Tsonga language

Tsonga
Xitsonga
Native to	Mozambique South Africa Swaziland Zimbabwe
Region	Limpopo, Mpumalanga
Native speakers	3.7 million (2006)
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Benue–Congo Bantoid Southern Bantoid Bantu Southern Bantu Tswa–Ronga? Tsonga
Official status
Official language in	South Africa
Language codes
ISO 639-1	ts
ISO 639-2	tso
ISO 639-3	tso
Linguasphere	99-AUT-dc incl. varieties 99-AUT-dca... -dcg

The Tsonga or Xitsonga language is spoken in southern Africa by the Tsonga people, also known as the Shangaan.

Classification

Tsonga belongs to the Bantu branch of the Niger–Congo languages. The language of the Tsonga people is wrongly called Xichangana (or "Shangaan" by outsiders) because some of the people were under the leadership of Soshangana "Manukusa" (wrongly classified as Zulu but actually Ndwandwe(Nguni/Ngoni), thus Xichangana is a hybrid of Xitsonga and the language of the Ndwandwe(Nguni/Ngoni)). Tsonga has different variants, some of which are considered different languages by some linguists : e.g. Tsonga, Ndawu, Ronga and Tswa.

Geographic distribution

Geographical distribution of Xitsonga in South Africa: proportion of the population that speaks Xitsonga at home.

Column-generating template families

The templates listed here are not interchangeable. For example, using {{col-float}} with {{col-end}} instead of {{col-float-end}} would leave a <div>...</div> open, potentially harming any subsequent formatting.

Column templates

Type	Family	Handles wiki table code?†	Responsive/ mobile suited	Start template	Column divider	End template
Float	"col-float"	Yes	Yes	{{col-float}}	{{col-float-break}}	{{col-float-end}}
	"columns-start"	Yes	Yes	{{columns-start}}	{{column}}	{{columns-end}}
Columns	"div col"	Yes	Yes	{{div col}}	–	{{div col end}}
	"columns-list"	No	Yes	{{columns-list}} (wraps div col)	–	–
Flexbox	"flex columns"	No	Yes	{{flex columns}}	–	–
Table	"col"	Yes	No	{{col-begin}}, {{col-begin-fixed}} or {{col-begin-small}}	{{col-break}} or {{col-2}} .. {{col-5}}	{{col-end}}

^† Can template handle the basic wiki markup {| | || |- |} used to create tables? If not, special templates that produce these elements (such as {{(!}}, {{!}}, {{!!}}, {{!-}}, {{!)}})—or HTML tags (<table>...</table>, <tr>...</tr>, etc.)—need to be used instead.

Geographical distribution of Xitsonga in South Africa: density of Xitsonga home-language speakers.

Column-generating template families

The templates listed here are not interchangeable. For example, using {{col-float}} with {{col-end}} instead of {{col-float-end}} would leave a <div>...</div> open, potentially harming any subsequent formatting.

Column templates

Type	Family	Handles wiki table code?†	Responsive/ mobile suited	Start template	Column divider	End template
Float	"col-float"	Yes	Yes	{{col-float}}	{{col-float-break}}	{{col-float-end}}
	"columns-start"	Yes	Yes	{{columns-start}}	{{column}}	{{columns-end}}
Columns	"div col"	Yes	Yes	{{div col}}	–	{{div col end}}
	"columns-list"	No	Yes	{{columns-list}} (wraps div col)	–	–
Flexbox	"flex columns"	No	Yes	{{flex columns}}	–	–
Table	"col"	Yes	No	{{col-begin}}, {{col-begin-fixed}} or {{col-begin-small}}	{{col-break}} or {{col-2}} .. {{col-5}}	{{col-end}}

^† Can template handle the basic wiki markup {| | || |- |} used to create tables? If not, special templates that produce these elements (such as {{(!}}, {{!}}, {{!!}}, {{!-}}, {{!)}})—or HTML tags (<table>...</table>, <tr>...</tr>, etc.)—need to be used instead.

