Xhosa language
Xhosa | |
---|---|
isiXhosa | |
Pronunciation | L2 speakers (2002)[2] |
?
| |
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 [4] | |
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% | |
Xhosa (
Classification
Xhosa is part of the branch of Nguni languages, which also include Zulu, Southern Ndebele and Northern Ndebele, called the Zunda languages.[11] Zunda languages effectively form a dialect continuum of variously mutually intelligible varieties.
Xhosa is, to a large extent, mutually intelligible with Zulu and with other Nguni languages to a lesser extent. Nguni languages are, in turn, classified under the much larger abstraction of Bantu languages.[12]
Geographical distribution
Xhosa is the most widely distributed African language in South Africa, though the most widely spoken African language is Zulu.
Orthography
Latin script
The Xhosa language employs 26 letters from the Latin alphabet; some of the letters have different pronunciations from English. Phonemes not represented by one of the 26 letters are written as multiple letters. Tone, stress, and vowel length are parts of the language but are generally not indicated in writing.[16]
Phonology
Vowels
Xhosa has an inventory of ten vowels: [a], [ɛ~e], [i], [ɔ~o] and [u] written a, e, i, o and u in order, all occurring in both
Front | Back | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
short
|
long
|
short | long | |
Close | i ⟨i⟩ | iː ⟨ii⟩ | u ⟨u⟩ | uː ⟨uu⟩ |
Mid | ɛ ⟨e⟩ | eː ⟨ee⟩ | ɔ ⟨o⟩ | oː ⟨oo⟩ |
Open | a ⟨a⟩ | aː ⟨aa⟩ |
Tones
Xhosa is a
Consonants
Xhosa is rich in uncommon
It has 18
The following table lists the consonant phonemes of the language, with the pronunciation in IPA on the left and the orthography on the right:
Labial | Dental/Alveolar | Post- alveolar |
Velar | Glottal | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
central | lateral | central | lateral | |||||
Click | tenuis/ejective[18][note 1] | ᵏǀʼ ⟨c⟩ | ᵏǁʼ ⟨x⟩ | ᵏǃʼ ⟨q⟩ | ||||
aspirated
|
ᵏǀʰ ⟨ch⟩ | ᵏǁʰ ⟨xh⟩ | ᵏǃʰ ⟨qh⟩ | |||||
slack voice | ᶢ̥ǀʱ ⟨gc⟩ | ᶢ̥ǁʱ ⟨gx⟩ | ᶢ̥ǃʱ ⟨gq⟩ | |||||
nasal | ᵑǀ ⟨nc⟩
|
ᵑǁ ⟨nx⟩
|
ᵑǃ ⟨nq⟩
|
|||||
slack-voice nasal[note 2] | ᵑǀʱ ⟨ngc⟩ | ᵑǁʱ ⟨ngx⟩ | ᵑǃʱ ⟨ngq⟩ | |||||
prenasalized tenuis/ejective[19][note 3] | ŋᵏǀʼ ⟨nkc⟩ | ŋᵏǁʼ ⟨nkx⟩ | ŋᵏǃʼ ⟨nkq⟩ | |||||
Plosive | tenuis/ejective[note 1] | pʼ ⟨p⟩ | tʼ ⟨t⟩
|
t̠ʲʼ ⟨ty⟩ | kʼ ⟨k⟩ | ʔ6 | ||
aspirated
|
pʰ ⟨ph⟩ | tʰ ⟨th⟩ | t̠ʲʰ ⟨tyh⟩ | kʰ ⟨kh⟩ | ||||
slack voice | b̥ʱ ⟨bh⟩
|
d̥ʱ ⟨d⟩
|
d̠̥ʲʱ ⟨dy⟩ | ɡ̊ʱ ⟨g⟩
|
||||
implosive | ɓ ⟨b⟩ | |||||||
Affricate | ejective | tsʼ ⟨ts⟩ | tʃʼ ⟨tsh⟩ | kxʼ ⟨kr⟩ | kʟ̥ʼ ⟨kl⟩ 5 | |||
aspirated
|
tsʰ ⟨ths⟩ | tʃʰ ⟨thsh⟩ | kxʰ ⟨krh⟩ | |||||
slack voice | d̥zʱ ⟨dz⟩3
|
d̥ʒʱ ⟨j⟩
|
||||||
Fricative | voiceless
|
f ⟨f⟩ | s ⟨s⟩ | ɬ ⟨hl⟩
|
ʃ ⟨sh⟩ | x ⟨rh⟩ | h ⟨h⟩ | |
slack voice | v̤ ⟨v7⟩ | z̤ ⟨z⟩ | ɮ̈ ⟨dl⟩ | ʒ̈ ⟨zh⟩2 | ɣ̈ ⟨gr⟩ | ɦ ⟨hh⟩ | ||
Nasal | fully voiced | m ⟨m⟩ | n ⟨n⟩
|
n̠ʲ ⟨ny⟩
