...South African Languages?

Language as diverse as the population

Many have settled in South Africa including the Khoisan, Portuguese, Dutch, English and imported slaves from East Africa and Madagascar. During Apartheid, Afrikaans and English were regarded as official languages whilst nine other Bantu languages developed separately including Zulu, Xhosa, Swati, Ndebele, Southern Sotho, Northern Sotho, Tsonga, Tswana and Venda. The countries post-Apartheid democratic constitution, which came into effect in 1997, recognises 11 official languages equally.

According to the 2001 census, Zulu is the mother tongue of 23.8% of South Africa's population, followed by Xhosa at 17.6%, Afrikaans at 13.3%, Southern Sotho at 9.4% and Tswana and English each at 8.2%. The remaining four official languages make up less than 5%.

South Africa's official languages

Xhosa: Spoken by 7.9 million South African's Xhosa is characterized by tongue-clicking sounds. Try: 'Ewe' (yes).

Zulu: Part of the Nguni group Zulu is spoken by 24% of South Africans and adopts many of its sounds from the San and Khoi including clicking consonants. It is spoken in KwaZulu Natal, Swaziland and Lesotho. Try: 'Siyabonga' (we thank you).

Afrikaans: The language originates from Cape Dutch in the late 19th century and became one of the official languages in 1961. Whilst vocabulary shares its roots with Southern Holland the Afrikaans uses regular grammar. Try: 'more is nog 'n dag' (tomorrow is another day).

Venda: Around 666 000 speakers live in the Limpopo province and royal family, cooking and music are important cultural traditions.

Ndebele: The language is spoken by 500 000 in the Limpopo Province and is carried through generations rather than taught at schools.

Northern Sotho: Spoken in Mpumalanga, Gauteng and Limpopo province speakers of Northern Sotho have their own traditions including lavish wedding ceremonies.

Southern Sotho: With dialects originating from Tswana the language consists of nine vowels and 35 consonants which include two semi-vowels.

Tswana: Botswana's national language is also spoken on the Northern Cape where speakers measure wealth by cattle and music involves only string instruments and voices. Try: 'Go Jwang' (How's it?).

Swati: Spoken in South Africa and Swaziland Swati is compulsory at many schools and is divided into four dialects including Hhoho, Nadzini, Shiselweni and Shiselweni again depending on the region.

Tsonga: Spoken in the Shangaan- Tsonga culture the language uses the Latin alphabet combined with specific sounds to spell.

Multi-lingualism

The majority of South African's are able to speak more than one language. Since the British occupation in the 1800's English has been associated with power and prosperity as well as frequent use in the media, by politicians and government officials. Despite attempts to promote multilingualism, only 45% of the population have a basic grasp of English whilst 22% of the population fully understand political policy and administrative statements made in English.

Closely related in syntax and grammar Zulu, Xhosa, Swati and Ndebele, collectively referred to as the Nguni languages and multilingual dialogue is a common occurrence. Geographical variation is also significant as the majority of people in the Eastern Cape speak Xhosa whilst Zulu is the most common language spoken in KwaZulu-Natal. 

How are languages regulated and promoted?

The constitution aims to elevate the status and advance the use of all official languages, promote political use of all languages and urge municipalities to consider the languages used by their residents. As part of the constitution, The Bill of Rights advocates education in the official language or languages of choice and the right to use language to participate in the cultural life of choice.

The Pan African Languages Board promotes and creates conditions for the use of the official languages and additional languages commonly used in South African communities including German, Greek, Gujerati, Hindi and Urdu.  The board, who have lobbied for language use in government and higher education, have also developed monolingual explanatory dictionaries and electronic translation devices.

The Khoi and San National Language Body, set up in 1999, promote and develop the Khoi and San languages whilst the Commission for the Promotion and Protection of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities promotes respect for South Africa's various linguistic communities.

By Lisa Nevitt

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