According to the 2011census, 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; andMutale Local Municipality, with 89,000 people. The total number of speakers inVhembe district currently stands at 844,000. InGauteng province, there are 275,000 Venda speakers. Fewer than 10,000 are spread across the rest of the country—for a total number of Venda speakers in South Africa at 1.2 million people or just 2.2% of South Africa's population, making Venda speakers the second smallest minority language in South Africa, after theNdebele language, which number 1.1 million speakers. The population statistics of the Venda people inZimbabwe are not clear but may currently stand at a million. The people are concentrated in the South of the country but also spread to other towns and cities. There is also a significant number of them in neighbouring South Africa where they aremigrant workers.
The Venda language uses theLatin alphabet with five additional accented letters. There are fourdental consonants with acircumflex accent below the letter (ḓ, ḽ, ṋ, ṱ) and anoverdot forvelarṅ. Five vowel letters are used to write seven vowels. The letters C, J and Q are used only forforeign words and names.
The Venda alphabet
A a
B b
(C c)
D d
Ḓ ḓ
E e
F f
G g
H h
I i
(J j)
K k
L l
Ḽ ḽ
M m
N n
Ṋ ṋ
Ṅ ṅ
O o
P p
(Q q)
R r
S s
T t
Ṱ ṱ
U u
V v
W w
X x
Y y
Z z
letter(s)
value(s) in IPA
notes
a
[a],[ɔ]
b
[b]
bv
[b̪v]
bw
[bɣʷ] or[bj]
Varies by dialect
d
[d]
dz
[d͡z]
dzh
[d͡ʒ]
Similar to English "j"
dzw
[d͡zʷ]
ḓ
[d̪]
e
[ɛ],[e]
f
[f]
fh
[ɸ]
g
[ɡ]
h
[ɦ],[h]
Pronounced[h] beforee.
hw
[ɣʷ],[hʷ]
i
[i]
j
[j]
In the wordJerusalema
k
[kʼ]
kh
[kʰ]
khw
[kʷʰ]
l
[ɺ] ~[l]
Heard as[l] in free variation.
ḽ
[l̪]
m
[m],[m̩]
M is syllabic[m̩], when the following syllable begins withm.
n
[n],[n̩]
N is syllabic when the following syllable begins withn.
Thesintu writing systemIsibheqe Sohlamvu/Ditema tsa Dinoko, known technically in Venda asLuṱhofunḓeraru lwa Mibvumo, is also used for the Venda language.[citation needed]
A labiodental nasal/ɱ/ sound appears in prenasalised consonant sounds.[l] is mostly heard as an allophone of/ɺ/ in free variation and in loanwords. Labiovelar sounds occur as alternatives to labiopalatal sounds and may also be pronounced/pkʰpkʼbɡmŋ/.[4]Fortition of/ɸβsʃxhl̪ɺrw/ occurs after nasal prefixes, likely to[pʰ?btsʰtʃʰkʰ?pʰd̪ddb].[5]
Venda has a specified tone,HIGH, with unmarked syllables having a low tone.Phonetic falling tone occurs only in sequences of more than one vowel or on the penultimate syllable if the vowel is long. Tone patterns exist independently of theconsonants and vowels of a word and so they areword tones. Venda tone also followsMeeussen's rule: when a word beginning with a high tone is preceded by that high tone, the initial high tone is lost. (That is, there cannot be two adjacent marked high tones in a word, but high tone spreads allophonically to a following non-tonic ("low"-tone) syllable.) There are only a few tone patterns in Venda words (no tone, a single high tone on some syllable, two non-adjacent high tones), which behave as follows:
Word
Pattern
After L
After H
Notes
thamana
–.–.–
thàmà:nà
thámâ:nà
Unmarked (low) tone is raised after a high tone. That is, the preceding tone spreads.
dukana
–.–.H
dùkà:ná
dúkâ:ná
A preceding high tone spreads but drops before the final high tone.
danana
–.H.–
dàná:nà
dánâ:nà
The pitch peaks on the tonic syllable, and a preceding non-adjacent high tone merges into it.
phaphama
–.H.–
phàphá:ná
pháphâ:nà
madzhie
H.–
má:dzhíè
mâ:dzhìè
Initial high tone spreads. With an immediately preceding high tone, that initial tone is lost. (The preceding tone also spreads but not as far.)
^Webb, Vic. 2002. "Language in South Africa: the role of language in national transformation, reconstruction and development."Impact: Studies in language and society, 14:78
Translate.org.zaArchived 14 January 2007 at theWayback Machine Project to translate Free and Open Source Software into all the official languages of South Africa, including Venda
