The languages of South Africa
We're not called the rainbow nation for nothing. South Africa has 11 official languages, and scores of unofficial ones besides. English is the most commonly spoken language in official and commercial public life – but only the sixth most spoken home language.
The country's democratic constitution, which came into effect on 4 February 1997, recognises 11 official languages, to which the state guarantees equal status.
- Introduction
- Language distribution
- Provincial variations
- Afrikaans
- English
- IsiNdebele
- IsiXhosa
- IsiZulu
- Sesotho sa Leboa
- Sesotho
- Setswana
- siSwati
- Tshivenda
- Xitsonga
- Indigenous creoles and pidgins
Besides the 11 official languages, scores of others – African, European, Asian and more – are spoken in South Africa, as the country lies at the crossroads of southern Africa.
Other languages spoken here and mentioned in the Constitution are the Khoi, Nama and San languages, sign language, Arabic, German, Greek, Gujarati, Hebrew, Hindi, Portuguese, Sanskrit, Tamil, Telegu and Urdu. There are also a few indigenous creoles and pidgins.
English is generally understood across the country, being the language of business, politics and the media, and the country's lingua franca. But it only ranks joint fifth out of 11 as a home language.
South Africa's linguistic diversity means all 11 languages have had a profound effect on each other. South African English, for example, is littered with words and phrases from Afrikaans, isiZulu, Nama and other African languages.
And African-language speakers often pepper their speech with English and Afrikaans, as this isiZulu example recorded in Soweto by MJH Mfusi shows (English is in italics, and Afrikaans in bold):
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"I-Chiefs isidle nge-referee's optional time, otherwise ngabe ihambe sleg. Maar why benga stopi this system ye-injury time?"
"Chiefs [a local soccer team] have won owing to the referee's optional time, otherwise they could have lost. But why is this system of injury time not phased out?"
According to the 2001 census, isiZulu is the mother tongue of 23.8% of South Africa's population, followed by isiXhosa at 17.6%, Afrikaans at 13.3%, Sesotho sa Leboa at 9.4%, and Setswana and English each at 8.2%.
Sesotho is the mother tongue of 7.9% of South Africans, while the remaining four official languages are spoken at home by less than 5% of the population each.
| SOUTH AFRICAN LANGUAGES 2001 | ||
| Language | Number of speakers* | % of total |
| Afrikaans | 5 983 420 | 13.35% |
| English | 3 673 206 | 8.2% |
| IsiNdebele | 711 825 | 1.59% |
| IsiXhosa | 7 907 149 | 17.64% |
| IsiZulu | 10 677 315 | 23.82% |
| Sesotho sa Leboa | 4 208 974 | 9.39% |
| Sesotho | 3 555 192 | 7.93% |
| Setswana | 3 677 010 | 8.2% |
| SiSwati | 1 194 433 | 2.66% |
| Tshivenda | 1 021 761 | 2.28% |
| Xitsonga | 1 992 201 | 4.44% |
| Other | 217 291 | 0.48% |
| TOTAL | 44 819 777 | 100% |
* Spoken as a home language
Source: Census 2001
Most South Africans are multilingual, able to speak more than one language. English- and Afrikaans-speaking people tend not to have much ability in indigenous languages, but are fairly fluent in each other's language. Most South Africans speak English, which is fairly ubiquitous in official and commercial public life. The country's other lingua franca is isiZulu.
IsiZulu, isiXhosa, siSwati and isiNdebele are collectively referred to as the Nguni languages, and have many similarities in syntax and grammar. The Sotho languages – Setswana, Sesotho sa Leboa and Sesotho – also have much in common.
Many of South Africa's linguistic groups share a common ancestry. But as groupings and clans broke up in search of autonomy and greener pastures for their livestock, variations of the common languages evolved.
The languages you will hear most frequently spoken in South Africa depend on where in the country you are.
IsiXhosa, for instance, is spoken by more than 80% of South Africans in the Eastern Cape, while 80.9% of people in KwaZulu-Natal speak isiZulu. IsiZulu is also the most frequently spoken home language in Gauteng, but at a much smaller percentage. The Western and Northern Cape provinces, Afrikaans comes into its own.
