South Africa

Standard Zulu

also: isiZulu

The largest Bantu language by first-language speakers in South Africa. Used widely as a second language across KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.

Urban Zulu

also: Tsotsitaal-influenced isiZulu

The Zulu of South Africa's townships and major cities. Heavily code-mixed with English, Tsotsitaal, and other Bantu languages.

Xhosa

also: isiXhosa

A Nguni Bantu language of the Eastern Cape and one of the official languages of South Africa. Famous for its 18 distinct click consonants borrowed from neighbouring Khoisan languages.

Sesotho

also: Southern Sotho, Sotho

A Sotho-Tswana Bantu language and the national language of Lesotho. Also one of the official languages of South Africa, where it is widely spoken in the Free State and Gauteng.

Sepedi

also: Northern Sotho, Pedi

The Sotho-Tswana variety of Limpopo and Mpumalanga in north-eastern South Africa. One of the eleven official languages of South Africa; mutually distinct enough from Sesotho to be treated separately.

Setswana

also: Tswana

A Sotho-Tswana Bantu language and the national language of Botswana. Closely related to Sesotho, with substantial speaker communities in South Africa's North West and Northern Cape provinces.

Nǀuu

also: Nǁng, ǂKhomani

The last surviving language of the !Ui branch of the Tuu family, spoken in the southern Kalahari around Upington in the Northern Cape. One fluent native speaker remains, who runs a community language school; the language has one of the largest consonant inventories ever recorded, including dozens of click consonants.

ǀXam

also: Cape Bushman

A !Ui (Tuu) click language of the Upper Karoo in the Northern Cape, extinct since the 1910s. Survives in the vast Bleek and Lloyd archive of the 1870s and in South Africa's national motto, !ke e: ǀxarra ǁke — "diverse people unite".

Afrikaans

A West Germanic language descended from 17th-century Cape Dutch, with substantial substrate from Khoisan, Malay, and Bantu languages. One of the official languages of South Africa and widely spoken in Namibia.

Tsonga

also: Xitsonga

A Bantu language of the Limpopo lowveld, spoken across north-eastern South Africa, southern Mozambique, and south-eastern Zimbabwe. Around 7 million speakers.

Tshivenda

also: Venda, Luvenda

A Bantu language of the Soutpansberg region in Limpopo, South Africa, and adjoining south-western Zimbabwe. One of the eleven official languages of South Africa; around 1.3 million speakers.