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Zulu Language



Countries

Countries
South Africa

Total No. Of Countries
1 14

National Language
South Africa

Second Language
Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Zimbabwe

Speaking Continents
Africa

Minority Language
Not spoken in any of the countries

Regulated By
Pan South African Language Board

Interesting Facts
  • The meaning of word "Zulu" means "Sky"and Zulu was the name of the ancestor who founded the Zulu royal line in about 1670.
  • Zulu language has many loanwords borrowed from Afrikaans and English Languages.

Similar To
Xhosa Language

Derived From
-

Alphabets

Alphabets in
Zulu-Alphabets.jpg#200

Alphabets
57 34

Phonology

How Many Vowels
7 4

How Many Consonants
50 35

Scripts
Latin

Writing Direction
-

Hard to Learn

Language Levels
3 2

Time Taken to Learn
44 weeks 17

Greetings

Hello
Sawubona

Thank You
Ngiyabonga

How Are You?
unjani

Good Night
okuhle ebusuku

Good Evening
okuhle kusihlwa

Good Afternoon
okuhle ntambama

Good Morning
okuhle ekuseni

Please
Ngiyacela

Sorry
Ngiyaxolisa

Bye
bye

I Love You
Ngiyakuthanda wena

Excuse Me
Uxolo

Dialects

Dialect 1
Qwabe

Where They Speak
Gabon, South Africa

How Many People Speak
28,000,000.00 24

Dialect 2
central KwaZulu-Natal Zulu

Where They Speak
Georgia, South Africa

How Many People Speak
28,000,000.00 22

Dialect 3
Ndebele

Where They Speak
Zimbabwe

How Many People Speak
28,000,000.00 20

Total No. Of Dialects
4 4

How Many People Speak

How Many People Speak?
30.00 million 36

Speaking Population
0.16 % 51

Native Speakers
12.00 million 44

Second Language Speakers
16.00 million 33

Native Name
isiZulu

Alternative Names
Isizulu, Zunda

French Name
zoulou

German Name
Zulu-Sprache

Pronunciation
[zuːlu]

Ethnicity
Zulu people

History

Origin
19

Language Family
Niger-Congo Family

Subgroup
Benue-Congo

Branch
Beatu

Language Forms

Early Forms
urban Zulu

Standard Forms
Deep Zulu

Language Position
87 68

Signed Forms
Zulu Sign Language

Scope
Individual

Code

ISO 639 1
zu

ISO 639 2

ISO 639 2/T
zul

ISO 639 2/B
zul

ISO 639 3
zul

ISO 639 6
zul

Glottocode
zulu1248

Linguasphere
99-AUT-fg

Types of Language

Language Type
Living

Language Linguistic Typology
Subject-Verb-Object

Language Morphological Typology
-

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Origin of Zulu language

In order to communicate with each other, the origin of language was the essential part. Various languages are spoken all over the world. Zulu language is one of the Most Difficult Languages. The origin of Zulu language states that it was put to use in 19. The history of Zulu language reveals that the language is old and used since many years. Check out in brief about Zulu Language History.The evolution of Zulu language began with early forms such as urban Zulu. Deep Zulu is the standard form of Zulu language and it is used in government centers. Know all About Zulu Language.

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Zulu population

Zulu population gives us the total count of number of people speaking Zulu language. Zulu language is spoken by 30.00 million people in the world. Most of the Zulu population lies in the Zulu Speaking Countries. Zulu language is spoken as first language by 12.00 million people and as second language by about 16.00 million people. Get to know Zulu speaking population in detail.

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Zulu writing system

There are numerous writing systems but most widely used scripts are Latin, Cyrillic and Arabic. Zulu writing system decides the alphabets, vowels and consonants i.e. the written form of Zulu language. Some languages share common writing systems. Latin script is used by Zulu language. Learn more about . 

Information about Zulu language

Check out all the information about Zulu language here. You may find it interesting to learn Zulu Alphabets or the vowels and consonants of this language. Also knowing about Zulu Speaking Countries, Zulu speaking continents and Zulu Dialects will help in improving your knowledge about this language. Also while travelling to Zulu countries knowing common Zulu Greetings will help you in communicating with Zulu people.

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