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Tsonga
Spoken in: Flag of Mozambique Mozambique
Flag of South Africa South Africa
Flag of Swaziland Swaziland
Flag of Zimbabwe Zimbabwe 
Region: Limpopo, Mpumalanga
Total speakers: 3,275,105
Language family: Niger-Congo
 Atlantic-Congo
  Volta-Congo
   Benue-Congo
    Bantoid
     Southern
      Narrow Bantu
       Tsonga 
Official status
Official language in: Flag of South Africa South Africa
Regulated by: no official regulation
Language codes
ISO 639-1: ts
ISO 639-2: tso
ISO 639-3: tso
Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique (Moçambique or República de Moçambique, ʁɛ'publikɐ d musɐ̃'bik is a country in southeastern Africa The Republic of South Africa (also known by other official names) is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa The Kingdom of Swaziland is a country located in Southern Africa centred at approximately 26o49'S 31o38'E See also Great Zimbabwe National Monument. For information about the March and June 2008 presidential elections see Zimbabwean presidential election Limpopo (lɪmˈpoʊpoʊ is the northernmost province of South Africa. Mpumalanga, (umˈpuːməlɑŋɡə – name changed from Eastern Transvaal on 24 August 1995) is a province of South Africa List of language familiesA language family is a group of Languages related by descent from a common ancestor called the Proto-language of that family The Niger-Congo languages constitute one of the world's major language families, and Africa 's largest in terms of geographical area number of speakers and number In the classification of African languages, Atlantic-Congo constitutes the core of the Niger-Congo family, with the Noun class systems stereotypical In the classification of African languages Volta-Congo is a hypothetical major branch of the Niger-Congo family. The Benue-Congo group of languages constitutes the largest branch of the Niger-Congo language family both in terms of sheer number of languages of which 880 are known (per Ethnologue In the classification of African languages, Bantoid is a branch of the Benue-Congo subfamily of the Niger-Congo phylum The Republic of South Africa (also known by other official names) is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa This is a list of bodies that regulate Standard languages Natural languages Auxiliary languages Interlingua The auxiliary language ISO 639-1 is the first part of the ISO 639 international-standard language-code family ISO 639-2 is the second part of the ISO 639 standard, which lists codes for the representation of the names of languages ISO 639 -3 (ISO 639-32007 is an international standard for Language codes The standard describes three‐letter codes for identifying languages In Computing, Unicode is an Industry standard allowing Computers to consistently represent and manipulate text expressed in most of the world's

The Tsonga or Xitsonga language is spoken in southern Africa by the Tsonga people, also known as the Shangaan. The Shangaan (Vatsonga or Vitsonga are a large group of people living mainly in southern Mozambique in Maputo and in Gaza Province; there is also

Contents

Classification

Tsonga belongs to the Bantu branch of the Niger-Congo languages. The Bantu languages (technically Narrow Bantu languages) constitute a grouping belonging to the Niger-Congo family The Niger-Congo languages constitute one of the world's major language families, and Africa 's largest in terms of geographical area number of speakers and number Speakers are sometimes called Shangaans, which according to them (Tsongas) is wrong as they use that denominator for Tsongas who live in Mozambique. Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique (Moçambique or República de Moçambique, ʁɛ'publikɐ d musɐ̃'bik is a country in southeastern Africa Most of the Tsongas now live in Giyani, a place in Limpopo province in South Africa. Limpopo (lɪmˈpoʊpoʊ is the northernmost province of South Africa. The Republic of South Africa (also known by other official names) is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa

As I edit this page, I refer to myself as a Shangaan person who speaks Xitsonga. All the Shangaan people living in [South Africa], [Zimbabwe], [Lesotho] and anywhere else in Southern Africa, the recorded history shows that they came from Gaza Province of Mozambique. The wars and other indigenous reasons are some of the reasons why people find themselves with different dialects different from others. Every language of the world is, in one way or the other affected by this. Take a simple example of American and British English. However one may justify that American English is in its own, the fact remains, England has the origin of the language. Therefore, Gaza Mozambique reflects the true origin of every Shangaan person all over Southern Africa, dialects were/are the results of the geographical dominance. -(I live in the Limpopo Province of South Africa, my father was born in 1929 (was the last born in family of 5) and my grandfather (died in 1972) was born in 1889 in Gaza Mozambique. One may argue that Giyani never existed in 1889 and those who argue may need to review their ancestral clan or read what was recorded by "missionaries". It's a pride to know where you come from. -- Vongani Leonard Nkwinika

Geographic distribution

Tsonga is spoken by about 1,646,000 people in South Africa's Limpopo province as well as Gauteng Province and Mpumalanga Province, as well as 1. The Republic of South Africa (also known by other official names) is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa Limpopo (lɪmˈpoʊpoʊ is the northernmost province of South Africa. 5 million people in Mozambique, and 19,000 people in Swaziland. Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique (Moçambique or República de Moçambique, ʁɛ'publikɐ d musɐ̃'bik is a country in southeastern Africa The Kingdom of Swaziland is a country located in Southern Africa centred at approximately 26o49'S 31o38'E There are also 100,000 speakers in Zimbabwe. See also Great Zimbabwe National Monument. For information about the March and June 2008 presidential elections see Zimbabwean presidential election

Official status

Tsonga is an official language in South Africa.