Predominant languages by province (census 2001 figures) are:
- Eastern Cape – isiXhosa (83.4%), Afrikaans (9.3%)
- Free State – Sesotho (64.4%), Afrikaans (11.9%)
- Gauteng – isiZulu (21.5%), Afrikaans (14.4%), Sesotho (13.1%), English (12.5%)
- KwaZulu-Natal – isiZulu (80.9%), English (13.6%)
- Limpopo – Sesotho (52.1%), Xitsonga (22.4%), Tshivenda (15.9%)
- Mpumalanga – siSwati (30.8%), isiZulu (26.4%), isiNdebele (12.1%)
- Northern Cape – Afrikaans (68%), Setswana (20.8%)
- North West – Setswana (65.4%), Afrikaans (7.5%)
- Western Cape – Afrikaans (55.3%), isiXhosa (23.7%), English (19.3%)
Source: Census 2001
Afrikaans is the third most common language in South Africa. According to the 2001 census, it is spoken by 13.3% of the population, or 5 983 420 people – mainly coloured and white South Africans. The language has its roots in 17th century Dutch, with influences from English, Malay, German, Portuguese, French and some African languages. One of the first works of written Afrikaans was Bayaan-ud-djyn, an Islamic tract written in Arabic script by Abu Bakr.
Initially known as Cape Dutch, Afrikaans was largely a spoken language for people living in the Cape, with proper Dutch the formal, written language.
Afrikaans came into its own with the growth of Afrikaner identity, being declared an official language – with English – of the Union of South Africa in 1925. The language was promoted alongside Afrikaner nationalism after 1948 and played an important role in minority white rule in apartheid South Africa. The 1976 schoolchildren's uprising was sparked by the proposed imposition of Afrikaans in township schools.
Afrikaans is spoken mainly by white Afrikaners, coloured South Africans and sections of the black population. Although the language has European roots, today the majority of Afrikaans-speakers are not white.
Most Afrikaans speakers (41.8%) live in the Western Cape, where it is the language of more than half of the provincial population. It's also common in Gauteng, where 20.9% of Afrikaans speakers live, making up 13.6% of the provincial population. Although only 9.5% of Afrikaans speakers live in the Northern Cape, it's the dominant language there, spoken by 68% of the provincial population. Afrikaans is also spoken by 9.3% of the people of the Eastern Cape, 11.9% of the Free State's population, and 7.5% of the people of North West.
- Home language to: 13.3% of the population (5 983 420 people)
- Linguistic lineage: Indo-European > Germanic > West Germanic > Low Franconian > Afrikaans
Source: Census 2001 and Ethnologue
English has been both a highly influential language in South Africa, and a language influenced, in turn, by adaptation in the country's different communities. Estimates based on the 1991 census suggest that some 45% of the population have a speaking knowledge of English.
English was declared the official language of the Cape Colony in 1822 (replacing Dutch), and the stated language policy of the government of the time was one of Anglicisation. On the formation of the Union of South Africa in 1910, which united the former Boer republics of the Transvaal and Orange Free State with the Cape and Natal colonies, English was made the official language together with Dutch, which was replaced by Afrikaans in 1925.
Today, English is the country's lingua franca, and the primary language of government, business, and commerce. It is a compulsory subject in all schools, and the medium of instruction in most schools and tertiary institutions.
According to the 2001 census, English is spoken as a home language by 8.2% of the population (3 673 206 people) – one in three of whom are not white. South Africa's Asian people, most of whom are Indian in origin, are largely English-speaking, although many also retain their languages of origin. There is also a significant group of Chinese South Africans, also largely English-speaking but who also retain their languages of origin as well.
South African English is an established and unique dialect, with strong influences from Afrikaans and the country's many African languages. For example: "The old lady has been tuning me grief all avie, coz I bust her tjor going yooees with the okes in Bez Valley" would translate as: "My mother has been shouting at me all afternoon because I crashed her car doing U-turns with my friends in Bez Valley."
As a home language, English is most common in KwaZulu-Natal, where over a third (34.9%) of all English-speaking South Africans are found, making up 13.6% of the provincial population. Another third (30%) of English speakers live in Gauteng, where it is the language of 12.5% of the population, and 23.8% in the Western Cape, where it is spoken by 19.3% of the population.
