Trilingual government building sign in Afrikaans, English, and XhosaA man speaking Afrikaans
Languages in South Africa (2017)[1]
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 in South Africa, twelve of which are official languages of South Africa: Ndebele, Pedi, Sotho, South African Sign Language, Swazi, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Afrikaans, Xhosa, Zulu and English, 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 the Constitution of South Africa, though few are mentioned by any name.
Unofficial and marginalised languages include what are considered some of Southern Africa's oldest[according to whom?] languages: Khoekhoegowab, !Orakobab, Xirikobab, N|uuki, ǃXunthali, and Khwedam; and other African languages, such as SiPhuthi, IsiHlubi, SiBhaca, SiLala, SiNhlangwini (IsiZansi), SiNrebele (SiSumayela), IsiMpondo/IsiMpondro, IsiMpondomise/IsiMpromse/Isimpomse, KheLobedu, SePulana, HiPai, SeKutswe, SeṰokwa, SeHananwa, SiThonga, SiLaNgomane, SheKgalagari, XiRhonga, SeKopa (Sekgaga), and others. Most South Africans can speak more than one language,[3] and there is very often a diglossia between the official and unofficial language forms for speakers of the latter.
^"Africa :: SOUTH AFRICA". CIA The World Factbook. 8 March 2022.
^"The NA Approves South African Sign Language as the 12th Official Language - Parliament of South Africa".
^Alexander, Mary (6 March 2018). "The 11 languages of South Africa - South Africa Gateway". South Africa Gateway. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
and 29 Related for: Languages of South Africa information
thirty-five languages are spoken in SouthAfrica, twelve of which are official languagesofSouthAfrica: Ndebele, Pedi, Sotho, SouthAfrican Sign Language, Swazi...
over 500 languages (according to SIL Ethnologue), one of the greatest concentrations of linguistic diversity in the world. The languagesofAfrica belong...
SouthAfrican English (SAfrE, SAfrEng, SAE, en-ZA) is the set of English language dialects native to SouthAfricans. British settlers first arrived in...
in SouthAfrica, including languages used for religious purposes, languages which are important for international trade and communication, and South African...
population ofSouthAfrica is about 62 million people of diverse origins, cultures, languages, and religions. The SouthAfrican National Census of 2022 was...
from the English word "people", common to many of the Bantu languages. The Oxford Dictionary ofSouthAfrican English describes "Bantu", when used in a contemporary...
SouthAfrica, officially the Republic ofSouthAfrica (RSA or R.S.A.), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by 2,798 kilometres...
These languages can be chosen as a third language up to the final year of school. English is the first languageof most Indian SouthAfricans. From the...
Zaidel-Rudolph. The lyrics employ the five most widely spoken ofSouthAfrica's eleven official languages – Xhosa (first stanza, first two lines), Zulu (first...
SouthAfrica have a variety of origins. The racial categories introduced by Apartheid remain ingrained in SouthAfrican society with SouthAfricans and...
Tuu languages, or Taa–ǃKwi (Taa–ǃUi, ǃUi–Taa, Kwi) languages, are a language family consisting of two language clusters spoken in Botswana and South Africa...
The Nguni languages are a group of Bantu languages indigenous to southern Africa (mainly SouthAfrica, Zimbabwe and Kingdom of eSwatini) by the Nguni people...
Festival) LanguagesofSouthAfricaLanguagesof Zimbabwe § Afrikaans List of Afrikaans language poets List of Afrikaans singers List of English words of Afrikaans...
The Bantu languages (English: UK: /ˌbænˈtuː/, US: /ˈbæntuː/ Proto-Bantu: *bantʊ̀) are a language family of about 600 languages that are spoken by the Bantu...
their native language, with English acting as a lingua franca in commerce, education, and government. SouthAfrica has eleven official languages, but other...
SouthAfrican slang refers to unique informal language that is used by SouthAfricans. SouthAfrica is a culturally and ethnically diverse country with...
The Union ofSouthAfrica (Dutch: Unie van Zuid-Afrika; Afrikaans: Unie van Suid-Afrika; pronunciation) was the historical predecessor to the present-day...
/ˈkweɪ/ KWAY languages are the largest of the non-Bantu language families indigenous to Southern Africa. They were once considered to be a branch of a Khoisan...
White SouthAfricans are, generally, SouthAfricansof European descent. In linguistic, cultural, and historical terms, they are generally divided into...
The SouthAfrican rand, or simply the rand, (sign: R; code: ZAR) is the official currency of the Southern African Common Monetary Area: SouthAfrica, Namibia...
Southern Ndebele is an Africanlanguage belonging to the Mbo group of Bantu languages, spoken by the Ndebele people ofSouthAfrica. Northern Ndebele or...
refers to the eleven official languagesofSouthAfrica as specified in the Constitution of the Republic ofSouthAfrica:[1] (i.e., Sepedi, Sesotho, Setswana...
Germanic languages, namely Afrikaans, Dutch, English, the Frisian languages, Scots. It also contains close similarities in vocabulary to some languages in the...
Bantu languages, after Swahili. Like many other Bantu languages, it is written with the Latin alphabet. In SouthAfrican English, the language is often...
eleven official names ofSouthAfrica, one in each of its 12 official languages. The number is surpassed only by India. These languages include English, Afrikaans...
Nguni language, indigenous to Southern Africa and one of the official languagesofSouthAfrica and Zimbabwe. Xhosa is spoken as a first language by approximately...
Bantu languageof the Sotho–Tswana ("S.30") group, spoken in Lesotho, and SouthAfrica where it is an official language; Like all Bantu languages, Sesotho...
Global Information