|
ŋ ⟨ngʼ⟩ | |||
slack voice | m̤ ⟨mh⟩ | n̤ ⟨nh⟩ | n̠̈ʲ ⟨nyh⟩ | ŋ̈ ⟨ngh⟩4 | ||||
Liquid | fully voiced | r ⟨r⟩1
|
l ⟨l⟩
|
|||||
breathy voiced | r̤ ⟨r⟩1 | l̤ ⟨lh⟩ | ||||||
Semivowel | fully voiced | j ⟨y8⟩ | w ⟨w⟩ | |||||
slack voice | j̤ ⟨yh⟩ | w̤ ⟨wh⟩ |
- Two additional consonants, [r] and [r̤], are found in borrowings. Both are spelled ⟨r⟩.
- Two additional consonants, [ʒ] and [ʒ̈], are found in borrowings. Both are spelled ⟨zh⟩.
- Two additional consonants, [dz] and [dz̤], are found in loans. Both are spelled ⟨dz⟩, as the sound [d̥zʱ].
- An additional consonant, [ŋ̈] is found in loans. It is spelled ⟨ngh⟩.
- The onset cluster /kl/ from phonologized loanwords such as ikliniki "the clinic" can be realized as a single consonant [kʟ̥ʼ].
- The unwritten glottal stop is present in words like uku(ʔ)ayinela "to iron", uku(ʔ)a(ʔ)aza "to stutter", uku(ʔ)amza "to stall".
- In informal writing, this murmured consonant can sometimes be seen spelled as ⟨vh⟩ as in ukuvha, but this is non-standard.
- Sequences of /jw/ as in ukushiywa "abandonment" are phonologically realized [ɥ], but this sound is non-phonemic.
In addition to the ejective affricate [tʃʼ], the spelling ⟨tsh⟩ may also be used for either of the aspirated affricates [tsʰ] and [tʃʰ].
The breathy voiced glottal fricative [ɦ] is sometimes spelled ⟨h⟩.
The ejectives tend to be ejective only in careful pronunciation or in salient positions and, even then, only for some speakers. Otherwise, they tend to be tenuis (plain) stops. Similarly, the tenuis (plain) clicks are often glottalised, with a long voice onset time, but that is uncommon.
The murmured clicks, plosives and affricates are only partially voiced, with the following vowel murmured for some speakers. That is, da may be pronounced [dʱa̤] (or, equivalently, [d̥a̤]). They are better described as slack voiced than as breathy voiced. They are truly voiced only after nasals, but the oral occlusion is then very short in stops, and it usually does not occur at all in clicks. Therefore, the absolute duration of voicing is the same as in tenuis stops. (They may also be voiced between vowels in some speaking styles.) The more notable characteristic is their depressor effect on the tone of the syllable.[20]
Consonant changes with prenasalisation
When consonants are
/iN- + ɬɛ/ → [intɬɛ] "beautiful" (of a class 9 word like inja "dog")
When aspirated clicks (⟨ch, xh, qh⟩) are prenasalised, the silent letter ⟨k⟩ is added (⟨nkc, nkx, nkq⟩) to prevent confusion with the nasal clicks ⟨nc, nx, nq⟩, and are actually distinct sounds. The prenasalized versions have a very short voicing at the onset which then releases in an ejective, like the prenasalized affricates, while the phonemically nasal clicks have a very long voicing through the consonant. When plain voiceless clicks (⟨c, x, q⟩) are prenasalized, they become slack voiced nasal (⟨ngc, ngx, ngq⟩).
