| Languages of South Africa | |
|---|---|
.svg) Dominant languages in South Africa:
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| Official | |
| Recognised |
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| Main | English |
| Signed | South African Sign Language |
| Keyboard layout | |
| Part ofa series on the |
| Culture of South Africa |
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| People |
| Cuisine |
Festivals |
| Religion |
| Art |
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Monuments |
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| Languages | percent | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zulu | 24.7% | |||
| Xhosa | 15.6% | |||
| Afrikaans | 12.1% | |||
| Sepedi | 9.8% | |||
| Tswana | 8.9% | |||
| English | 8.4% | |||
| Sotho | 8% | |||
| Tsonga | 4% | |||
| Swati | 2.6% | |||
| Venda | 2.5% | |||
| Ndebele | 1.6% | |||
| SA Sign Language | 0.5% | |||
At least thirty-five languages are spoken inSouth Africa, twelve of which are officiallanguages of South Africa:Ndebele,Pedi,Sotho,South African Sign Language,Swazi,Tsonga,Tswana,Venda,Afrikaans,Xhosa,Zulu, andEnglish, which is the primary language used in parliamentary and state discourse, though all official languages are equal in legal status. In addition,South African Sign Language was recognised as the twelfth official language of South Africa by the National Assembly on 3 May 2023.[2] Unofficial languages are protected under theConstitution of South Africa, though few are mentioned by any name.
Unofficial and marginalised languages include what are considered some of Southern Africa's oldest[citation needed] languages:Khoekhoegowab,!Orakobab,Xirikobab,N|uuki,ǃXunthali, andKhwedam; and other African languages, such asSiPhuthi,IsiHlubi,SiBhaca,SiLala,SiNhlangwini (IsiZansi),SiNrebele (SiSumayela), IsiMpondo, IsiMpondomise/IsiMpondomse,KheLobedu, SePulana, HiPai, SeKutswe, SeṰokwa, SeHananwa, SiThonga, SiLaNgomane,SheKgalagari,XiRhonga, SeKopa (Sekgaga), and others. Most South Africanscan speak more than one language,[3] and there is very often adiglossia between the official and unofficial language forms for speakers of the latter.
The most common language spoken as a first language by South Africans is Zulu (23%), followed by Xhosa (16%), and Afrikaans (14%). English is the fourth most common first language in the country (9.6%), but is understood in most urban areas and is the dominant language in government and the media.[4]
The majority of South Africans speak a language from one of the two principal branches of the nativeBantu languages that are represented in South Africa: theSotho–Tswana branch (which includes Southern Sotho, Northern Sotho and Tswana languages officially), or theNguni branch (which includes Zulu, Xhosa, Swati and Ndebele languages officially). For each of the two groups, the languages within that group are for the most part intelligible to a native speaker of any other language within that group.[5]
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, as also inBotswana andLesotho.Gauteng is the most linguistically heterogeneous province, with roughly equal numbers of Nguni, Sotho-Tswana and Indo-European language speakers, with Khoekhoe influence. This has resulted in the spread of an urban argot,Tsotsitaal or S'Camtho/Ringas, in large urban townships in the province, which has spread nationwide.
Tsotsitaal in its original form as "Flaaitaal" was based on Afrikaans, a colonial language derived fromDutch, which is the most widely spoken language in the western half of the country (Western andNorthern Cape). Afrikaans is spoken as first language by approximately 61 percent of whites and 76 percent ofColoured people.[6] This racial term is popularly considered to mean "mixed race", as it represents to some degree a creole population many of whom are descendants of slave populations imported by theVereenigde Oostindische Compagnie (VOC) from slaving posts in West and East Africa, and from its colonies of theIndian Ocean trade route.