- Home language to: 8.2% of the population (3 673 206 people)
- Linguistic lineage: Indo-European > Germanic > West Germanic > English
Source: Census 2001 and Ethnologue
IsiNdebele, the language of the Ndebele people, is one of South Africa's four Nguni languages. The Ndebele were originally an offshoot of the Nguni people of KwaZulu-Natal, while the languages amaNala and amaNzunza are related to those of Zimbabwe's amaNdebele people.
Like the country's other African languages, isiNdebele is a tonal language, governed by the noun, which dominates the sentence.
IsiNdebele is a minority language, spoken by only 1.6% of South Africa's population, or 711 825 people. It is largely found in Mpumalanga, where 48.6% of its speakers are found, or 12.1% of the provincial population. Almost a third of isiNdebele speakers reside in Gauteng, but make up only 2.3% of the population.
- Home language to: 1.6% of the population (711 825 people)
- Linguistic lineage: Niger-Congo > Atlantic-Congo > Volta-Congo > Benue-Congo > Bantoid > Southern > Narrow Bantu > Central > S group > Nguni > isNdebele
- Alternate and historical names: Tabele, Tebele, Ndebele, Sindebele, Northern Ndebele
Source: Census 2001 and Ethnologue
South Africa's second-largest language, isiXhosa is spoken by 17.6% of all South Africans, or 7 907 149 people. It is a regional language, with a third of its speakers living in the Eastern Cape, where it is the language of 83.4% of the provincial population. It's also strong in the bordering Western Cape, where 13.6% of all isiXhosa speakers live, making up nearly a quarter of the provincial population.
There are a fair number of isiXhosa speakers in the Free State, North West and Gauteng (respectively 9.1%, 5.8% and 7% of the provincial population), but it is not widely spoken in the other provinces.
IsiXhosa is one of the country's four Nguni languages. It too is a tonal language, governed by the noun, which dominates the sentence. While it shares much of its words and grammar with isiZulu, 15% of its vocabulary is estimated to be of Khoekhoe (Khoisan, or Khoi and Bushman) origin.
- Home language to: 17.6% of the population (7 907 149 people)
- Linguistic lineage: Niger-Congo > Atlantic-Congo > Volta-Congo > Benue-Congo > Bantoid > Southern > Narrow Bantu > Central > S group > Nguni > isiXhosa
- Alternate and historical names: Xhosa, Xosa, Koosa
- Dialects: Gealeka, Ndlambe, Gaika (Ncqika), Thembu, Bomvana, Mpondomse (Mpondomisi), Mpondo, Xesibe, Rhathabe, Bhaca, Cele, Hlubi, Mfengu.
Source: Census 2001 and Ethnologue
IsiZulu is the most common language in South Africa, spoken by nearly 23% of the total population, or 10 677 315 people. It's the language of South Africa's largest ethnic group, the Zulu people, who take their name from the chief who founded the royal line in the 16th century. The warrior king Shaka raised the nation to prominence in the early 19th century. The current monarch is King Goodwill Zwelithini.
A tonal language and one of the country's four Nguni languages, isiZulu is closely related to isiXhosa. It is probably the most widely understood African language in South Africa, spoken from the Cape to Zimbabwe.
The writing of Zulu was started by missionaries in what was then Natal in the 19th century, with the first Zulu translation of the bible produced in 1883. The first work of isiZulu literature was Thomas Mofolo's classic novel Chaka, which was completed in 1910 and published in 1925, with the first English translation produced in 1930. The book reinvents the legendary Zulu king Shaka, portraying him as a heroic but tragic figure, a monarch to rival Shakespeare's Macbeth.
IsiZulu is an extremely regional language, with 71.8% of its speakers to be found in KwaZulu-Natal, where it is the language of 80.9% of the provincial population. Over 18% of isiZulu speakers are to be found in Gauteng, the second province in which it is in the majority, with its speakers making up 21.5% of the provincial population. The third province in which the language is the largest is Mpumalanga, where it is spoken by nearly a quarter of the population, who make up 7.6% of all South African isiZulu speakers. The presence of the language in the remaining six provinces is negligible.
