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Swati

siSwati

Swati is an Atlantic-Congo language spoken in South Africa, Eswatini, Lesotho, and Mozambique, by about 2 million people.

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Swati · 26.0°S 31.5°E

Swazi or Swati, also known natively as siSwati, is a Bantu language of the Nguni group spoken in Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) and South Africa by the Swati people. The number of speakers is estimated to be in the region of 4.7 million including first and second language speakers. The language is taught in Eswatini and some South African schools in Mpumalanga, particularly former KaNgwane areas. Swati is an official language of Eswatini (along with English), and is also one of the twelve official languages of South Africa.

The official term is "siSwati" among native speakers; in English, Zulu, Ndebele or Xhosa it may be referred to as Swazi. Swati is most closely related to the other Tekela languages, like Phuthi and Northern Transvaal (Sumayela) Ndebele, but is also very close to the Zunda languages: Zulu, Southern Ndebele, Northern Ndebele, and Xhosa.

From Wikipedia · Swazi language · CC BY-SA 4.0

Written down

Bonkhe bantfu batalwa bakhululekile balingana ngalokufananako ngesitfunti nangemalungelo. Baphiwe ingcondvo nekucondza kanye nanembeza ngakoke bafanele batiphatse nekutsi baphatse nalabanye ngemoya webuzalwane.

Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR in Unicode).

Words in Swati

MeaningWordRomanization
mothermáke
womanumfati
eyelî-só
earÍn-dlebé
liversibindzi
wateremanti
rainlitulu
dogînjá
cowín-khomâti
one-nyé
twobili
threetsatfu
fourne
fivehlanu
lovelutsandvo
bookíncwadzí
redbovú
whitemhlôphe
blackmnyáma

Most similar languages

Vocabulary

Vocabulary compares 40 basic words (ASJP); grammar compares 195 features (Grambank). Similar is not always related.

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Glottolog · swat1243 · Wikipedia (English) · Ethnologue · ssw