Mzilikazi (one of Zulu King Shaka's generals), who left the Zulu Kingdom in the early 19th century, during the Mfecane, arriving in present-day Zimbabwe in 1839. Although there are...
wikidata.org 0 views · 2024-12-26 20:01:49
South African Sign Language. South African Sign Language (SASL, Afrikaans: Suid-Afrikaanse Gebaretaal) is the primary sign language used by deaf people in South Africa. The South African government added a National Language Unit for South African Sign Language in 2001. SASL is not the only manual language used in South Africa, but it is the language that is being promoted as the language to be used by the Deaf in South Africa, although Deaf peoples in South Africa historically do not form a single group. In 1995, the previous South African National Council for the Deaf (SANCD) was transformed into the Deaf Federation of South Africa (DeafSA), which resulted in a radical policy change in matters for Deaf people in South Africa, such as the development and adoption of a single sign language and the promotion of sign language over oralism. Schools for the deaf have remained largely untransformed, however, and different schools for Deaf children...
wikidata.org 0 views · 2024-12-26 20:00:49
Zulu language. Zulu ( 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. The word "KwaZulu-Natal" translates into English as "Home of the Zulu Nation is Natal". Zulu is the most widely spoken home language in South Africa (24% of the population), and it is understood by over 50% of its population. It became one of South Africa's 12 official languages in 1994. According to Ethnologue, it is the second-most widely spoken of the Bantu languages, after Swahili. Like many other Bantu languages, it is written with the Latin alphabet. In South African English, the language is often referred to in its native form, isiZulu. ...
wikidata.org 0 views · 2024-12-26 20:00:47
Xhosa language. Xhosa ( KAW-s?? or KOH-s??, Xhosa: [???????????sa] ), 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. Xhosa is spoken as a first language by approximately 8 million people and as a second language in South Africa, particularly in Eastern Cape, Western Cape, Northern Cape and Gauteng, and also in parts of Zimbabwe and Lesotho. It has perhaps the heaviest functional load of click consonants in a Bantu language (approximately tied with Yeyi), with one count finding that 10% of basic vocabulary items contained a click. Classification...
wikidata.org 0 views · 2024-12-26 20:00:44
Venda language. Ven???a or Tshiven???a is a Bantu language and an official language of South Africa and Zimbabwe. It is mainly spoken by the Venda people (or Vhaven???a) in the northern part of South Africa's Limpopo province, as well as by some Lemba people in South Africa. The Tshivenda language is related to the Kalanga language which is spoken in Southern Africa. During the apartheid era of South Africa, the Bantustan of Venda was set up to cover the Venda speakers of South Africa. According to the 2011 census, Venda speakers are concentrated in the following areas: Makhado Local Municipality, with 350,000 people; Thulamela Local Municipality, with 370,000 people; Musina Local Municipality, with 35,000 people; and Mutale Local Municipality, with 89,000 people. The total number of speakers in Vhembe district currently stands at 844,000. In Gauteng province, there are 275,000 Venda speakers. Fewer than 10,000 are spread across the rest of the country...
wikidata.org 0 views · 2024-12-26 20:00:43
Tswana language. Tswana, also known by its native name Setswana, and previously spelled Sechuana in English, is a Bantu language spoken in and indigenous to Southern Africa by about 8.2 million people. It is closely related to the Northern Sotho and Southern Sotho languages, as well as the Kgalagadi language and the Lozi language. Setswana is an official language of South Africa and Zimbabwe. It is a lingua franca in Botswana and parts of South Africa, particularly North West Province. Tswana speaking ethnic groups are found in more than two provinces of South Africa, primarily in the North West, where about four million people speak the language. An urbanised variety is known as Pretoria Sotho, and is the principal unique language of the city of Pretoria. The three South African provinces with the most speakers are Gauteng (circa 11%), Northern Cape, and North West (over 70%). Until...
wikidata.org 0 views · 2024-12-26 20:00:42
Tsonga language. Tsonga ( (T)SONG-g??) or, natively, Xitsonga, as an endonym, is a Bantu language spoken by the Tsonga people of South Africa. It is mutually intelligible with Tswa and Ronga and the name "Tsonga" is often used as a cover term for all three, also sometimes referred to as Tswa-Ronga. The Xitsonga language has been standardised for both academic and home use. Tsonga is an official language of the Republic of South Africa, and under the name "Shangani" it is recognised as an official language in the Constitution of Zimbabwe. All Tswa-Ronga languages are recognised in Mozambique. It is not official in Eswatini (formerly Swaziland). History The Xi-tsonga language was studied in great detail by the Swiss missionary, Henri-Alexandre Junod between the years 1890 and 1920, who made the conclusion that the Xitsonga language...
wikidata.org 0 views · 2024-12-26 20:00:39
Swazi language. Swazi or siSwati is a Bantu language of the Nguni group spoken in Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) and South Africa by the Swati people. The number of speakers is estimated to be in the region of 4.7 million including first and second language speakers. The language is taught in Eswatini and some South African schools in Mpumalanga, particularly former KaNgwane areas. Siswati is an official language of Eswatini (along with English), and is also one of the twelve official languages of South Africa. The official term is "siSwati" among native speakers; in English, Zulu, Ndebele or Xhosa it may be referred to as Swazi. siSwati is most closely related to the other Tekela languages, like Phuthi and Northern Transvaal (Sumayela) Ndebele, but is also very close to the Zunda languages: Zulu, Southern Ndebele, Northern Ndebele, and Xhosa. Dialects Siswati spoken in Eswatini can be divided into...
