Tsonga
Tsonga is an Atlantic-Congo language spoken in South Africa, Mozambique, Eswatini, and Zimbabwe, by about 13 million people.
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Tsonga ( (T)SONG-gə), or Xitsonga ( shee-TSONG-gə) as an endonym (also known as Changana in Mozambique), is a Bantu language spoken by the Tsonga people of South Africa and Mozambique. It is mutually intelligible with Tswa and Ronga and the name "Tsonga" is often used as a cover term for all three, also sometimes referred to as Tswa-Ronga. The Xitsonga language has been standardised as a written language.
Tsonga is an official language of the Republic of South Africa, and under the name Shangani it is recognised as an official language in the Constitution of Zimbabwe. All Tswa-Ronga languages are recognised in Mozambique. It is not official in Eswatini (formerly known as Swaziland).
From Wikipedia · Tsonga language · CC BY-SA 4.0
Written down
Vanhu hin'kwavu va psaliwili na va khululekìle, funthsi va fana hi lisima ni tinfaneno. Và psaliwili ni nyiko ya ku pimisa ni ku yehleketa; hi kolahu, va fanela ku hanya hi moya wa umbìlu ni unghani.
Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR in Unicode).
Words in Tsonga
| Meaning | Word | Romanization |
|---|---|---|
| woman | wansati | |
| liver | xivindzi | |
| water | mati | |
| star | nyeleti | |
| dog | mbyana | |
| sugar | chukela | |
| bread | xinkwa | |
| apple | vundzu | |
| orange | lamula | |
| white | basa |
Most similar languages
Vocabulary
Grammar
- YinchiaAustroasiatic87% alike
- LokaaAtlantic-Congo85% alike
- Eastern BruAustroasiatic83% alike
- AghemAtlantic-Congo83% alike
- West BerawanAustronesian82% alike
- BelueliAtlantic-Congo81% alike
Vocabulary compares 40 basic words (ASJP); grammar compares 195 features (Grambank). Similar is not always related.
Nearby languages
Elsewhere
Glottolog · tson1249 · Wikipedia (English) · Ethnologue · tso