Political exiles from the VOC colony ofBatavia were also brought to the Cape, and these formed a major influencing force in the formation of Afrikaans, particularly in itsMalay influence, andits early Jawi literature. Primary of these was the founder of Islam at the Cape, Sheikh Abadin Tadia Tjoessoep (known as Sheikh Yusuf).Hajji Yusuf was an Indonesian noble of royal descent, being the nephew of the Sultan Alauddin ofGowa, in todayMakassar,Nusantara. Yusuf, along with 49 followers including two wives, two concubines and twelve children, were received in the Cape on 2 April 1694 by governorSimon van der Stel. They were housed on the farm Zandvliet, far outside ofCape Town, in an attempt to minimise his influence on the VOC's slaves. The plan failed however; Yusuf's settlement (calledMacassar) soon became a sanctuary for slaves and it was here that the first cohesiveIslamic community in South Africa was established. From here the message of Islam was disseminated to the slave community of Cape Town, and this population was foundational in the formation of Afrikaans. Of particular note is theCape Muslim pioneering of the first Afrikaans literature, written inArabic Afrikaans, which was an adaptation of theJawi script, using Arabic letters to represent Afrikaans for both religious and quotidian purposes. It also became the de facto national language of theGriqua (Xiri or Griekwa) nation, which was a mixed race group.
Afrikaans is also spoken widely across the centre and north of the country, as a second (or third or even fourth) language by Black or Indigenous South Africans (which, in South Africa, popularly meansSiNtu-speaking populations) living in farming areas.
The2011 census recorded the following distribution of first language speakers:[6]
| Language | L1 speakers | L2 speakers[7] | Total speakers[7] | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | Of population | Count | Of population | Count | Of population | |
| Zulu | 11,587,374 | 22.7% | 15,700,000 | 30.8% | 27,300,000 | 46% |
| Xhosa | 8,154,258 | 16.0% | 11,000,000 | 21.6% | 19,150,000 | 33% |
| Afrikaans | 6,855,082 | 13.5% | 10,300,000 | 20.2% | 17,160,000 | 29% |
| English | 4,892,623 | 9.6% | 14,000,000 | 27.4% | 19,640,000 | 33% |
| Pedi | 4,618,576 | 9.1% | 9,100,000 | 17.8% | 13,720,000 | 23% |
| Tswana | 4,067,248 | 8.0% | 7,700,000 | 15.1% | 11,770,000 | 20% |
| Sotho | 3,849,563 | 7.6% | 7,900,000 | 15.5% | 11,750,000 | 20% |
| Tsonga | 2,277,148 | 4.5% | 3,400,000 | 6.6% | 5,680,000 | 10% |
| Swati | 1,297,046 | 2.5% | 2,400,000 | 4.7% | 3,700,000 | 6% |
| Venda | 1,209,388 | 2.4% | 1,700,000 | 3.3% | 2,910,000 | 5% |
| Ndebele | 1,090,223 | 2.1% | 1,400,000 | 2.7% | 2,490,000 | 4% |
| SA Sign Language | 234,655 | 0.5% | 500,000 | 1.0% | 834,655 | 1.5% |
| Other languages | 828,258 | 1.6% | ||||
| Total | 50,961,443 | 100.0% | ||||
| Language | 2022 | 2011 | 2001 | Change 2011–2022 (pp) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zulu | 24.4% | 22.7% | 23.8% | 1.3% |
| Xhosa | 16.3% | 16.0% | 17.6% | 0.3% |
| Afrikaans | 10.6% | 13.5% | 13.4% | -2.9% |
| Sepedi | 10.0% | 9.0% | 9.4% | 1.0% |
| English | 8.7% | 9.7% | 8.3% | -1.0% |
| Tswana | 8.3% | 8.0% | 8.2% | 0.3% |
| Sesotho | 7.8% | 7.6% | 7.9% | 0.2% |
| Tsonga | 4.7% | 4.5% | 4.4% | 0.2% |
| Swati | 2.8% | 2.5% | 2.7% | 0.3% |
| Venda | 2.5% | 2.4% | 2.3% | 0.1% |
| Ndebele | 1.7% | 2.1% | 1.6% | -0.4% |
| SA Sign Language | 0.02% | 0.5% | -0.4% | |
| Other languages | 2.1 | 1.6% | 0.5% | 0.5% |
| Total | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% |
Other languages spoken in South Africa not mentioned in the constitution, include many of those already mentioned above, such asKheLobedu,SiNrebele,SiPhuthi, as well as mixed languages likeFanakalo (apidgin language used as a lingua franca in the mining industry), andTsotsitaal or S'Camtho, anargot that has found wider usage as an informal register.
Many unofficial languages have been variously claimed to be dialects of official languages, which largely follows theapartheid practice of theBantustans, wherein minority populations were legally assimilated towards the officialethnos of the Bantustan or "Homeland".
