Xhosa language facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Xhosa
isiXhosa
Native to	South Africa, Zimbabwe, Lesotho
Region	Eastern Cape, Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Northern Cape, Free State
Ethnicity	Xhosa people
Native speakers	8.2 million  (2011 census)e18 11 million L2 speakers (2002)
Language family	Niger–Congo Atlantic–Congo Benue–Congo Southern Bantoid Bantu Southern Bantu Nguni Zunda Xhosa
Writing system	Latin (Xhosa alphabet) Xhosa Braille
Official status
Official language in	South Africa  Zimbabwe
Guthrie code	S.41
Linguasphere	99-AUT-fa incl. varieties 99-AUT-faa to 99-AUT-faj + 99-AUT-fb (isiHlubi)
Proportion of the South African population that speaks Xhosa at home      0–20%      20–40%      40–60%      60–80%      80–100%
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Xhosa is one of the official languages of South Africa. Xhosa is spoken by 7.6 million people, or about 18% of the South African population. Xhosa is written using a Latin alphabet. Henry Hare Dugmore helped translate the entire Bible in Xhosa language. Xhosa has ten vowels.

Xhosa is well known for its set of three major clicks.

Images for kids

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  Trilingual government building sign in Afrikaans, English and Xhosa

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  English missionary Henry Hare Dugmore helped translate the Bible into Xhosa in 1859

See also

In Spanish: Idioma xhosa para niños