The Tswa–Ronga languages (or just Tsonga) are a group of closely related
Southern Bantu languages spoken in Southern Africa chiefly in southern
Mozambique, northeastern
South Africa and southeastern
Zimbabwe.
Languages
The group is divided into three main languages:
*
Tswa
Tswa (''Xitswa'') is a South-Eastern Bantu language in Southern Mozambique. Its closest relatives are Ronga and Tsonga, the three forming the Tswa–Ronga family of languages.
Tswa is mainly spoken in the rural areas west of Inhambane. Its l ...
(''Xitswa''): Hlengwe (Khambana-Makwakwe, Khambani, Lengwe, Lhengwe, Makwakwe-Khambana, Shilengwe), Tshwa (Dzibi-Dzonga, Dzivi, Dzonga-Dzibi, Xidzivi), Mandla, Ndxhonge, Nhayi. Partially intelligible with Ronga
ngand Tsonga
so
*
Ronga
Ronga (XiRonga; sometimes ShiRonga or GiRonga) is a Bantu language of the Tswa–Ronga branch spoken just south of Maputo in Mozambique. It extends a little into South Africa. It has about 650,000 speakers in Mozambique and a further 90,000 i ...
(''Xironga''): Konde, Putru, Kalanga. Partially intelligible with Tsonga
soand Tswa
sc
*
Tsonga
Tsonga may refer to:
* Tsonga language, a Bantu language spoken in southern Africa
* Tsonga people, a large group of people living mainly in southern Mozambique and South Africa.
* Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (; born 17 April 1985) i ...
(''Xitsonga''): Luleke (Xiluleke), Gwamba (Gwapa), Changana (Xichangana), Hlave, Kande, N’walungu (Shingwalungu), Xonga (Ssonga), Jonga (Dzonga), Nkuna, Songa, Nhlanganu (Shihlanganu).
"Tsonga" is used to refer to all three languages, although often used interchangeably with Changana, the most prestigious of the three. All are recognized as languages, although inherently intelligible.
The group also contains a variety of other minority languages and dialects which are undocumented and exist in an unwritten form.
Writing system
The ''sintu'' writing system, ''
Ditema tsa Dinoko'' (also known in
Zulu as ''Isibheqe Sohlamvu''), for Southern Bantu languages, is used to represent all Tswa-Ronga languages consistently under one orthography.
This includes those marginal languages that have never been standardised in the Latin alphabet, such as the "East Sotho" varieties (Pulana, Khutswe and Pai). For example, it contains a specific
grapheme indicating
retroflex or "cerebral" consonants, such as the
retroflex ejective affricate occurring here in Pai:
Notes
Languages of Mozambique
Languages of South Africa
Languages of Zimbabwe
{{Bantu-lang-stub