Summary

Shona is a language of wider communication that originated inZimbabwe andZambia. It belongs to theNiger-Congo language family. Direct evidence is lacking, but the language is thought to be used as a first language by all in the ethnic community. It is used as a language of instruction in education.

At a Glance

• Geography

• Population

  1M to 1B
  Details

  This graph provides a simplified visual comparison between the number of users of this language and the global population. The following are the possible population ranges displayed in Starter Ethnologue:

  • 1 billion plus - this language has more than 1 billion total users
  • 1 million to 1 billion - this language has between 1 million and 1 billion total users
  • 10K to 1 million - this language has between 10 thousand and 1 million total users
  • 10 thousand or less - this language has between 1 and 10 thousand total users
  • None - this language has no users

• Language Vitality

  1. Institutional
  2. Stable
  3. Endangered
  4. Extinct
  Details

  This graph shows the vitality of Shona.

  • Institutional — The language has been developed to the point that it is used and sustained by institutions beyond the home and community.
  • Stable — The language is not being sustained by formal institutions, but it is still the norm in the home and community that all children learn and use the language.
  • Endangered — It is no longer the norm that children learn and use this language.
  • Extinct - The language is no longer used and no one retains a sense of ethnic identity associated with the language.

  These four summary levels have been derived by grouping levels in the Expanded Graded Intergenerational Disruption Scale (EGIDS), which is the more fine-grained scale that Ethnologue uses to assess the status of every language in terms of development versus endangerment; seeLanguage Status for a description of the levels of that scale. See also the pages onDevelopment andEndangerment for more discussion.

• Digital Language Support

  

  Details

  This graph shows the level of digital support for this language (as measured by the method describedhere.

  • Still — this language shows no signs of digital support
  • Emerging — the language has some content in digital form and/or encoding tools
  • Ascending — the language has some spell checking or localized tools or machine translation as well
  • Vital — the language is supported by multiple tools in all of the above categories and as well as some speech processing
  • Thriving — the language has all of the above plus virtual assistants

Family

It belongs to the Niger-Congo language family.

Existing Content

• Dictionary
• Grammar
• Bible (1949–1980)
• External Resources

Contributions