Eswatini Eswatini ( ; ss, eSwatini ), officially the Kingdom of Eswatini and formerly named Swaziland ( ; officially renamed in 2018), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by Mozambique to its northeast and South Africa to its no ...

is home to several languages. Native languages are

SiSwati The Swazi or siSwati language is a Bantu language of the Nguni group spoken in Eswatini and South Africa by the Swati people. The number of speakers is estimated to be in the region of 2.4 million. The language is taught in Eswatini and s ...

, Zulu, Tsonga,

Afrikaans Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gr ...

, and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

. Recent immigrant languages include

Chichewa Chewa (also known as Nyanja, ) is a Bantu language spoken in much of Southern, Southeast and East Africa, namely the countries of Malawi , where it is an official language, and Mozambique and Zambia. The noun class prefix ''chi-'' is used for l ...

and Southern Sotho.

National and official languages

Swazi Swazi may refer to: * Swazi people, a people of southeastern Africa * Swazi language * Eswatini Eswatini ( ; ss, eSwatini ), officially the Kingdom of Eswatini and formerly named Swaziland ( ; officially renamed in 2018), is a landlocked coun ...

, a

Southern Bantu The Southern Bantu languages are a large group of Bantu languages, largely validated in Janson (1991/92).Tore Janson (1991-92) "Southern Bantu and Makua", ''Sprache und Geschichte in Afrika'' (''SUGIA'') Vol. 12/13: 63-106, Rüdiger Köppe Verlag ...

language, is the national language of Eswatini, and is spoken by approximately 95 percent of Swazis. Swazi and English are the country's two official languages, and proceedings of the

Parliament of Eswatini The Parliament of Eswatini ''( Swazi: Libandla)'' consists of two chambers: *The Senate (Upper Chamber) (Indlu yeTimphunga) *The House of Assembly (Lower Chamber) The Houses of Parliament are located in Lobamba. See also * Politics of Eswatin ...

take place in both languages. Swazi

language education Language education – the process and practice of teaching a second or foreign language – is primarily a branch of applied linguistics, but can be an interdisciplinary field. There are four main learning categories for language educatio ...

is present in all national schools, and literacy in Swati—defined as the ability to read and write the language—is very high in Eswatini. Swazi is also used in mass media. English is the

medium of instruction A medium of instruction (plural: media of instruction, or mediums of instruction) is a language used in teaching. It may or may not be the official language of the country or territory. If the first language of students is different from the offic ...

, and is taught in all public and private schools. Competency in English is a prerequisite for admission into most post-secondary institutions.

Minority and immigrant languages

A minority of

Swazi people The Swazi or Swati ( Swati: ''Emaswati'', singular ''Liswati'') are a Bantu ethnic group native to Southern Africa, inhabiting Eswatini, a sovereign kingdom in Southern Africa. EmaSwati are part of the Nguni-language speaking peoples whose or ...

, estimated to number 76,000 , speak Zulu, one of the eleven official languages of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

. Tsonga, a Tswa–Ronga language and also an official language of South Africa, is spoken by 19,000 Swazis ().

, another official language of South Africa and descended from

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

, is spoken by 13,000 people in Eswatini.

Chewa Chewa may refer to: *the Chewa people *the Chewa language Chewa (also known as Nyanja, ) is a Bantu language spoken in much of Southern, Southeast and East Africa, namely the countries of Malawi , where it is an official language, and Mozambiq ...

, an official language of

Malawi Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northe ...

, and Sotho (Sesotho or Southern Sotho), spoken mainly in

Lesotho Lesotho ( ), officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a country landlocked as an enclave in South Africa. It is situated in the Maloti Mountains and contains the highest mountains in Southern Africa. It has an area of over and has a population ...

and the South African province of Free State, are immigrant languages with 5,700 and 4,700 speakers respectively.

Shimaore Maore Comorian, or ''Shimaore'' ( French ''Mahorais''), is one of the two indigenous languages spoken in the French-ruled Comorian islands of Mayotte; Shimaore being a dialect of the Comorian language, while ShiBushi is an unrelated Malayo-Po ...

is also an immigrant language and is spoken by 600 inhabitants. Prior to Eswatini's independence in 1968,

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

was taught in the colony's three white-only high schools.

Notes

References

* * * * * * * {{Africa topic, Languages of