Kalanga language

Kalanga
TjiKalanga/Ikalanga
Native toZimbabwe, Botswana
RegionSouthWest parts of Zimbabwe Central, North Central and NorthEast Botswana
EthnicityKalanga people
Native speakers
700,000 in Zimbabwe,
850,000 in Botswana (2012-2015)[1]
Official status
Official language in
 Zimbabwe (both Kalanga and Nambya) Botswana-recognized language nationally.
Language codes
ISO 639-3Either:
kck – Kalanga
nmq – Nambya
Glottologkala1405
S.16[2]
Linguasphere99-AUT-ai

Kalanga[pronunciation?], or TjiKalanga (in Zimbabwe), is a Bantu language spoken by the Kalanga people in Botswana and Zimbabwe. It has an extensive phoneme inventory, which includes palatalised, velarised, aspirated and breathy-voiced consonants,[3] as well as whistled sibilants.

Kalanga is recognised as an official language by the Zimbabwean Constitution of 2013 and is taught in schools in areas where its speakers predominate. The iKalanga language is closely related to the Nambya, TshiVenda, and KheLobedu languages of Zimbabwe and South Africa.

  1. ^ "Kalanga". Ethnologue. Retrieved 2018-08-14.
  2. ^ Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
  3. ^ Mathangwane, Joyce T. (1999). Ikalanga phonetics and phonology: a synchronic and diachronic study. Stanford, CA: CSLI Publications.