Tsonga language

Tsonga, also called Xitsonga, is a Southern Bantu language spoken mainly in South Africa and Mozambique. It includes several closely related varieties and has official-language status in South Africa.

Bantu languages: A large branch of Niger-Congo languages spoken across much of sub-Saharan Africa. Tsonga belongs to this family, whose shared features include noun classes and agreement.
Vatsonga: A Southern African people whose communities speak Tsonga and related varieties. Tsonga is closely tied to Vatsonga communities across national borders.
Official languages of South Africa: The twelve languages recognized as official in South Africa under the Constitution. Tsonga is one of South Africa's official languages.
Changana: A name used for Tsonga varieties and for related speech communities, especially in Mozambique. The label is widely used in Mozambique for forms closely associated with Tsonga.
Tonal language: A language in which pitch differences distinguish words or grammatical forms. Pitch contrasts contribute to meaning and grammar in Tsonga.
Tsonga people: An ethnolinguistic community concentrated in South Africa, Mozambique, and neighboring areas. The language's history follows the movement and changing identities of these communities.
South African Broadcasting Corporation: South Africa's public broadcaster, which operates radio and television services in multiple languages. Its Tsonga-language programming gives the language a national media presence.
Ronga language: A Southern Bantu language spoken mainly in southern Mozambique, closely related to Tsonga. Ronga is a close relative whose classification and relationship to Tsonga are discussed in linguistic descriptions.
Noun class: A grammatical grouping of nouns that can control agreement on other words. Tsonga nouns belong to classes reflected in agreement across a sentence.
Junod's ethnography of the Tsonga: Henri-Alexandre Junod's early twentieth-century writings documenting Tsonga society, language, and customs. Junod's records preserve evidence about Tsonga speech and social life during colonial rule.

Linked from 2 pages