There are eleven
official names of South AfricaThe Republic of South Africa is a country located at the southern tip of Africa, with a coastline on the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. To the north lie Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe, to the east are Mozambique and Swaziland, while Lesotho is an independent country surrounded by South Africa.Modern...
, one in each of its
eleven official languagesSouth Africa has 11 official languages. They are Zulu, Xhosa, Afrikaans, Northern Sotho, Tswana, English, Southern Sotho, Tsonga, Swazi, Venda and Southern Ndebele. Less than one percent of South African speak any other language as their home language. Most South Africans can speak more than one...
. The number is surpassed only by India. These languages include
EnglishEnglish is a West Germanic language that developed in England during the Anglo-Saxon era. As a result of the military, economic, scientific, political, and cultural influence of the British Empire during the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, and of the United States since the mid 20th century,...
,
AfrikaansAfrikaans is an Indo-European language derived from Dutch and thus classified as Low Franconian West Germanic. It is mainly spoken in South Africa and Namibia, with smaller numbers of speakers living in Botswana, Angola, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Zambia, Australia, New Zealand, the United...
, the
NguniNguni languages are mostly spoken by Nguni people, which are a group of clans and nations living in south-east Africa.The languages are a group of Bantu languages spoken in southern Africa including Zulu, Xhosa, Swati, isiHlubi, Phuthi and Ndebele .The appellation "Nguni" derives from the Nguni...
languages
ZuluZulu is the language of the Zulu people with about 10 million speakers, the vast majority of whom live in South Africa. Zulu is the most widely spoken home language in South Africa as well as being understood by over 50% of the population . It became one of South Africa's eleven official...
,
XhosaXhosa is one of the official languages of South Africa. Xhosa is spoken by approximately 7.9 million people, or about 18% of the South African population. Like most Bantu languages, Xhosa is a tonal language, that is, the same sequence of consonants and vowels can have different meanings when...
,
NdebeleThere are at least two languages commonly called Ndebele:*The Northern Ndebele language, a Nguni language spoken in Zimbabwe*The Southern Ndebele language, classified as Nguni language or Sotho-Tswana language, spoken in South Africa, heavily influenced by surrounding Sotho-Tswana languages and...
, and Swazi, as well as the Sotho languages, which include
TswanaTswana , is a Bantu language written in the Latin Alphabet. English is the national and majority language of Botswana, whose people are the Batswana . Although English is the official language of Botswana, the majority of speakers also understand Setswana. There are also speakers in Zimbabwe and...
,
SothoSesotho is a Bantu language spoken primarily in South Africa, where it is one the 11 official languages, and in Lesotho, where it is the national language...
and
Sotho sa LeboaNorthern Sotho is one of the official languages of South Africa, and is spoken by 4,208,980 people —in the South African provinces of Gauteng, Limpopo Province and...
. The remaining two languages are
VendaVenda, also known as ', or ', is a Bantu language and an official language of South Africa. The majority of Venda speakers live in South Africa, but there are also speakers in Zimbabwe...
and
TsongaThe Tsonga or Xitsonga language is spoken in southern Africa by the Tsonga people, also known as the Shangaan.- Classification :Tsonga belongs to the Bantu branch of the Niger-Congo languages. The language of the Tsonga people is wrongly called Xichangana because we were under the Leadership of...
.
There are smaller but still significant groups of speakers of Khoi-San languages which are not official languages, but are one of the eight un-officially recognised languages.
There are eleven
official names of South AfricaThe Republic of South Africa is a country located at the southern tip of Africa, with a coastline on the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. To the north lie Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe, to the east are Mozambique and Swaziland, while Lesotho is an independent country surrounded by South Africa.Modern...
, one in each of its
eleven official languagesSouth Africa has 11 official languages. They are Zulu, Xhosa, Afrikaans, Northern Sotho, Tswana, English, Southern Sotho, Tsonga, Swazi, Venda and Southern Ndebele. Less than one percent of South African speak any other language as their home language. Most South Africans can speak more than one...
. The number is surpassed only by India. These languages include
EnglishEnglish is a West Germanic language that developed in England during the Anglo-Saxon era. As a result of the military, economic, scientific, political, and cultural influence of the British Empire during the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, and of the United States since the mid 20th century,...
,
AfrikaansAfrikaans is an Indo-European language derived from Dutch and thus classified as Low Franconian West Germanic. It is mainly spoken in South Africa and Namibia, with smaller numbers of speakers living in Botswana, Angola, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Zambia, Australia, New Zealand, the United...
, the
NguniNguni languages are mostly spoken by Nguni people, which are a group of clans and nations living in south-east Africa.The languages are a group of Bantu languages spoken in southern Africa including Zulu, Xhosa, Swati, isiHlubi, Phuthi and Ndebele .The appellation "Nguni" derives from the Nguni...
languages
ZuluZulu is the language of the Zulu people with about 10 million speakers, the vast majority of whom live in South Africa. Zulu is the most widely spoken home language in South Africa as well as being understood by over 50% of the population . It became one of South Africa's eleven official...