- Home language to: 23.8% of the population (10 677 315 people)
- Linguistic lineage: Niger-Congo > Atlantic-Congo > Volta-Congo > Benue-Congo > Bantoid > Southern > Narrow Bantu > Central > S group > Nguni > isiZulu
- Alternate and historical names: Zulu, Zunda
- Dialects: Lala, Qwabe
Source: Census 2001 and Ethnologue
Sesotho sa Leboa, or Northern Sotho, is referred to as Sepedi in the Constitution. However, this is inaccurate, as Sepedi is just one of some 30 dialects of the Northern Sotho language, and the two are not interchangeable.
Sesotho sa Leboa is the fourth most common language in South Africa, spoken as a home language by 9.4% of the population, or 4 208 974 people. It is one of South Africa's three Sotho languages, with different dialect clusters found in the area where it is spoken.
Sesotho sa Leboa is the language of Limpopo, where it is spoken by 54.8% of the provincial population – 65.1% of all Sesotho sa Leboa speakers. It's also found in Gauteng, where nearly a quarter (24.3%) of Sesotho sa Leboa speakers are to be found, making up 11.2% of the population. In Mpumalanga, 10.2% of the population speak Sesotho sa Leboa, or 8.1% of all speakers of the language.
Confusion in the Constitution: According to the Parliamentary Monitoring Group, the language was mentioned correctly as Sesotho sa Leboa in the interim Constitution of 1993. However, when the final version of the Constitution came into law in 1996, the language had been changed to Sepedi. The reason for the change has never been established.
The Pan South African Language Board (Pansalb) investigated the matter and came to the conclusion that Sepedi was indeed a dialect of Sesotho sa Leboa.
Translation organisation Translate.org.za, which is responsible for the translation into vernacular languages of many popular open source software applications such as web browser Firefox and office suite OpenOffice.org, says that the language and the dialect are often mistaken for each other. While there are many people who speak Sesotho sa Leboa, not all of them speak Sepedi.
Pansalb encourages multilingualism through the equal use of all official languages and the abolition of discrimination against any language. The board's stance, therefore, is that Sesotho sa Leboa is the language which must be promoted.
Translate.org.za also states that it now avoids using the term Sepedi in reference to the Northern Sotho mother tongue.
- Home language to: 9.4% of the population (4 208 974 people)
- Linguistic lineage: Niger-Congo > Atlantic-Congo > Volta-Congo > Benue-Congo > Bantoid > Southern > Narrow Bantu > Central > S group > Sotho-Tswana > Sotho > Northern Sotho
- Alternate and historical names: Pedi, Sepedi, Northern Sotho, Sesotho sa Leboa
- Dialects: Masemola (Masemula, Tau), Kgaga (Kxaxa, Khaga), Koni (Kone), Tswene (Tsweni), Gananwa (Xananwa, Hananwa), Pulana, Phalaborwa (Phalaburwa, Thephalaborwa), Khutswe (Khutswi, Kutswe), Lobedu (Lubedu, Lovedu, Khelobedu), Tlokwa (Tlokoa, Tokwa, Dogwa), Pai, Dzwabo (Thabine-Roka-Nareng), Kopa, Matlala-Moletshi. Dialects Pai, Kutswe, and Pulana are more divergent and sometimes called "Eastern Sotho". Sesotho, Sesotho sa Leboa and Setswana are largely mutually intelligible, but have generally been considered separate languages.
Source: Census 2001 and Ethnologue
Sesotho is another of South Africa's three Sotho languages, spoken by 7.9% of the country's population, or 3 555 192 people.
It is the language of the Free State, which borders the kingdom of Lesotho, a country entirely surrounded by South African territory. Sesotho is spoken by 64.4% of the Free State population, or 49% of all Sesotho-speaking South Africans. It is also found in Gauteng, where it is spoken by 13.1% of the population – a third (32.4%) of all Sesotho-speaking South Africans – and in North West, where it is spoken by 6.8% of the population.