wikidata.org 0 views · 2024-12-26 20:00:37
Language
Sotho language. Sotho () 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 inflexional rules to build complete words. Classification Sotho is a Southern Bantu language belonging to the Niger???Congo language family within the Sotho-Tswana branch of Zone S (S.30). "Sotho" is also the name given to the entire Sotho-Tswana group, in which case Sesotho proper is called "Southern Sotho". Within the Sotho-Tswana group, Southern Sotho is also related to Lozi (Silozi), with which it forms the Sesotho-Lozi group within Sotho-Tswana. The Northern Sotho group is geographical, and includes a number of dialects also...
wikidata.org 0 views · 2024-12-26 20:00:34
Northern Sotho. Sesotho sa Leboa is a Sotho-Tswana language group spoken in the northeastern provinces of South Africa, most commonly in Mpumalanga, Gauteng and the Limpopo provinces and Botswana It is also known by Pedi or Sepedi and holds the status of an official language in South Africa. An official language for the Lebowa homeland during apartheid, it is the first language of over 4.6 million (9.1%) people according to the South African National Census of 2011, making it the 5th most spoken language in South Africa. Official language status Sepedi vs Northern Sotho According to Chapter 1, Section 6 of the South African Constitution, Sepedi is one of South Africa's 12 official languages. There has been significant debate about whether Northern Sotho should be used instead of Pedi. The English version of the South African...
wikidata.org 0 views · 2024-12-26 20:00:33
Southern Ndebele language. isiNdebele (English: ), also known as Southern Ndebele 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 isiNdebele is spoken in Limpopo in areas such as Polokwane (Bhulungwane), Ga-Rathoka (KaSondonga), Ga-Mashashane, Ga Maraba / Kalkspruit, Mokopane (Mghumbane), Zebediela (Sebetiela), which is closer to Southern Ndebele. Overview The Ndebele (Southern and Northern) people's history has been traced back to King Ndebele, King Ndebele fathered King Mkhalangana, King Mkhalangana fathered King Mntungwa (not to be confused with the Khumalo Mntungwa, because he was fathered by Mbulazi), King Mntungwa fathered King Jonono, King Jonono fathered King Nanasi, King Nanasi fathered King Mafana, king Mafana fathered King Mhlanga and Chief Libhoko, King Mhlanga...
wikidata.org 0 views · 2024-12-26 20:00:31
Afrikaans. Afrikaans ( AF-rih-KAHNSS, AHF-, -???KAHNZ) is a West Germanic language, spoken in South Africa, Namibia and (to a lesser extent) Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe. It evolved from the Dutch vernacular of South Holland (Hollandic dialect) spoken by the predominantly Dutch settlers and enslaved population of the Dutch Cape Colony, where it gradually began to develop distinguishing characteristics in the 17th and 18th centuries. Although Afrikaans has adopted words from other languages including German, Malay and Khoisan languages, an estimated 90 to 95% of the vocabulary of Afrikaans is of Dutch origin. Differences between Afrikaans and Dutch often lie in the more analytic morphology and grammar of Afrikaans, and different spellings. There is a large degree of mutual intelligibility...
wikidata.org 0 views · 2024-12-26 20:00:31
Language
Cape Verdean Creole. Cape Verdean Creole is a Portuguese-based creole language spoken on the islands of Cape Verde. It is the native creole language of virtually all Cape Verdeans and is used as a second language by the Cape Verdean diaspora. The creole has particular importance for creolistics studies since it is the oldest living creole. It is the most widely spoken Portuguese-based creole language. The full, formal name is Cape Verdean Creole (kabuverdianu), but in everyday usage the creole is simply called "Creole" (kriolu/kriol) by its speakers. Origins The history of Cape Verdean Creole is hard to trace due to a lack of written documentation and to ostracism during the Portuguese administration of Cape Verde. There are presently three theories about the formation of Cape...
wikidata.org 0 views · 2024-12-26 19:58:40
Language
Icelandic. North Germanic language mainly spoken in Iceland
modern_languagenatural_language
wikidata.org 0 views · 2024-12-26 19:57:03
Lao. Kra???Dai language of Southeast Asia
language2modern_language
wikidata.org 0 views · 2024-12-26 19:54:36
Vietnamese. Austroasiatic language originating in Vietnam
modern_languagenatural_language
wikidata.org 0 views · 2024-12-26 19:54:19
Khmer. Austroasiatic language of Cambodia
language2modern_language
wikidata.org 0 views · 2024-12-26 19:53:53
Language
Bislama. English-based creole language of Vanuatu
creole_languagelanguage2modern_language
wikidata.org 0 views · 2024-12-26 19:53:41
Language
Belarusian. East Slavic language
language2modern_language
wikidata.org 0 views · 2024-12-26 19:51:47
Kirundi. Kirundi, also known as Rundi, is a Bantu language and the national language of Burundi. It is a dialect of Rwanda-Rundi dialect continuum that is also spoken in Rwanda and adjacent parts of Tanzania (in regions close to Kigoma), the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, as well as in Kenya. Kirundi is mutually intelligible with Kinyarwanda, the national language of Rwanda, and the two form parts of the wider dialect continuum known as Rwanda-Rundi. Kirundi is natively spoken by the Hutu, including Bakiga and other related ethnicities, as well as Tutsi, Twa and Hima among others have adopted the language. Neighbouring dialects of Kirundi are mutually intelligible with Ha, a language spoken in western Tanzania. Kirundi is one of the languages where Meeussen's rule, a rule describing a certain pattern of tonal change in Bantu languages, is active. In 2020, the Rundi Academy was established to help standardize and promote Kirundi. ...
wikidata.org 0 views · 2024-12-26 19:50:16
Language
Guianan Creole. French-based creole from French Guiana
creole_languagelanguage2modern_language
wikidata.org 0 views · 2024-12-26 19:48:58
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