The Southern Bantu languages are a large group of

Bantu languages The Bantu languages (English: , Proto-Bantu: *bantʊ̀) are a large family of languages spoken by the Bantu people of Central, Southern, Eastern africa and Southeast Africa. They form the largest branch of the Southern Bantoid languages. The t ...

, 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 Rüdiger (English ''Ruediger'', ''Rudiger'', Roger) is a German given name. The meaning comes from Old High German: ''hruod'' (fame) and ''ger'' (spear). The name became popular because of the character Rüdiger von Bechelaren from ''Nibelung''. P ...

, Cologn

/ref> They are nearly synonymous with Guthrie's '' Guthrie classification of Bantu languages, Bantu zone S'', apart from the exclusion of Shona and the inclusion of Makhuwa. They include all of the major Bantu languages of South Africa, Botswana,

Lesotho Lesotho ( ), officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a country landlocked country, landlocked as an Enclave and exclave, enclave in South Africa. It is situated in the Maloti Mountains and contains the Thabana Ntlenyana, highest mountains in Sou ...

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 ...

, and Mozambique, with outliers such as

Lozi Lozi may refer to: * Lozi language * Lozi people Lozi people, or Barotse, are a southern African ethnic group who speak Lozi or Silozi, a Sotho–Tswana language. The Lozi people consist of more than 46 different ethnic groups and are primarily ...

in Zambia and Namibia, and Ngoni in Zambia, Tanzania and Malawi.

Languages

Language groups are followed by their code in the

Guthrie classification The 250 or so "Narrow Bantu languages" are conventionally divided up into geographic zones first proposed by Malcolm Guthrie (1967–1971). These were assigned letters A–S and divided into decades (groups A10, A20, etc.); individual languages ...

. *

Makua Makua may refer to: * Makua (person), an alaafin of the Oyo Empire * Makua people, an ethnic group in Mozambique and Tanzania * Makhuwa language, a Bantu language spoken in Mozambique * Makua languages, a branch of Bantu languages * Makua Rothman ...

(P30) ** Makhuwa ** Koti ** Sakati (Nathembo) ** Lomwe ** Chuwabu ** Moniga * Chopi (S60) ** Chopi ** Guitonga *

Nguni languages The Nguni languages are a group of closely related Bantu languages spoken in southern Africa by the Nguni peoples. Nguni languages include Xhosa, Zulu, Ndebele (sometimes referred to as "Northern Ndebele"), and Swazi. The appellation "Nguni" d ...

(S40) **Zunda *** Xhosa *** Zulu ***Ndebele **** Northern Ndebele (Zimbabwe Ndebele) **** Southern Ndebele ** Tekela *** Swati *** Phuthi *** Sumayela Ndebele (Northern Transvaal Ndebele) *** Lala ***

Bhaca The Bhaca people or amaBhaca are an eMbo ethnic group in South Africa. Background AmaBhaca were formerly known as the Zelemus or AbakwaZelemu between the 1700s until 1830 when they were formally referred to as AmaBhaca. They are the descenda ...

*** Hlubi *** Nhlangwini * Sotho–Tswana (S30 + K20): ** Tswana ("West Sotho") **

Birwa Al-Birwa ( ar, البروة, also spelled ''al-Birweh'') was a Palestinian Arab village, located east of Acre (Akka). In 1945, it had a population of 1,460, of whom the majority were Muslims and a significant minority, Christians. Its total l ...

** Tswapong **

Kgalagadi Kgalagadi, meaning "Land of the thirst", is a geographical area located in Southern Africa. It may also refer to: * Kgalagadi District, Botswana * Kgalagadi language * Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park is a large wildlif ...

** Sotho *** Northern Sotho (Sepedi) *** Southern Sotho (Sesotho) ***East Sotho (Pulana, Khutswe and Pai) ***

* Tswa–Ronga (S50): **

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

* Venda (S20) Some classifications prior to Janson retained Shona as a coordinate branch, along with Nyasa, or excluded

References

{{Bantu-lang-stub