Tsonga is spoken by about 1,972,000 people in South Africa's Limpopo province as well as Gauteng Province and Mpumalanga Province, as well as 1.5 million people in Mozambique, and 19,000 people in Swaziland. There are also 100,000 speakers in Zimbabwe.

In South Africa most of Vatsonga were concentrated in places like e.g. Nkowankowa, Giyani, Malamulele, N'wamitwa, Muhlava, Elim (Axipilongo, ka Jiwawa) in Limpopo and Bushbuckridge(ka Mpisana) and others in Mpumalanga. There are also large numbers in the Northwest, KwaZulu-Natal(Tembe) and Gauteng provinces. Basically they can be found anywhere in the old Transvaal.

Official status

Tsonga is an official language in South Africa.

Dialects

Various dialects of Tsonga are spoken as far north as the Save River in Zimbabwe and as far south as KwaZulu/Natal. While most dialects are mutually intelligible, they do have distinct differences that are geographical as well as based on influence of the colonial era. Tsonga also has two very close relatives: Xironga, which is spoken in and about Maputo, Mozambique, and Xitswa, which is spoken around Inhambane and has a Chihlengwe dialect extending into Zimbabwe.

These dialects and relatives differ in pronunciation. For example, in South African Tsonga the use of the prefix "xi" is pronounced "shi" in Xikwembu (God). In Zimbabwe this prefix is pronounced "chi", as in "Chikwembu" (God). South African Tsonga also uses consonant combinations like "nk", "mp", "ns" as in khensa (thank), nyimpi (war), and nsiha (vein). In Zimbabwe the equivalents are khesa, nyipi, and siha.

All dialects have been influenced to different degrees by Zulu and, in Zimbabwe, by Ndebele, and so Tsonga now contains click consonants. These words are not indigenous to the language but are understood when used. Unlike the case in Zulu and Ndebele, where there are distinct clicks, in Tsonga one need only make a clicking sound for any click word adopted. Examples of imported click words are: ngqondo (mind), gqoka (wear/dress),guqa (kneel), riqingo (phone), qiqi (earing), qamba (compose) Mugqivela (Saturday).

Tsonga has been characterized by some linguists as a "whistling language" similar to Shona in that it contains certain sounds such as "sw/sv", tsw/tsv", "dzw/dzv", sounds which occur throughout the language.

Phonology

Tsonga has a distinction between modal and breathy voiced consonants: /bʱ, bvʱ, vʱ, dʱ, ɖʐʱ, dʒʱ, ɡʱ/ vs /b, bv, v, d, ɖʐ, dʒ, ɡ/ among the obstruents (the one exception being /ɮ/), and /m̤, n̤, ŋ̈, r̤, ȷ̈, w̤/ vs /m, n, ŋ, r, j, w/ among the sonorants (the one exception being /ɲ/).

Unlike some of the Nguni languages, Tsonga has very few words with clicks, and these vary in place between dental and postalveolar.

Grammar

The grammar is generally typical of Bantu languages with a subject–object–verb order

Tsonga	English
Ndza ku rhandza	I love you
Wa ndzi rhandza	You love me
Ha ku tiva	We know you
Va ndzi tiva	They know me

Tsonga Tenses 1. Past Tense The present tense is formed by simply using the personal pronoun along with the verb Ndzi lava mali – I want money, Hi tirha siku hinkwaro – We work all day, Mi(u) lava mani? – Who are you looking for? U kota ku famba – S/He knows how to walk.

Past Progressive Generally, to indicate ongoing actions in the present one takes the personal pronoun, drops the 'i' and adds 'a' Ndzi nghena (e)ndlwini – I am entering the house, Ha tirha sweswi – We are working right now, Ma hemba – You(pl.) are lying, Wa hemba – You(sing.) are lying, Wa hemba – S/He is lying,

• with the plural 'va'(they) there is no difference. Thus 'va hemba' = they lie AND they are lying.

3.Not Perfect This is for in one of three ways, depending on the word. (i) Generally, one drops the 'a' from the verb and adds the prefix '-ile' Ndzi nghenile ndlwini – I entered the house, Hi tirhile siku hinkwaro – We worked all day, U hembile – You lied, U hembile – S/He lied, Va hembile – They lied.