Phoneme | Prenasalised | Examples (roots with class 10 /iiN-/ prefix) | Rule |
---|---|---|---|
/pʰ/, /tʰ/, /t̠ʲʰ/, /kʰ/, /ǀʰ/, /ǁʰ/, /ǃʰ/ | [mpʼ], [ntʼ], [n̠t̠ʲʼ], [ŋkʼ], [n̪͡ŋǀʼ], [n͡ŋǁʼ], [n̠͡ŋǃʼ] |
|
Aspiration is lost on obstruents; ejection is added on voiceless consonant. |
/t̠ʲ/ | /n̠d̠ʲ/ |
|
Voiceless palatal plosive becomes voiced. |
/ǀ/, /ǁ/, /ǃ/ | /ŋǀʱ/, /ŋǁʱ/, /ŋǃʱ/ |
|
Voiced clicks become slack voiced nasal. |
/kǀʰ/, /kǁʰ/, /kǃʰ/ | /ŋǀʼ/, /ŋǁ'/, /ŋǃ'/ |
|
Aspirated clicks become prenasalized ejective clicks. |
/ɓ/ | /mb̥ʱ/ |
|
Implosive becomes slack voiced. |
/f/, /s/, /ʃ/, /ɬ/, /x/ /v/, /z/, /ɮ/, /ɣ/ |
[ɱp̪f], /nts/, /ntʃ/, /ntɬ/, /ŋkx/ [ɱb̪̊vʱ], [nd̥zʱ], [nd̥ɮʱ], [ŋɡ̊ɣʱ]? |
|
Fricatives become affricates. Only phonemic, and thus reflected orthographically, for /nts/, /ntʃ/, /ntɬ/ and /ŋkx/. |
/m/, /n/, /n̠ʲ/, /ŋ/
/ǀ̃/, /ǁ̃/, /ǃ̃/ |
/m/, /n/, /n̠ʲ/, /ŋ/
/ǀ̃/, /ǁ̃/, /ǃ̃/ |
|
No change when the following consonant is itself a nasal. |
Consonant changes with palatalisation
Palatalisation is a change that affects labial consonants whenever they are immediately followed by /j/. While palatalisation occurred historically, it is still productive, as is shown by palatalization before the passive suffix /-w/ and before diminutive suffix /-ana/. This process can skip rightwards to non-local syllables (i.e. uku-sebenz-is-el + wa -> ukusetyenziselwa "be used for"), but does not affect morpheme-initial consonants (i.e. uku-bhal+wa -> ukubhalwa "to be written", instead of illicit *ukujalwa). The palatalization process only applies once, as evidenced by ukuphuphumisa+wa -> ukuphuphunyiswa "to be made to overflow", instead of the illicit alternative, *ukuphutshunyiswa.
Original consonant |
Palatalised consonant |
Examples |
---|---|---|
p | tʃ |
|
pʰ | tʃʰ |
|
b̥ʱ | d̥ʒʱ |
|
ɓ | t̠ʲ |
|
m | n̠ʲ |
|
m̤ | n̠̈ʲ |
|
mp | ntʃ |
|
mb̥ʱ | nd̥ʒʱ |
|
Morphology
In keeping with many other
The verb is modified by affixes to mark subject, object, tense, aspect and mood. The various parts of the sentence must agree in both class and number.[12]
Nouns
The Xhosa noun consists of two essential parts, the prefix and the stem. Using the prefixes, nouns can be grouped into noun classes, which are numbered consecutively, to ease comparison with other Bantu languages.
The following table gives an overview of Xhosa noun classes, arranged according to singular-plural pairs.
Class | Singular | Plural |
---|---|---|
1/2 | um- | aba-, abe- |
1a/2a | u- | oo- |
3/4 | um- | imi- |
5/6 | i-, ili-1 | ama-, ame- |
7/8 | is(i)-2 | iz(i)-2 |
9/10 | iN-3 | iiN-3, iziN-4 |
11/10 | u-, ulu-1, ulw-, ul- | iiN-3, iziN-4 |
14 | ubu-, ub-, uty- | |
15 | uku- |
1 Before monosyllabic stems, e.g. iliso (eye), uluhlu (list).
2 is- and iz- replace isi- and izi- respectively before stems beginning with a vowel, e.g. isandla/izandla (hand/hands).