Dialects

Various dialects of Tsonga are spoken as far north as the Save River in Zimbabwe and as far south as KwaZulu/Natal. While most dialects are mutually intelligible, they do have distinct differences that are geographical as well as based on influence of the colonial era. Tsonga also has two very close relatives: Xironga, which is spoken in and about Maputo, Mozambique, and Xitswa, which is spoken around Inhambane and has a Chihlengwe dialect extending into Zimbabwe.

These dialects and relatives differ in pronunciation. For example, in South African Tsonga the use of the prefix "xi" is pronounced "shi" in Xikwembu (God). In Zimbabwe this prefix is pronounced "chi", as in "Chikwembu" (God). South African Tsonga also uses consonant combinations like "nk", "mp", "ns" as in nkhensa (thank), nyimpi (war), and nsiha (vein). In Zimbabwe the equivalents are khesa, nyipi, and siha.

All dialects have been influenced to different degrees by Zulu and, in Zimbabwe, by Ndebele, and so Tsonga now contains click consonants. Zulu (called isiZulu in Zulu is a Language of the Zulu people with about 10 million speakers the vast majority (over 95% of whom live in South Clicks are speech sounds such as English tsk! tsk! used to express disapproval or the tchick! used to spur on a horse These words are not indigenous to the language but are understood when used. Unlike the case in Zulu and Ndebele, where there are distinct clicks, in Tsonga one need only make a clicking sound for any click word adopted. Examples of imported click words are: ngqondo (mind), gqoka (wear/dress), ncingo (phone), qamba (compose) Mugqivela (Saturday).

Tsonga has been characterized by some linguists as a "whistling language" similar to Shona in that it contains certain sounds such as "sw/sv", tsw/tsv", "dzw/dzv", sounds which occur throughout the language.

Tsonga classes

Tsonga has several classes, much like other Bantu languages, which are learned through memorization mostly. These are:

1a mu munhu/person mufana/boy murhangeli/leader
1b va vanhu/people vafana/boys varhangeli/leaders
2a yi nseve/arrow nenge/leg nambo/river
2b mi miseve/arrows milenge/legs milambo/rivers
3a ri tiko/country rito/word vito/name
3b ma matiko/countries marito/words mavito/names
4a xi Xikwembu/God xilo/thing xitulu/stool
4b svi Swikwembu/gods swilo/things switulu/stools
5a yi yindlu/house mbyana/dog homu/cow
5b ti tindlu/houses timbyana/dogs tihomu/cows
6 ku ku tshemba/trust ku dya/ to eat ku biha/ugliness
7 vu vutomi/life vumunhu/humanness vululami - righteousness


Grammar

The grammar is generally typical of Bantu languages with a subject/object/verb order

Tsonga English
Ndza ku rhandza I love you
Wa ndzi rhandza you love me
Ha ku tiva we know you
Va ndzi tiva they know me

Tsonga Tenses 1. In Linguistic typology, subject-verb-object ( SVO) is a sentence structure where the subject comes first the Verb second and the object Present Tense The present tense is formed by simply using the personal pronoun along with the verb Ndzi lava Mali - i want money Hi tirha siku hinkwaro - we work all day Mi(u) lava mani? - Who are you looking for? U kota ku famba - S/He know how to walk

2. Present Progressive Generally, to indicate ongoing actions in the present one takes the personal pronoun, drops the 'i' and adds 'a' Ndzi nghena (e)ndlwini - I am entering the house Ha tirha sweswi - We are working right now Ma hemba - you(pl. ) are lying Wa hemba - you(sing. ) are lying Wa hemba - s/he is lying

3. Perfect This is for in one of three ways, depending on the word. (i) Generally, one drops the 'a' from the verb and adds the prefix '-ile' Ndzi nghenile ndlwini - I entered the house Hi tirhile siku hinkwaro - We worked all day U hembile - You lied U hembile - S/he lied Va hembile - they lied

(ii)With verbs that end with -ala, in the past change to -ele or -ale ku rivala - to forget Ndzi rivale - I Forgot U rivale - you forgot Va rivale - they forgot Ku nyamalala - to disappear U nyamalele - S/he - disappeared

ku karhala - to be tired Ndzi karhele - I am tired U karhele - s/he is tired Va karhele - They are tired

(iii) In many cases merely changing the last 'a' in the verb to an 'e' indicates past action Ku fika - to arrive U fike tolo - S/he arrived yesterday Ndzi fike tolo - i arrived yesterday Hi tirhe siku hinkwaro - we worked all day Ndzi nghene (e)ndlwini - I entered the house

