|Native to||South Africa, Zimbabwe, Lesotho|
|Region||Eastern Cape, Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Northern Cape, Free State|
|8.2 million (2011 census)|
11 million L2 speakers (2002)
|Latin (Xhosa alphabet)|
Official language in
| South Africa|
Proportion of the South African population that speaks Xhosa at home
Xhosa is one of the official languages of South Africa. Xhosa is spoken by 7.6 million people, or about 18% of the South African population. Xhosa is written using a Latin alphabet. Henry Hare Dugmore helped translate the entire Bible in Xhosa language. Xhosa has ten vowels.
Xhosa is well known for its set of three major clicks.
References[change | change source]
- Xhosa at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
- Webb, Vic. 2002. "Language in South Africa: the role of language in national transformation, reconstruction and development." Impact: Studies in language and society, 14:78
- Aarons & Reynolds, 2003, "South African Sign Language", in Monaghan, ed., Many Ways to be Deaf: International Variation in Deaf Communities
- Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online