,
XhosaXhosa is one of the official languages of South Africa. Xhosa is spoken by approximately 7.9 million people, or about 18% of the South African population. Like most Bantu languages, Xhosa is a tonal language, that is, the same sequence of consonants and vowels can have different meanings when...
,
NdebeleThere are at least two languages commonly called Ndebele:*The Northern Ndebele language, a Nguni language spoken in Zimbabwe*The Southern Ndebele language, classified as Nguni language or Sotho-Tswana language, spoken in South Africa, heavily influenced by surrounding Sotho-Tswana languages and...
, and Swazi, as well as the Sotho languages, which include
TswanaTswana , is a Bantu language written in the Latin Alphabet. English is the national and majority language of Botswana, whose people are the Batswana . Although English is the official language of Botswana, the majority of speakers also understand Setswana. There are also speakers in Zimbabwe and...
,
SothoSesotho is a Bantu language spoken primarily in South Africa, where it is one the 11 official languages, and in Lesotho, where it is the national language...
and
Sotho sa LeboaNorthern Sotho is one of the official languages of South Africa, and is spoken by 4,208,980 people —in the South African provinces of Gauteng, Limpopo Province and...
. The remaining two languages are
VendaVenda, also known as ', or ', is a Bantu language and an official language of South Africa. The majority of Venda speakers live in South Africa, but there are also speakers in Zimbabwe...
and
TsongaThe Tsonga or Xitsonga language is spoken in southern Africa by the Tsonga people, also known as the Shangaan.- Classification :Tsonga belongs to the Bantu branch of the Niger-Congo languages. The language of the Tsonga people is wrongly called Xichangana because we were under the Leadership of...
.
There are smaller but still significant groups of speakers of Khoi-San languages which are not official languages, but are one of the eight un-officially recognised languages. There are even smaller groups of speakers of
endangered languageAn endangered language is a language that is at risk of falling out of use. If it loses all its native speakers, it becomes an extinct language.The total number of contemporary languages in the world is not known...
s, many of which are from the Khoi-San family, but receive no official status; however, some groups within South Africa are attempting to promote their use and revival. As a result, there are many official names for the country. These are:
- Republiek van Suid-Afrika (Afrikaans
Afrikaans is an Indo-European language derived from Dutch and thus classified as Low Franconian West Germanic. It is mainly spoken in South Africa and Namibia, with smaller numbers of speakers living in Botswana, Angola, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Zambia, Australia, New Zealand, the United...
)
- Republic of South Africa (English
English is a West Germanic language that developed in England during the Anglo-Saxon era. As a result of the military, economic, scientific, political, and cultural influence of the British Empire during the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, and of the United States since the mid 20th century,...
)
- IRiphabliki yeSewula Afrika (Ndebele
There are at least two languages commonly called Ndebele:*The Northern Ndebele language, a Nguni language spoken in Zimbabwe*The Southern Ndebele language, classified as Nguni language or Sotho-Tswana language, spoken in South Africa, heavily influenced by surrounding Sotho-Tswana languages and...
)
- iRiphabliki yomZantsi Afrika (Xhosa
The Xhosa ) people are speakers of Bantu languages living in south-east South Africa, and in the last two centuries throughout the southern and central-southern parts of the country....
)
- iRiphabhuliki yaseNingizimu Afrika (Zulu
Zulu is the language of the Zulu people with about 10 million speakers, the vast majority of whom live in South Africa. Zulu is the most widely spoken home language in South Africa as well as being understood by over 50% of the population . It became one of South Africa's eleven official...
)
- Repabliki ya Afrika-Borwa (Sepedi)
- Rephaboliki ya Afrika Borwa (Sotho
Sesotho is a Bantu language spoken primarily in South Africa, where it is one the 11 official languages, and in Lesotho, where it is the national language...
)
- Rephaboliki ya Aforika Borwa (Tswana
Tswana is the name of a Southern African people. The Tswana language, belongs to the Bantu group of the Niger-Congo languages...
)
- iRiphabhulikhi yeNingizimu Afrika (Swazi)
- Riphabuḽiki ya Afurika Tshipembe (Venda
Venda, also known as ', or ', is a Bantu language and an official language of South Africa. The majority of Venda speakers live in South Africa, but there are also speakers in Zimbabwe...
)
- Riphabliki ra Afrika Dzonga (Tsonga
The Tsonga or Xitsonga language is spoken in southern Africa by the Tsonga people, also known as the Shangaan.- Classification :Tsonga belongs to the Bantu branch of the Niger-Congo languages. The language of the Tsonga people is wrongly called Xichangana because we were under the Leadership of...
)