With Setswana and isiZulu, Sesotho was one of the first African languages to be rendered in written form, and it has an extensive literature. Sesotho writing was initiated by the missionaries Casalis and Arbousset of the Paris Evangelical Mission, who arrived at Thaba Bosiu in 1833.
The original written form was based on the Tlokwa dialect, but today is mostly based on the Kwena and Fokeng dialects, although there are variations.
- Home language to: 7.9% of the population (3 555 192 people)
- Linguistic lineage: Niger-Congo > Atlantic-Congo > Volta-Congo > Benue-Congo > Bantoid > Southern > Narrow Bantu > Central > S group > Sotho-Tswana > Sotho > Sesotho
- Alternate and historical names: Suto, Suthu, Souto, Sisutho, Southern Sotho
- Dialects: Sesotho, Sesotho sa Leboa and Setswana are largely mutually intelligible, but have generally been considered separate languages.
Source: Census 2001 and Ethnologue
Setswana is largely found in North West, a province bordering the country of Botswana, where the language dominates. One of South Africa's three Sotho languages, it is the country's fifth most common home language – closely followed by English – being spoken by 8.2% of the total population, or 3 677 010 people.
Setswana is spoken by 65.4% of all North West residents, or 56.2% of all Setswana-speaking South Africans. It is also found in the Northern Cape, where it is spoken by 20.8% of the population, as well as in Gauteng (9.9%) and the Free State (6.8%).
Setswana was the first Sotho language to have a written form. In 1806, Heinrich Lictenstein wrote Upon the Language of the Beetjuana (as a British protectorate, Botswana was originally known as Bechuanaland).
In 1818, Dr Robert Moffat from the London Missionary Society arrived among the Batlhaping in Kudumane, and built Botswana's first school. In 1825 he realised that he must use and write Setswana in his teachings, and began a long translation of the Bible into Setswana, which was finally completed in 1857.
One of most famous Setswana speakers was the intellectual, journalist, linguist, politician, translator and writer Sol T Plaatje. A founder member of the African National Congress, Plaatje was fluent in at least seven languages, and translated the works of Shakespeare into Setswana.
- Home language to: 8.2% of the population (3 677 010 people)
- Linguistic lineage: Niger-Congo > Atlantic-Congo > Volta-Congo > Benue-Congo > Bantoid > Southern > Narrow Bantu > Central > S group > Sotho-Tswana > Tswana
- Alternate and historical names: Chuana, Coana, Cuana, Tswana, Sechuana, Beetjuans
- Dialects: Tlahaping (Tlapi), Rolong, Kwena, Kgatla, Ngwatu (Ngwato), Tawana, Lete, Ngwaketse, Tlokwa. Sesotho, Sesotho sa Leboa and Setswana are largely mutually intelligible, but have generally been considered separate languages.
Source: Census 2001 and Ethnologue
SisSwati is one of South Africa's minority languages, spoken by only 2.7% of South Africans, or 1 194 433 people. It is the language of the Swazi nation, spoken mainly in eastern Mpumalanga, an area that borders the Kingdom of Swaziland.
The Swazi people originated from the Pongola river valley in KwaZulu-Natal, migrating from there to Swaziland. Their country was under British control from 1903 to 1968.
The vast majority (83%) of sisSwati speakers are found in Mpumalanga, where they are the majority linguistic group, making up 30.8% of the provincial population. Nearly 11% of siSwati speakers are found in Gauteng, where they make up only 1.4% of the population.
SiSwati is one of South Africa's four Nguni languages, and is closely related to isiZulu. But much has been done in the last few decades to enforce the differences between the languages for the purpose of standardising siSwati.
- Home language to: 2.7% of the population (1 194 433 people)
- Linguistic lineage: Niger-Congo > Atlantic-Congo > Volta-Congo > Benue-Congo > Bantoid > Southern > Narrow Bantu > Central > S group > Nguni > siSwati
- Alternate and historical names: Swazi, Isiswazi, Swati, Tekela, Tekeza
- Dialects: Baca, Hlubi, Phuthi
Source: Census 2001 and Ethnologue
Tshivenda is generally regarded as a language isolate among S-group languages. While the Nguni group, for example, has four languages (isiZulu, isiXhosa, siSwati and isiNdebele), the Venda group has only one – Tshivenda. It is the tongue the Venda people, who are culturally closer to the Shona people of Zimbabwe than to any other South African group.
