Knowra Zulu Zulu Zulu, or isiZulu, is a Bantu language spoken chiefly in South Africa. It is one of South Africa’s official languages and is known for its noun-class system and click consonants.
Nguni languages : A subgroup of Southern Bantu languages that includes Zulu, Xhosa, Swati, and Ndebele. Zulu belongs to this closely related group of languages.
Concord (grammar) : A grammatical relationship in which words share features such as noun class, person, or number. Zulu uses concords to link nouns with verbs, adjectives, and other sentence elements.
Xhosa language : A Nguni Bantu language spoken mainly in South Africa, with click consonants and noun classes. Xhosa is Zulu’s closest major linguistic relative, yet the languages remain distinct.
Official languages of South Africa : The twelve languages granted official status by South Africa’s Constitution. Zulu has official status alongside eleven other South African languages.
Bantu languages : A large family of languages spoken across much of sub-Saharan Africa. Zulu is one member of this broad language family.
Agglutinative language : A language in which words commonly combine multiple meaningful affixes in sequence. Zulu builds many grammatical meanings by attaching ordered prefixes and suffixes.
Swati language : A Nguni Bantu language spoken chiefly in Eswatini and South Africa. Swati shares substantial linguistic ancestry with Zulu.
South African Sign Language : A sign language used by Deaf communities in South Africa and recognized as an official language. It broadens South Africa’s official-language framework beyond spoken languages such as Zulu.
Noun class : A grammatical system that groups nouns into categories reflected in agreement and other word forms. Zulu nouns belong to classes that shape agreement throughout a sentence.
Bantu verb : A verb form in a Bantu language, typically marked by a sequence of prefixes and suffixes. Zulu verbs encode subjects and other grammatical information through their structure.
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