4. Future This is formed by the adding 'ta' in between the personal pronoun and the verb Ndzi ta nghena e()ndlwini - i will enter the house Hi ta tirha siku hinkwaro - we will work all day Va ta tirha siku hinkwaro - they will work all day Mi ta tirha siku hinkwaro - you(pl. ) will work all day

Personal pronouns

These are very similar to many other Bantu languages with a few variations

Tsonga English
Ni(informal spoken)/Ndzi(formal) Mina I Me
Wena You You
Yena He/She Him/Her
Hi Hina We Us
Mi N'wina You(Plural) You(plural)
Va Vona They They

E. g. tana haleno - come here

Verbs

All verbs have the prefix "ku" and end with an 'a' in the infinitive, with a couple of exceptions. In Grammar, infinitive is the name for certain verb forms that exist in many languages

Tsonga English
ku chava to fear
ku tsaka to be happy
ku rhandza to love

The main exception to this is the verb "ku ri" - "to say" It corresponds to "ti" in many other bantu languages. Examples of its usage include; u ri yini? - what do you say?(what are you saying?) ndzi ri ka n'wina - i say to you all

In many instances the "ri" is often omitted and thus "ku" on its own can also me "say" Va ri ndza penga - they say i'm crazy Va ri yini? - what do they say?(what are they saying?)

Numerals

Tsonga English
Nwe one
Mbirhi two
Nharhu three
Mune four
Ntlhanu five
Ntsevu six
Nkombo seven
Nhungu eight
Nkaye nine
Khume ten
Khume (na) n'we / Khume-n'we eleven
Khume (na) mbirhi / Khume-mbirhi twelve
Khume (na) nharhu / Khume-nharhu thirteen
Makhume mambhirhi / Makume-mbirhi twenty
Makhume manharhu / Makume-nharhu thirty
Mune wa makhume forty
Tlhanu wa makhume fifty
Dzana hundred
Gidi thousand

Months of the Year

Tsonga English
Nsunguti January
Nyenyenyani February
Nyenyankulu March
Dzivamusoko April
Mudyaxihi May
Khotavuxika June
Mawuwani July
Mhawuri August
Ndzhati September
Nhlangula October
Hukuri November
N'wendzamhala December

Vocabulary

XiTsonga, like many other African languages, have been influenced by various European colonial languages. XiTsonga includes words borrowed from English, Afrikaans, and Portuguese. English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States Afrikaans is an Indo-European language, derived from 17th century Dutch and classified as Low Franconian Germanic, mainly spoken in Portuguese ( or língua portuguesa) is a Romance language that originated in what is now Galicia (Spain and northern Portugal. Also, because of the influence of other more dominant neighbouring languages, XiTsonga has taken some words, especially click words, from isiZulu.

Words Borrowed from English:

Words Borrowed from Afrikaans

Words Borrowed from Zulu:

Writing system

Tsonga uses the Latin alphabet. However, certain sounds are spelled using a combination of letter, which either do not exist in the European colonial language, or may be meant to distinguish the language somewhat.

An example of this is the letter "x" which is pronounced as the English "sh". Therefore the following words, -shusha, shikolo, shilo, are written in Tsonga as -xuxa, xikolo, and xilo. This may be from the Portuguese influence in Mozambique where a majority of Tsonga speakers live. In Portuguese the "x" is pronounced the same way in words such as "caixa"(box) and "baixo"(under)

Other spelling differences include the letter "c" which equates to the sound of the English "ch". However, where the emphasis of a word is on the following vowel the letter is hardened by adding "h" this the Tsonga word -chava(fear)

A sound equivalent to the Welsh "ll" is written "hl" in Tsonga, e. g. -hlangana(meet), -hlasela(attack), -hleka(laugh)

A whistling sound common in the language is written "sw" or "sv" in Zimbabwean chishona. This sound actually belongs to the "x-sw" class within the language. E. g. :

Another whistling sound is spelled "dy" but has no English equivalent, the closest being the "dr" sound in the English word "drive"

An important note is that Tsonga has been standardized as a written language. However, due to the fairly recent nature of that standardization there still exist many dialects within the language that may not pronounce words as written. For example, the Tsonga bible uses the word "byela"(tell), pronounced bwe-la, however a large group of speakers would say "dzvela/dyela" instead.

The Lord's Prayer as written in the xiTsonga Bible (Bibele)

Tata wa hina la nge tilweni,
vito ra wena a ri hlawuleke;
a ku te ku fuma ka wena;
ku rhandza ka wena a ku endliwe
misaveni, tanihi loko ku endliwa tilweni
u hi nyika namuntlha vuswa bya hina
bya siku rin'wana ni rin'wana;
u hi rivalela swidyoho swa hina,
tanihi loko na hina hi rivalela lava hi dyohelaka;
u nga hi yisi emiringweni
kambe u hi ponisa eka Lowo biha,
[hikuva ku fuma, ni matimba, no ku twala i swa wena
hi masiku ni masiku. The Lord's Prayer, also known as the Our Father or Pater noster, is probably the best-known Prayer in Christianity. Amen]

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