Zulu | |
---|---|
isiZulu | |
Pronunciation | [isízṳːlu] |
Native to | South Africa, Lesotho |
Region |
|
Ethnicity | Zulu |
Native speakers | 13 million[1] L2 speakers: 16 million (2002)[2] |
Dialects |
|
Latin (Zulu alphabet) Zulu Braille Ditema tsa Dinoko | |
Signed Zulu | |
Official status | |
Official language in | ![]() |
Regulated by | Pan South African Language Board |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-1 | zu |
ISO 639-2 | zul |
ISO 639-3 | zul |
Glottolog | zulu1248 |
S.42 [3] | |
Linguasphere | 99-AUT-fg incl. varieties 99-AUT-fga to 99-AUT-fge |
![]() Proportion of the South African population that speaks Zulu at home
0–20%
20–40%
40–60%
60–80%
80–100%
| |
Zulu | |
---|---|
Person | umZulu |
People | amaZulu |
Language | isiZulu |
Country | kwaZulu |
Zulu (/ˈzuːluː/ ZOO-loo), or IsiZulu as an endonym, is a Southern Bantu language of the Nguni branch spoken and indigenous to Southern Africa. It is the language of the Zulu people, with about 13.56 million native speakers, who primarily inhabit the province of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa.[4] Zulu is the most widely spoken home language in South Africa (24% of the population), and it is understood by over 50% of its population.[5] It became one of South Africa's 12 official languages in 1994.[6]
According to Ethnologue, it is the second-most widely spoken of the Bantu languages, after Swahili.[a] Like many other Bantu languages, it is written with the Latin alphabet.
In South African English, the language is often referred to in its native form, isiZulu.[10]
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