3 The placeholder N in the prefixes iN- and iiN- is a nasal consonant which assimilates in place to the following consonant (producing an im- before vowels), but is typically absent in loanwords.
4 Before monosyllabic stems in some words.
Verbs
Verbs use the following prefixes for the subject and object:
Person/ Class |
Subject | Object |
---|---|---|
1st sing. | ndi- | -ndi- |
2nd sing. | u- | -ku- |
1st plur. | si- | -si- |
2nd plur. | ni- | -ni- |
1 | u- | -m- |
2 | ba- | -ba- |
3 | u- | -wu- |
4 | i- | -yi- |
5 | li- | -li- |
6 | a- | -wa- |
7 | si- | -si- |
8 | zi- | -zi- |
9 | i- | -yi- |
10 | zi- | -zi- |
11 | lu- | -lu- |
14 | bu- | -bu- |
15 | ku- | -ku- |
reflexive | — | -zi- |
Examples
- ukudlala – to play
- ukubona – to see
- umntwana – a child
- abantwana – children
- umntwana uyadlala – the child is playing
- abantwana bayadlala – the children are playing
- indoda – a man
- amadoda – men
- indoda iyambona umntwana – the man sees the child
- amadoda ayababona abantwana – the men see the children
Sample phrases and text
The following is a list of phrases that can be used when one visits a region whose primary language is Xhosa:
Xhosa | English |
---|---|
Molo | Hello |
Molweni | hello, to a group of people |
Unjani? | how are you? |
Ninjani? | How are you?, to a group of people |
Ndiphilile | I'm okay |
Siphilile | We're okay |
Ndiyabulela (kakhulu) | Thank you (a lot) |
Enkosi (kakhulu) | Thanks (a lot) |
Ungubani igama lakho? | What is your name? |
Igama lam' ngu.... | My name is.... |
Ngubani ixesha? | What is the time? |
Ndingakunceda? | Can I help you? |
uhambe kakuhle | Goodbye/go well/safe travels |
Nihambe kakuhle | Goodbye/go well/safe travels
(said to a group of people) |
Ewe | Yes |
Hayi | No |
Andiyazi | I don't know |
Uyakwazi ukuthetha isilungu? | Can you speak English? |
Ndisaqala ukufunda isiXhosa | I've just started learning Xhosa |
Uthetha ukuthini? | What do you mean? |
Ndicela ukuya ngasese? | May I please go to the bathroom? |
Ndiyakuthanda | I love you |
uxolo | Sorry |
Usapho | Family |
Thetha | Talk/speak |
History
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (August 2019) |
Xhosa-speaking people have inhabited coastal regions of southeastern Africa since before the 16th century. They refer to themselves as the
John Bennie was a Scottish Presbyterian missionary and early Xhosa linguist. Bennie, along with John Ross (another missionary), set up a printing press in the Tyhume Valley and the first printed works in Xhosa came out in 1823 from the Lovedale Press in the Alice region of the Eastern Cape. But, as with any language, Xhosa had a rich history of oral traditions from which the society taught, informed, and entertained one another. The first Bible translation was in 1859, produced in part by Henry Hare Dugmore.[15]
Role in modern society
The role of indigenous languages in South Africa is complex and ambiguous. Their use in education has been governed by legislation, beginning with the Bantu Education Act, 1953.[12]
At present, Xhosa is used as the main language of instruction in many primary schools and some secondary schools, but is largely replaced by English after the early primary grades, even in schools mainly serving Xhosa-speaking communities. The language is also studied as a subject in such schools.
The language of instruction at universities in South Africa is English (or Afrikaans, to a diminishing extent[22]), and Xhosa is taught as a subject, both for native and for non-native speakers.
Literary works, including prose and poetry, are available in Xhosa, as are newspapers and magazines. The
In 1996[update], the literacy rate for first-language Xhosa speakers was estimated at 50%.[15]
Anthem
Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika is part of the national anthem of South Africa, national anthem of Tanzania and Zambia, and the former anthem of Zimbabwe and Namibia. It is a hymn written in Xhosa by Enoch Sontonga in 1897. The single original stanza was:
- Nkosi, sikelel' iAfrika;
- Maluphakamis' uphondo lwayo;
- Yiva imithandazo yethu
- Nkosi sikelela, thina lusapho lwayo.
