Bantu language spoken in Eswatini and South Africa
"Swati language" redirects here. For other uses, see Swati language (disambiguation).
Swazi
siSwati
Pronunciation
[sísʷaːtʼi]
Native to
Eswatini, South Africa, Lesotho, Mozambique
Native speakers
L1: 2.3 million (2013–2019)[1] L2: 2.4 million (2013)[1]
Language family
Niger–Congo?
Atlantic–Congo
Volta-Congo
Benue–Congo
Bantoid
Southern Bantoid
Bantu
Southern Bantu
Nguni
Tekela
Swazi
Writing system
Latin (Swazi alphabet) Swazi Braille Ditema tsa Dinoko
Signed forms
Signed Swazi
Official status
Official language in
South Africa Eswatini
Language codes
ISO 639-1
ss
ISO 639-2
ssw
ISO 639-3
ssw
Glottolog
swat1243
Guthrie code
S.43[2]
Linguasphere
99-AUT-fe
Swati (Swazi)
Person
liSwati
People
emaSwati
Language
siSwati
Country
eSwatini
Geographical distribution of Swazi in South Africa: proportion of the population that speaks Swazi at home.
0–20%
20–40%
40–60%
60–80%
80–100%
Geographical distribution of Swazi in South Africa: density of Swazi home-language speakers.
<1 /km²
1–3 /km²
3–10 /km²
10–30 /km²
30–100 /km²
100–300 /km²
300–1000 /km²
1000–3000 /km²
>3000 /km²
Swazi or siSwati is a Bantu language of the Nguni group spoken in Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) and South Africa by the Swati people. The number of speakers is estimated to be in the region of 4.7 million including first and second language speakers.[1] The language is taught in Eswatini and some South African schools in Mpumalanga, particularly former KaNgwane areas. Siswati is an official language of Eswatini (along with English), and is also one of the twelve official languages of South Africa.
The official term is "siSwati" among native speakers; in English, Zulu, Ndebele or Xhosa it may be referred to as Swazi. Siswati is most closely related to the other Tekela languages, like Phuthi and Northern Transvaal (Sumayela) Ndebele, but is also very close to the Zunda languages: Zulu, Southern Ndebele, Northern Ndebele, and Xhosa.
^ abcSwazi at Ethnologue (26th ed., 2023)
^Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
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Global Information
South Africa
Eswatini