Significant numbers of immigrants fromEurope, elsewhere inAfrica,China, and theIndian subcontinent (largely as a result of the BritishIndian indenture system) means that a wide variety of other languages can also be found in parts of South Africa. In the older immigrant communities there are:Greek,Gujarati,Hindi,Portuguese,Tamil,Telugu,Bhojpuri,Awadhi,Urdu,Yiddish,Italian and smaller numbers ofDutch,French andGerman speakers. Older Chinese tend to speakCantonese orHokkien, but recent immigrants mainly speakMandarin Chinese.
These non-official languages may be used in limited semi-official use where it has been determined that these languages are prevalent. More importantly, these languages have significant local functions in specific communities whose identity is tightly bound around the linguistic and cultural identity that these non-official South African languages signal.
The fastest growing non-official language is Portuguese[8] – first spoken by immigrants from Portugal, especiallyMadeira[9] and later black and white settlers and refugees fromAngola andMozambique after they won independence fromPortugal and now by more recent immigrants from those countries again – and increasingly French, spoken by immigrants and refugees fromFrancophoneCentral Africa.
More recently, speakers ofNorth, Central andWest Africa languages have arrived in South Africa, mostly in the major cities, especially inJohannesburg andPretoria, but alsoCape Town andDurban.[10]
Angloromani is spoken by the South AfricanRoma minority.[11]
Chapter 1 (Founding Provisions), Section 6 (Languages) of theConstitution of South Africa is the basis for governmentlanguage policy.
The English text of the constitution signed by presidentNelson Mandela on 16 December 1996 uses (mostly) the names of the languages expressed in those languages themselves. Sesotho refers to Southern Sotho, and isiNdebele refers to Southern Ndebele. TheInterim Constitution of 1993 referred toSesotho sa Leboa, while the 1996 Constitution used "Sepedi" for the title of theNorthern Sotho language.[12]
The constitution mentions "sign language" in the generic sense rather than South African Sign Language specifically.
- The official languages of the Republic are
- Recognising the historically diminished use and status of the indigenous languages of our people, the state must take practical and positive measures to elevate the status and advance the use of these languages.
- The national government and provincial governments may use any particular official languages for the purposes of government, taking into account usage, practicality, expense, regional circumstances and the balance of the needs and preferences of the population as a whole or in the province concerned; but the national government and each provincial government must use at least two official languages.
- Municipalities must take into account the language usage and preferences of their residents.
- The national government and provincial governments, by legislative and other measures, must regulate and monitor their use of official languages. Without detracting from the provisions of subsection (2), all official languages must enjoy parity of esteem and must be treated equitably.
- APan South African Language Board established by national legislation must
- promote, and create conditions for, the development and use of -
and
- all official languages;
- theKhoi, Nama and San languages; and
- sign language;
- promote and ensure respect for
— Constitution of the Republic of South Africa[13]
The following is from the preamble to theConstitution of South Africa:
| English[14] | Afrikaans[15] | isiNdebele[16] | isiXhosa[17] | isiZulu[18] | siSwati[19] | Sepedi[20] | Sesotho[21] | Setswana[22] | Tshivenda[23] | Xitsonga[24] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Preamble | Aanhef | Isendlalelo | Intshayelelo | Isendlalelo | Sendlalelo | Ketapele | Ketapele | Pulamadibogo | Mvulatswinga | Manghenelo |
