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0–20%
20–40%
40–60%
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60–80%
80–100%
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<1 /km²
1–3 /km²
3–10 /km²
10–30 /km²
30–100 /km²
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100–300 /km²
300–1000 /km²
1000–3000 /km²
>3000 /km²
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The Swazi or Swati language (Swati: siSwati [siswatʼi], Zulu: isiSwazi [isiswaz̤i]) is a Bantu language of the Nguni group spoken in Swaziland and South Africa by the Swazi people. The number of speakers is estimated to be in the region of 3 million. The language is taught in Swaziland and some South African schools in Mpumalanga and KaNgwane areas. Swazi is an official language of Swaziland, (along with English), and is also one of the eleven official languages of South Africa.
Although the preferred term is "Swati" among native speakers, in English it is generally referred to as Swazi: this is taken from the Zulu name for the language, isiSwazi. Swazi is most closely related to the other "Tugela" Nguni language, Phuthi; but is also very close to the "Zunda" Nguni languages: Zulu, Southern Ndebele, Northern Ndebele, and Xhosa.
Dialects
Swazi spoken in Swaziland (eSwatini) can be divided into four dialects corresponding to the four administrative regions of the country: Hhohho, Lubombo, Manzini, and Shiselweni.
Swazi has at least two varieties: the standard, prestige variety spoken mainly in the north, centre and southwest of the country, and a less prestigious variety spoken elsewhere.
In the far south, especially in towns such as Nhlangano and Hlathikhulu, the variety of the language spoken is significantly influenced by iSiZulu. Many Swazis (plural eMaSwati, singular LiSwati), including those in the south who speak this variety, do not regard it as 'proper' Swazi. This is what may be referred to as the second dialect in the country. The sizeable number of Swazi speakers in South Africa (mainly in the Mpumalanga province, and in Soweto) are considered by Swaziland Swazi speakers to speak a non-standard form of the language.
Unlike the variant in the south of Swaziland, the Mpumalanga variety appears to be less influenced by Zulu, and is thus considered closer to standard Swazi. However, this Mpumalanga variety is distinguishable by distinct intonation, and perhaps distinct tone patterns. Intonation patterns (and informal perceptions of 'stress') in Mpumalanga Swazi are often considered discordant to the Swazi ear. This South African variety of Swazi is considered to exhibit influence from other South African languages spoken close to Swazi.
A feature of the standard prestige variety of Swazi (spoken in the north and centre of Swaziland) is the royal style of slow, heavily stressed enunciation, which is anecdotally claimed to have a 'mellifluous' feel to its hearers.
Phonology
Grammar
Nouns
The Swazi noun (libito) consists of two essential parts, the prefix (sicalo) and the stem (umsuka). Using the prefixes, nouns can be grouped into noun classes, which are numbered consecutively, to ease comparison with other Bantu languages.
The following table gives an overview of Swazi noun classes, arranged according to singular-plural pairs.
| Class | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| 1/2 | um(u)-1 | ba-, be- |
| 1a/2a | Ø- | bo- |
| 3/4 | um(u)-1 | imi- |
| 5/6 | li- | ema- |
| 7/8 | s(i)-2 | t(i)-2 |
| 9/10 | iN-3 | tiN-3 |
| 11/10 | lu-, lw- | |
| 14 | bu-, b-, tj- | |
| 15 | ku- |
1 umu- replaces um- before monosyllabic stems, e. g. umuntfu (person).
2 s- and t- replace si- and ti- respectively before stems beginning with a vowel, e.g. sandla/tandla (hand/hands).
3 The placeholder N in the prefixes iN- and tiN- for m, n or no letter at all.
Sample text
Bonkhe bantfu batalwa bakhululekile balingana ngalokufananako ngesitfunti nangemalungelo. Baphiwe ingcondvo nekucondza kanye nanembeza ngakoke bafanele batiphatse nekutsi baphatse nalabanye ngemoya webuzalwane.[1]
References
External links
Software
- Project to translate Free Software into Swazi
- Swazi edition of OpenOffice.org
- Swazi spell checker for OpenOffice.org and Mozilla (basic)
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