Nguni languages

The Nguni languages are a group of Bantu languages spoken by the Nguni people. These languages are spoken in Southern Africa, mostly in South Africa, Swaziland, and Zimbabwe. Nguni languages include Xhosa, Zulu, Swati, Hlubi, Phuthi and Ndebele (both Southern Ndebele and Northern Ndebele).

Nguni
Geographic distribution:	South Africa, Swaziland, Zimbabwe
Linguistic classification:	Niger–Congo Atlantic-Congo Benue-Congo Bantoid Southern Bantoid Bantu Southern Bantu Nguni
Subdivisions:	Zunda Tekela

The name "Nguni" comes from a man called Mnguni. He is a descendant of Ntu from Central Africa. Mnguni's descendants lived in the present day KwaZulu-Natal and some of his descendants crossed Mtamvuna River and gave birth to the Xhosa speakers whilst others ended up in present day, Swaziland, and today are known as Swati people. Others ended up in Mpumalanga and Limpopo where today are known as Southern Ndebeles. Others ended up crossing Limpopo River and are living in Zimbabwe and known also as Ndebeles.

Language organization

Proportion (percent) of the population that speaks a Nguni language at home.      0–20%      20–40%      40–60%      60–80%      80–100%		Density of people who speak Nguni languages at home.      <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

The Nguni languages are a sub-group of the Southern Bantu languages. These languages exist in a relatively small geographic area. The languages are closely related and sound very much alike. Many times the different languages are mutually intelligible -- that is, someone who speaks one Nguni language can understand someone speaking a different Nguni language.

Linguists and other researchers split the Nguni languages into two smaller groups: "Zunda Nguni" and "Tekela Nguni".

Zunda languages

• Zulu (10 million)
• Xhosa (8 million)
• Northern Ndebele (or 'Zimbabwean Ndebele') (1,6 million)

Tekela languages

• Swati (3 million)
• Phuthi (20,000)
• Bhaca, Hlubi, Cele and Lala.

Nguni Languages Media

• 

  The Lord's Prayer in Southern Ndebele and Swazi respectively, displayed on tablets at the Church of the Pater Noster, Jerusalem

Works cited

• Doke, Clement Martyn. The Southern Bantu Languages. Handbook of African Languages. (1954). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Donnelly, Simon. Aspects of Tone and Voice in Phuthi. Doctoral Dissertation (2009)University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
• Jordan, Archibald C.. Some features of the phonetic and grammatical structure of Baca. Masters Dissertation (1942)University of Cape Town.
• Ownby, Caroline P.. Early Nguni History: The Linguistic Evidence and Its Correlation with Archeology and Oral Tradition. Doctoral Dissertation (1985)University of California, Los Angeles.
• Wright, J.. Resistance and ideology in settler societies (1987). p. 96–118.

Other websites

• Nguni languages at the Ethnologue. Accessed 2011-07-03.