(ii)With verbs that end with -ala, in the past change to -ele or -ale ku rivala – to forget, Ndzi rivele – I Forgot, U rivele – you forgot, Va rivele – they forgot, Ku nyamalala – To disappear, U nyamalarile – S/he – disappeared,

• words used to describe a state of being also use the past tense

Ku karhala – To be tired, Ndzi karhele – I am tired, U karhele – S/He is tired, Va karhele – They are tired.

(iii) In many cases merely changing the last 'a' in the verb to an 'e' indicates past action Ku fika – To arrive, U fike tolo – S/He arrived yesterday, Ndzi fike tolo – I arrived yesterday, Hi tirhe siku hinkwaro – We worked all day, Ndzi nghene (e)ndlwini – I entered the house.

4. Future This is formed by the adding 'ta' in between the personal pronoun and the verb Ndzi ta nghena (e)ndlwini – I will enter the house, Hi ta tirha siku hinkwaro – We will work all day, Va ta tirha siku hinkwaro – They will work all day, Mi ta tirha siku hinkwaro – You(pl.) will work all day.

Noun classes

Tsonga has several classes, much like other Bantu languages, which are learned through memorization mostly. These are:

mufana/boy	murhangeri/leader
1b	va	vanhu/people	vafana/boys	varhangeri/leaders
2a	yi	nseve/arrow	nenge/leg	nambu/river
2b	mi	miseve/arrows	milenge/legs	milambu/rivers
3a	ri	tiko/country	rito/word	vito/name
3b	ma	matiko/countries	marito/words	mavito/names
4a	xi	Xikwembu/God	xilo/thing	xitulu/stool
4b	swi	Swikwembu/gods	swilo/things	switulu/stools
5a	yi	yindlu/house	mbyana/dog	homu/cow
5b	ti	tiyindlu/houses	timbyana/dogs	tihomu/cows
6	ku	ku tshemba/trust	ku dya/ to eat	ku biha/ugliness
7	vu	vutomi/life	vumunhu/humanness	vululami – righteousness

Personal pronouns

These are very similar to many other Bantu languages with a few variations

Personal pronouns may be classified as those of the First Person, (the speaker); the second person (the one spoken to), and the Third Person (the one spoken about). They are also classified by number, i.e. singular and plural. Each pronoun has a corresponding concordial or agreement morpheme.

