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Southern Ndebele language

This article is about the Ndebele language spoken in South Africa. For the Ndebele language spoken in Zimbabwe, see Northern Ndebele language. For the Northern Ndebele language spoken in Limpopo Province, South Africa, see Ndebele language.
Southern Ndebele
isiNdebele sakwaNdzundza noManala[citation needed]
isiNdebele seSewula[citation needed]
Native toSouth Africa
RegionMpumalanga, Limpopo, Gauteng, North West
EthnicityamaNdebele
Native speakers
1.1 million (2011 census)[1]
1.4 million L2 speakers (2002)[2]
Latin (Ndebele alphabet)
Ndebele Braille
Signed Ndebele
Official status
Official language in
 South Africa
Language codes
ISO 639-1nr – South Ndebele
ISO 639-2nbl – South Ndebele
ISO 639-3nbl – South Ndebele
Glottologsout2808
S.407[3]
Linguasphere+ 99-AUT-fj 99-AUT-fi + 99-AUT-fj
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Ndebele
PersoniNdebele
PeopleAmaNdebele
LanguageIsiNdebele
CountryKwaNdebele
Geographical distribution of isiNdebele in South Africa: proportion of the population that speaks isiNdebele at home.
  •   0–20%
  •   20–40%
  •   40–60%
  •   60–80%
  •   80–100%
Geographical distribution of isiNdebele in South Africa: density of isiNdebele home-language speakers.
  •   <1 /km²
  •   1–3 /km²
  •   3–10 /km²
  •   10–30 /km²
  •   30–100 /km²
  •   100–300 /km²
  •   300–1000 /km²
  •   1000–3000 /km²
  •   >3000 /km²
Bilingual sign in Afrikaans and Transvaal Ndebele at the Pretoria Art Museum

isiNdebele (English: /ɛndəˈbiːliː/), also known as Southern Ndebele[1][4][5] is an African language belonging to the Mbo group of Bantu languages, spoken by the Ndebele people of South Africa.

Transvaal Ndebele or Sumayela Ndebele also known as northern transvaal ndebele is spoken in Limpopo in areas such as Polokwane (Bhulungwane), Ga-Rathoka (KaSondonga), Ga-Mashashane, Ga Maraba / Kalkspruit, Mokopane (Mghumbane), Zebediela (Sebetiela), which is closer to Southern Ndebele.[6]

  1. ^ a b Ndebele at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ 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
  3. ^ Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
  4. ^ "Documentation for ISO 639 identifier: nbl". ISO 639-2 Registration Authority - Library of Congress. Retrieved 4 July 2017. Name: South Ndebele
  5. ^ "Documentation for ISO 639 identifier: nbl". ISO 639-3 Registration Authority - SIL International. Retrieved 4 July 2017. Name: South Ndebele
  6. ^ Skhosana, Philemon (2010). "The (ama)Ndebele of Africa and their name '(ama)Ndebele'". University of Pretoria – Department of Library Services. University of Pretoria. hdl:2263/17089. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
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