Another of South Africa's minority languages, it is spoken by 2.3% of South Africans, or 1 021 761 people. It is concentrated in the province of Limpopo, where 82% of Tshivenda speakers live, or 15.9% of the provincial population. Another 15.7% of TshiVenda speakers live in Gauteng, where they make up 1.7% of the population.
Tshivenda shares features with Shona and Sesotho sa Leboa, with some influence from Nguni languages. The Tshipani variety of the language is used as the standard.
The language requires a number of additional characters or diacritical signs not found on standard keyboards. For this reason, Translate.org.za, an NGO promoting open-source software in indigenous languages, has produced a special program to enable Tshivenda speakers to easily type their language.
The Venda people first settled in the Soutpansberg Mountains region, where the ruins of their first capital, Dzata's, can still be found.
- Home language to: 2.3% of the population (1 021 761 people)
- Linguistic lineage: Niger-Congo > Atlantic-Congo > Volta-Congo > Benue-Congo > Bantoid > Southern > Narrow Bantu > Central > S group > Tshivenda
- Alternate and historical names: Venda, Chivenda
- Dialects: Phani, Tavha-Tsindi, Ilafuri, Manda, Guvhu, Mbedzi, Lembetu
Source: Census 2001 and Ethnologue
The Tsonga people came to South Africa long after most other African people, settling in the Limpopo River valley.
Their language, Xitsonga, is spoken by 4.4% of the national population, or 1 992 201 people. It is found in Limpopo (45% of Xitsonga speakers and 22.4% of the provincial population), Gauteng (28.6% of speakers and 6.2% of the population) and Mpumalanga (19.7% and 11.6%).
It is also found in eastern Limpopo and Mumalanga, areas near the border of the country of Mozambique, as well as in southern Mozambique and southeastern Zimbabwe.
Xitsonga is similar to Xishangana, the language of the Shangaan people, with some Nguni influences.
- Home language to: 4.4% of the population (1 992 201 people)
- Linguistic lineage: Niger-Congo > Atlantic-Congo > Volta-Congo > Benue-Congo > Bantoid > Southern > Narrow Bantu > Central > S group > Tswa-Ronga > Xitsonga
- Alternate and historical names: Tsonga, Shitsonga, Thonga, Tonga, Shangana, Shangaan
- Dialects: Luleke (Xiluleke), Gwamba (Gwapa), Changana, Hlave, Kande, N'walungu (Shingwalungu), Xonga, Jonga (Dzonga), Nkuma, Songa, Nhlanganu (Shihlanganu). "Tsonga" can be used to describe Xishangana (Shangana or Changana), Tswa, and Ronga, although it is often used interchangeably with Xishangana, the most prestigious of the three. All are recognised as languages, although they are mutually intelligible.
Source: Census 2001 and Ethnologue
Indigenous creoles and pidgins
Tsotsi taal, an amalgam of Afrikaans, English and a number of African languages, is widely spoken in South Africa's urban areas, mainly by males. The word "tsotsi" means "gangster" or "hoodlum" – given the association with urban criminality – while "taal" is Afrikaans for "language".
Otherwise known as Iscamtho, tsotsi taal developed in cities and townships to facilitate communication between the different language groups. It is a dynamic language, with new words and phrases being regularly introduced.
Fanagalo is a pidgin that grew up mainly on South Africa's gold mines, to allow communication between white supervisors and African labourers during the colonial and apartheid era.
It is essentially a simplified version of isiZulu and isiXhosa – about 70% of the lexicon is from isiZulu – and incorporates elements from English, Dutch, Afrikaans and Portuguese. It does not have the range of Zulu inflections, and tends to follow English word order. Similar pidgins are Cikabanga in Zambia and Chilapalapa in Zimbabwe.
Fanagalo is a rare example of a pidgin based on an indigenous language rather than on the language of a colonising or trading power.
Source: MediaClubSouthAfrica.com – get free high-resolution photos and professional feature articles from Brand South Africa's media service.