Xhosa language

Xhosa
isiXhosa
Pronunciation[kǁʰóːsa] ⓘ
Native toSouth Africa
Lesotho
Regioneastern Eastern Cape; scattered communities elsewhere
EthnicityAmaXhosa
Native speakers
8 million (2013)[1]
11 million L2 speakers (2002)[2]
Latin (Xhosa alphabet)
Xhosa Braille
Ditema tsa Dinoko
Signed Xhosa[3]
Official status
Official language in
 South Africa
 Zimbabwe
Recognised minority
language in
Language codes
ISO 639-1xh
ISO 639-2xho
ISO 639-3xho
Glottologxhos1239
S.41[4]
Linguasphere99-AUT-fa incl.
varieties 99-AUT-faa
to 99-AUT-faj +
99-AUT-fb (isiHlubi)
Proportion of the South African population that speaks Xhosa at home
  0–20%
  20–40%
  40–60%
  60–80%
  80–100%
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.

Xhosa (/ˈkɔːsə/ KAW-sə, /ˈkoʊsə/ KOH-sə;[5][6][7] Xhosa pronunciation: [kǁʰóːsa]), formerly spelled Xosa and also known by its local name isiXhosa, is a Nguni language, indigenous to Southern Africa and one of the official languages of South Africa and Zimbabwe.[8] Xhosa is spoken as a first language by approximately 8 million people and as a second language in South Africa, particularly in Eastern Cape, Western Cape, Northern Cape and Gauteng, and also in parts of Zimbabwe and Lesotho.[9] It has perhaps the heaviest functional load of click consonants in a Bantu language (approximately tied with Yeyi), with one count finding that 10% of basic vocabulary items contained a click.[10]

  1. ^ Xhosa at Ethnologue (26th ed., 2023) Closed access icon
  2. ^ Webb, Vic (2002). Language in South Africa: the role of language in national transformation, reconstruction and development. Impact: Studies in language and society. p. 78. ISBN 978-9-02721-849-0.
  3. ^ Aarons, Debra & Reynolds, Louise (2003). "South African Sign Language: Changing Policies and Practice". In Leila, Monaghan (ed.). Many Ways to be Deaf: International Variation in Deaf Communities. Washington, D.C.: Gallaudet University Press. pp. 194–210. ISBN 978-1-56368-234-6.
  4. ^ Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
  5. ^ "Xhosa – Definition and pronunciation". Oxford Learner's Dictionaries. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 16 April 2014.
  6. ^ "Xhosa – pronunciation of Xhosa". Macmillan Dictionary. Macmillan Publishers Limited. Retrieved 16 April 2014.
  7. ^ Bauer, Laurie (2007). The Linguistics Student's Handbook. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 978-0-74862-759-2.
  8. ^ "Constitution of Zimbabwe (final draft)" (PDF). Kubatana.net. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 October 2013. The following languages, namely Chewa, Chibarwe, English, Kalanga, Koisan, Nambya, Ndau, Ndebele, Shangani, Shona, sign language, Venda, Tonga are the officially recognised languages of Zimbabwe.
  9. ^ "Xhosa alphabet, pronunciation and language". www.omniglot.com. Retrieved 6 July 2017.
  10. ^ See Sands, Bonny & Gunnink, Hilde (2019). "Clicks on the fringes of the Kalahari Basin Area". In Clem, Emily; Jenks, Peter & Sande, Hannah (eds.). Theory and Description in African Linguistics: Selected Papers from the 47th Annual Conference on African Linguistics. Berlin: Language Science Press. pp. 703–724. doi:10.5281/zenodo.3365789. ISBN 978-3-96110-205-1.