Tsonga language
A Bantu language of the Tsonga people, official in South Africa.
Tsonga (Xitsonga) is a Bantu language spoken by the Tsonga people of South Africa and Mozambique. It is mutually intelligible with Tswa and Ronga, and the name 'Tsonga' is often used as a cover term for all three, sometimes referred to as Tswa-Ronga. The language has been standardized as a written language and is an official language of South Africa, recognized as Shangani in Zimbabwe, and all Tswa-Ronga languages are recognized in Mozambique.
- Language family
- Bantu (Guthrie code S.53)
- Official in
- South Africa, Zimbabwe (as Shangani)
- Recognized in
- Mozambique
- Endonym
- Xitsonga
- Alternate names
- Changana (Mozambique), Shangani (Zimbabwe)
- Dialects
- Six main dialects: xiRonga, xiHlanganu, xiBila, xiDjonga, xiN'walungu, xiHlengwe
Lore & Background
Further studies by Junod and other Swiss missionaries such as Henri Berthoud and Ernest Creux began work on a standard written language, initially called Shigwamba, later replaced with Thonga/Tsonga. They translated the Christian Bible from English and Sesotho into Tsonga.
Reader's Guide
The name 'Tsonga' has three proposed origins: as a pronunciation of Dzonga ('South'), as an alternative spelling of the ancestral name Tonga/Thonga, or as a derivation of Rhonga (meaning 'east' or 'dawn'). The most accepted theory links it to Rhonga, given the geographic distribution of Tsonga people along the eastern coast of Africa. Tsonga has a distinction between modal and breathy voiced consonants, and unlike some Nguni languages, has very few click consonants. Its grammar follows typical Bantu subject–verb–object order, with infinitives generally having the prefix ku- and ending with -a.
Did You Know?
- Tsonga is mutually intelligible with Tswa and Ronga, and the three are sometimes collectively called Tswa-Ronga.
- The Swiss missionary Henri-Alexandre Junod hypothesized that the Xitsonga language consolidated itself in Mozambique before the 1400s.
- The name 'Tsonga' may derive from 'Rhonga', meaning 'east' or 'dawn' in Xitsonga.
- Tsonga has very few click consonants, unlike some Nguni languages.
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