Zulu Language
From Halbeeg, the open encyclopedia · Af-Soomaali
116 languages
Zulu is a Bantu language of the Niger-Congo family. It is spoken primarily in South Africa, especially in KwaZulu-Natal province, and also in Gauteng and Mpumalanga. It is one of the official languages of South Africa and is the most widely spoken home language in the country.
Zulu belongs to the Nguni group, which also includes Xhosa, Swati (siSwati), and Ndebele. These languages share mutual intelligibility to some degree: a Zulu speaker can often understand Xhosa or Swati without formal study. The writing system uses the Latin alphabet.
Sound and grammar
The most distinctive feature of Zulu phonetics is the click consonants—sounds produced in the mouth with the tongue or lips striking the teeth or palate. These are written as c, q, and x, each with a specific place of articulation in the mouth. These sounds are believed to have been borrowed from Khoisan languages. Zulu is also a tonal language, meaning that tone can change the meaning of a word.
Like other Bantu languages, Zulu uses a noun class system: nouns are divided into many classes, each marked by a distinctive prefix. These prefixes also affect the verb, adjective, and other words in the sentence—a phenomenon known as concord. Example: umuntu (person) / abantu (people).
Writing and use
Zulu orthography began in the nineteenth century, developed by missionaries who translated the Bible. Today Zulu is used in primary education, radio and television news, newspapers, and literature. There is a strong tradition of oral praise poetry (izibongo) in which kings and leaders are commemorated.
In large cities, mixed varieties of Zulu exist, such as youth market languages that include words borrowed from English and Afrikaans. Zulu is also a component of Fanakalo, a lingua franca formerly used in mining.