| We, the people of South Africa, | Ons, die mense van Suid-Afrika, | Thina, abantu beSewula Afrika, | Thina, bantu baseMzantsi-Afrika, | Thina, bantu baseNingizimu Afrika, | Tsine, bantfu baseNingizimu Afrika, | Rena, batho ba Afrika Borwa, | Rona, batho ba Afrika Borwa, | Rona, batho ba Aforika Borwa, | Riṋe, vhathu vha Afrika Tshipembe, | Hina, vanhu va Afrika Dzonga, |
| Recognise the injustices of our past; | Erken die ongeregtighede van ons verlede; | Siyakwazi ukungakaphatheki kwethu ngokomthetho kwesikhathi sakade; | Siyaziqonda iintswela-bulungisa zexesha elidlulileyo; | Siyazamukela izenzo ezingalungile zesikhathi esadlula; | Siyakubona kungabi khona kwebulungiswa esikhatsini lesengcile; | Re lemoga ditlhokatoka tša rena tša bogologolo; | Re elellwa ho ba le leeme ha rona nakong e fetileng; | Re itse ditshiamololo tsa rona tse di fetileng; | Ri dzhiela nṱha u shaea ha vhulamukanyi kha tshifhinga tsho fhelaho; | Hi lemuka ku pfumaleka ka vululami ka nkarhi lowu nga hundza; |
| Honour those who suffered for justice and freedom in our land; | Huldig diegene wat vir geregtigheid en vryheid in ons land gely het; | Sihlonipha labo abatlhoriswako ngerhuluphelo lokobana kube khona ubulungiswa netjhaphuluko enarheni yekhethu; | Sibothulel’ umnqwazi abo baye bev’ ubunzima ukuze kubekho ubulungisa nenkululeko elizweni lethu; | Siphakamisa labo abahluphekela ubulungiswa nenkululeko emhlabeni wethu; | Setfulela sigcoko labo labahlushwa kuze sitfole bulungiswa nenkhululeko eveni lakitsi; | Re tlotla bao ba ilego ba hlokofaletšwa toka le tokologo nageng ya gaborena; | Re tlotla ba hlokofaditsweng ka lebaka la toka le tokoloho naheng ya rona; | Re tlotla ba ba bogileng ka ntlha ya tshiamo le kgololosego mo lefatsheng la rona; | Ri ṱhonifha havho vhe vha tambulela vhulamukanyi na mbofholowo kha shango ḽashu; | Hi xixima lava xanisekeke hikwalaho ko hisekela vululami na ntshunxeko etikweni ra hina; |
| Respect those who have worked to build and develop our country; and | Respekteer diegene wat hul beywer het om ons land op te bou en te ontwikkel; en | Sihlonipha labo abasebenzileko ekwakhiweni nekuthuthukisweni kwephasi lekhethu; begodu | Siyabahlonela abo baye basebenzela ukwakha nokuphucula ilizwe lethu; kwaye | Sihlonipha labo abasebenzele ukwakha nokuthuthukisa izwe lethu; futhi | Sihlonipha labo labaye basebentela kwakha nekutfutfukisa live lakitsi; futsi | Re hlompha bao ba ilego ba katanela go aga le go hlabolla naga ya gaborena; mme | Re tlotla ba ileng ba sebeletsa ho aha le ho ntshetsa pele naha ya rona; mme | Re tlotla ba ba diretseng go aga le go tlhabolola naga ya rona; mme | Ri ṱhonifha havho vhe vha shuma vha tshi itela u fhaṱa na u bveledzisa shango ḽashu; na | Hi hlonipha lava tirheke ku aka no hluvukisa tiko ra hina; no |
| Believe that South Africa belongs to all who live in it, united in our diversity. | Glo dat Suid-Afrika behoort aan almal wat daarin woon, verenig in ons verskeidenheid. | Sikholwa bonyana iSewula Afrika ingeyabo boke abandzindze kiyo, sibambisane ngokwahlukahlukana kwethu. | Sikholelwa kwelokuba uMzantsi-Afrika ngowabo bonke abahlala kuwo, bemanyene nangona bengafani. | Sikholelwa ukuthi iNingizimu Afrika ingeyabo bonke abahlala kuyo, sibumbene nakuba singafani. | Sikholelwa ekutseni iNingizimu Afrika yabo bonkhe labahlala kuyo, sihlangene ngekwehlukahlukana kwetfu; | Re dumela gore Afrika-Borwa ke ya batho bohle ba ba dulago go yona, re le ngata e tee e nago le pharologano | Re dumela hore Afrika Borwa ke naha ya bohle ba phelang ho yona, re kopane le ha re fapane. | Re dumela fa Aforika Borwa e le ya botlhe ba ba tshelang mo go yona, re le ngata e le nngwe ka go farologana | U tenda uri Afrika Tshipembe ndi ḽa vhoṱhe vhane vha dzula khaḽo, vho vhofhekanywaho vha vha huthihi naho vha sa fani. | Tshembha leswaku Afrika Dzonga i ya vanhu hinkwavo lava tshamaka eka rona, hi hlanganile hi ku hambana-hambana ka hina. |
