Languages of South Africa

Languages of South Africa
Dominant languages in South Africa:   Afrikaans   English   Pedi   Sotho   Southern Ndebele   Swazi   Tsonga   Tswana   Tshivenda   Xhosa   Zulu   None dominant   Areas of little or no population
Official	English Zulu Xhosa Afrikaans Sepedi Tswana Southern Sotho Tsonga Swazi Venda Southern Ndebele South African Sign Language
Recognised	Khoekhoegowab !Orakobab Xirikobab N|uuki ǃXunthali Khwedam SiPhuthi IsiHlubi SiBhaca SiLala SiNhlangwini ("IsiZansi") SiNdebele (SiSumayela) IsiMpondo/IsiMpondro IsiMpondomise/IsiMpromse/ Isimpomse KheLobedu SePulana HiPai SeKutswe SeṰokwa SeHananwa SiThonga SiLaNgomane SheKgalagari XiRhonga Tamil
Main	English
Signed	South African Sign Language
Keyboard layout	QWERTY

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At least thirty-five languages are spoken in South Africa, twelve of which are official languages of South Africa: Ndebele, Pedi, Sotho, South African Sign Language, Swazi, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Afrikaans, Xhosa, Zulu and English, which is the primary language used in parliamentary and state discourse, though all official languages are equal in legal status. In addition, South African Sign Language was recognised as the twelfth official language of South Africa by the National Assembly on 3 May 2023.^[2] Unofficial languages are protected under the Constitution of South Africa, though few are mentioned by any name.

Unofficial and marginalised languages include what are considered some of Southern Africa's oldest^{[according to whom?]} languages: Khoekhoegowab, !Orakobab, Xirikobab, N|uuki, ǃXunthali, and Khwedam; and other African languages, such as SiPhuthi, IsiHlubi, SiBhaca, SiLala, SiNhlangwini (IsiZansi), SiNrebele (SiSumayela), IsiMpondo/IsiMpondro, IsiMpondomise/IsiMpromse/Isimpomse, KheLobedu, SePulana, HiPai, SeKutswe, SeṰokwa, SeHananwa, SiThonga, SiLaNgomane, SheKgalagari, XiRhonga, SeKopa (Sekgaga), and others. Most South Africans can speak more than one language,^[3] and there is very often a diglossia between the official and unofficial language forms for speakers of the latter.