415 km away
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.
Xhosa
Also known as: 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.
Shareable facts
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Frequently asked questions
What language is Xhosa?
Xhosa is a dialect of the Xhosa language.
Where is Xhosa spoken?
Xhosa is primarily spoken in South Africa.
Which region is Xhosa associated with?
Xhosa is part of the East & Southern Africa region on DialectAtlas.
Is Xhosa known by other names?
Yes — Xhosa is also referred to as isiXhosa.
Nearby dialects
See on the atlas →459 km away
The largest Bantu language by first-language speakers in South Africa. Used widely as a second language across KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.
668 km away
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".
757 km away
The Zulu of South Africa's townships and major cities. Heavily code-mixed with English, Tsotsitaal, and other Bantu languages.
813 km away
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.
886 km away
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.