Tsonga	English
THE FIRST PERSON Pronoun Number Agreement morpheme Mina (I/me) Singular ndzi/ndza e.g. 1. Mina ndzi vona huku. (I see a chicken) 2. Mina ndza yi vona huku. (I see it the chicken)	Hina (we) Plural hi/ha e.g. 1. Hina hi vona huku. (We see a chicken) 2. Hina ha yi vona huku. (We see it the chicken) THE SECOND PERSON		Wena (You) Singular u/wa	e.g. 1. Wena u vona huku. (You see a chicken) 2. Wena wa yi vona huku. (You see it the chicken) -	N'wina (ye) Plural mi/ma e.g. 1. N'wina mi vona huku. (You see a chicken) 2. N'wina ma yi vona huku. (You see it the chicken) THE THIRD PERSON Yena (He/She)- Subject Singular u (Him/Her)- Object e.g. 1. Yena u vona huku. (He/She sees a chicken) 2. Yena wa yi vona huku. (He/She sees it the chicken) Vona (They)- Subject Plural va	(them)- Object	e.g. 1. Vona va vona huku. (They see a chicken) 2. Vona va yi vona huku. (They see it the chicken) Verbs All verbs have the prefix "ku" and end with an 'a' in the infinitive, with a couple of exceptions. Tsonga English ku chava 2 fear ku tsaka 2be happy ku rhandza to love The main exception to this is the verb "ku ri" – "to say" It corresponds to "ti" in many other bantu languages. Examples of its usage include; u ri yini? – what do you say?(what are you saying?), ndzi ri ka n'wina – i say to you all. In many instances the "ri" is often omitted and thus "ku" on its own can also me "say" Va ri ndza penga – they say i'm crazy, Va ri yini? – what do they say?(what are they saying?). Numerals Tsonga English N'we one Mbirhi two Nharhu three Mune four Ntlhanu five Ntsevu six Nkombo seven Nhungu eight Nkaye nine Khume ten Khume (na) n'we / Khume-n'we eleven Khume (na) mbirhi / Khume-mbirhi twelve Khume (na) nharhu / Khume-nharhu thirteen Makhume mambhirhi / Makume-mbirhi twenty Makhume manharhu / Makume-nharhu thirty Mune wa makhume forty Tlhanu wa makhume fifty Dzana hundred Gidi thousand Months of the Year Tsonga English Nsunguti January Nyenyenyani February Nyenyankulu March Dzivamusoko April Mudyaxihi May Khotavuxika June Mawuwani July Mhawuri August Ndzhati September Nhlangula October Hukuri November N'wendzamhala December Vocabulary XiTsonga, like many other African languages, have been influenced by various European colonial languages. XiTsonga includes words borrowed from English, Afrikaans, and Portuguese. Also, because of the influence of other more dominant neighbouring languages, XiTsonga has taken some words, especially click words, from isiZulu actually its (Nguni/ngoni). Words Borrowed from English Thelevhixini – television Rhediyo – Radio xitulu – Chair(Stool) Wachi – watch(to tell time) Movha – car(automobil) Sokisi – socks Gilazi – glass tliloko – clock mhasipala – municipal makhiya – keys Words Borrowed from Afrikaans lekere – sweets(lekkers) fasitere – window(venster) lepula – spoon(lepel) kereke – church(kerk) buruku – trousers(broek) dhomu – idiot(dom) tafula – table(tafel) xipuku – ghost(spook) Words Borrowed from Zulu: (ri)nqingo – phone kuqonda – to head towards ku gcina – to end kuzama – to try Writing system Tsonga uses the Latin alphabet. However, certain sounds are spelled using a combination of letters, which either do not exist in the European colonial language, or may be meant to distinguish the language somewhat. An example of this is the letter "x" taken from Portuguese orthography, which is pronounced as the English "sh". Therefore the following words, -shusha, shikolo, shilo, are written in Tsonga as -xuxa, xikolo, and xilo. Other spelling differences include the letter "c" which equates to the sound of the English "ch". However, where the emphasis of a word is on the following vowel the letter is hardened by adding "h" this the Tsonga word -chava(fear) A sound equivalent to the Welsh "ll" is written "hl" in Tsonga, e.g. -hlangana(meet), -hlasela(attack), -hleka(laugh) A whistling sound common in the language is written "sw" or "sv" in Zimbabwean chishona. This sound actually belongs to the "x-sw" class within the language. E.g.: xilo(thing) – swilo(things) xikolo(school) – swikolo(schools) Xikwembu(God) – swikwembu(gods) Another whistling sound is spelled "dy" but has no English equivalent, the closest being the "dr" sound in the English word "drive" Tsonga has been standardized as a written language. However, there are many dialects within the language that may not pronounce words as written. For example, the Tsonga bible uses the word "byela"(tell), pronounced bwe-la, however a large group of speakers would say "dzvela/dyela" instead. The Lord's Prayer as written in the xiTsonga Bible (Bibele) Tata wa hina la nge tilweni, vito ra wena a ri hlawuriwe; a ku te ku fuma ka wena; ku rhandza ka wena a ku endliwe misaveni, tanihi loko ku endliwa tilweni u hi nyika namuntlha vuswa bya hina bya siku rin'wana ni rin'wana; u hi rivalela swidyoho swa hina, tanihi loko na hina hi rivalela lava hi dyohelaka; u nga hi yisi emiringweni kambe u hi ponisa eka Lowo biha, [hikuva ku fuma, ni matimba, no ku twala i swa wena hi masiku ni masiku. Amen] References External links Ethnologue on Tsonga Software & localization Spell checker for OpenOffice.org and Mozilla, OpenOffice.org, Mozilla Firefox web-browser, and Mozilla Thunderbird email program in Tsonga Translate.org.za Project to translate Free and Open Source Software into all the official languages of South Africa including Tsonga PanAfriL10n page on Tsonga