Xhosa language
Xhosa (/ˈkɔːsə/ KAW-sə, /ˈkoʊsə/ KOH-sə; Xhosa pronunciation: [kǁʰóːsa]), formerly spelled Xosa and also known by its local name isiXhosa, is a Nguni language and one of the official languages of South Africa and Zimbabwe. Xhosa is spoken as a first language by approximately 10 million people and as a second language by another 10 million, mostly in South Africa, particularly in Eastern Cape, Western Cape, Northern Cape and Gauteng, and also in parts of Zimbabwe and Lesotho. 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.
| Xhosa | |
|---|---|
| isiXhosa | |
| Pronunciation | [kǁʰóːsa] ⓘ |
| Native to | South Africa Lesotho |
| Region | eastern Eastern Cape; scattered communities elsewhere |
| Ethnicity | AmaXhosa |
Native speakers | 8 million (2013) 11 million L2 speakers (2002) |
| Latin (Xhosa alphabet) Xhosa Braille Ditema tsa Dinoko | |
| Signed Xhosa | |
| Official status | |
Official language in | South Africa Zimbabwe |
Recognised minority language in | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-1 | xh |
| ISO 639-2 | xho |
| ISO 639-3 | xho |
| Glottolog | xhos1239 |
S.41 | |
| Linguasphere | 99-AUT-fa incl. |
Proportion of the South African population that speaks Xhosa at home
0–20%
20–40%
40–60%
60–80%
80–100% | |
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