Zulu

Story

isiZulu is a Bantu language of the Nguni branch, the most widely spoken home language in South Africa. Its most striking feature is a system of 15 click consonants, none of which existed in the ancestral Bantu tongue: the Zulu people acquired them through sustained contact with Khoisan-speaking communities, particularly the Tuu languages, over several centuries of shared life in southern Africa. The clicks are written with the letters c, q, and x, each representing a distinct place of articulation, and appear in roughly 14 to 22 percent of all Zulu words. isiZulu became a written language in the nineteenth century through the work of missionary linguists, and today it is one of twelve official languages of South Africa.

At a glance

• Also known as: isiZulu
• Family: Niger-Congo
• Region: Southern Africa
• Speakers: 28M (total speakers (l1 plus l2): approximately 14 million l1 (2022 census) plus 16 million l2 (2002 estimate))
• Writing system: Latin
• Greeting: Sawubona (I see you, used as hello)

Spoken in

South Africa, Lesotho, Eswatini

Common questions