- Lord, bless Africa;
- May her horn rise high up;
- Hear Thou our prayers
- Lord, bless us, its family (, the family of Africa).
Additional stanzas were written later by Sontonga and other writers, and the original verse was translated into Sotho and Afrikaans, as well as English.
In popular culture
In
In the Marvel Cinematic Universe films Captain America: Civil War, Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, the language spoken in the fictional African nation of Wakanda is Xhosa. This came about because South African actor John Kani, a native of the Eastern Cape province who plays Wakandan King T'Chaka, speaks Xhosa and suggested that the directors of the fictional Civil War incorporate a dialogue in the language. For Black Panther, director Ryan Coogler "wanted to make it a priority to use Xhosa as much as possible" in the script, and provided dialect coaches for the film's actors.[23]
See also
- I'solezwe lesiXhosa, the first Xhosa-language newspaper
- U-Carmen eKhayelitsha, a 2005 Xhosa film adaptation of Bizet's Carmen
- UCLA Language Materials Project, an online project for teaching languages, including Xhosa.
- Xhosa calendar
Notes
- ^ a b These are variably tenuis pulmonic to ejective; the ejection tends to be weak even when present. With clicks, only the rear articulation is ejective.
- ^ These are analogous to the slack-voice nasals ⟨mh, nh⟩ etc. They are not prenasalized, as can be seen in words such as ⟨umngqokolo⟩ (overtone singing) and ⟨umngqusho⟩ in which they are preceded by a nasal.
- ^ Incorrectly described as glottal clicks by Nurse, Derek. The Bantu Languages. p. 616. The isiXhosa clicks are not glottalized nasal clicks like those of Nama; they are prenasalized and tenuis/ejective, as maintained by Xhosa linguists like Saul.
References
- ^ Xhosa at Ethnologue (26th ed., 2023)
- ISBN 978-9-02721-849-0.
- ISBN 978-1-56368-234-6.
- ^ Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
- ^ "Xhosa – Definition and pronunciation". Oxford Learner's Dictionaries. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 16 April 2014.
- ^ "Xhosa – pronunciation of Xhosa". Macmillan Dictionary. Macmillan Publishers Limited. Retrieved 16 April 2014.
- ISBN 978-0-74862-759-2.
- ^ "Constitution of Zimbabwe (final draft)" (PDF). Kubatana.net. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 October 2013.
The following languages, namely Chewa, Chibarwe, English, Kalanga, Koisan, Nambya, Ndau, Ndebele, Shangani, Shona, sign language,Venda,Tonga are the officially recognised languages of Zimbabwe.
- ^ "Xhosa alphabet, pronunciation and language". www.omniglot.com. Retrieved 6 July 2017.
- ISBN 978-3-96110-205-1.
- ^ Parker, Philip M. (2003). "Xhosa-English Dictionary". Webster's Online Dictionary. Archived from the original on 13 April 2004.
- ^ a b c d "Xhosa". UCLA Language Materials Project. Archived from the original on 14 December 2007. Retrieved 13 December 2006.
- ^ "South Africa Population grows to 44.8 Million". SouthAfrica.info. 9 July 2003. Archived from the original on 22 May 2005.
- ^ Kunju, Hlenze Welsh (2017). Isixhosa Ulwimi Lwabantu Abangesosininzi eZimbabwe: Ukuphila Nokulondolozwa Kwaso [IsiXhosa Indigenous Languages in Zimbabwe: Survival and Preservation] (PhD) (in Xhosa). Rhodes University.
- ^ a b c d "Xhosa". Ethnologue. Archived from the original on 28 July 2019. Retrieved 22 October 2019.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - PMID 32001654.
- ISBN 978-1-317-42065-1.
- S2CID 13216903.
- ISBN 9781869144388.
- .
- ^ "Xhosa". About World Languages. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
- ^ "Afrikaans Phased Out". Language Magazine. 18 April 2019.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
External links
- Xhosa language profile (at UCLA Language Materials Project)
- PanAfrican L10n page on Xhosa
- Learn Xhosa
- Xhosa basic lexicon at the Global Lexicostatistical Database
- Paradisec has a collections of Arthur Capell's materials (AC1), which include Xhosa language materials