Northern Ndebele | |
---|---|
Zimbabwe Ndebele | |
siNdebele saseNyakatho | |
Region | Matabeleland North, Matabeleland South in Zimbabwe; North-East District in Botswana |
Native speakers | 1.6 million (2012)[1] |
Official status | |
Official language in | Zimbabwe |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-1 | nd – North Ndebele |
ISO 639-2 | nde – North Ndebele |
ISO 639-3 | nde – North Ndebele |
Glottolog | nort2795 |
S.44 [2] | |
Linguasphere | 99-AUT-fk incl. |
Northern Ndebele (English: /ɛndəˈbiːliː/) is an African language. It is also called Sindebele, Zimbabwean Ndebele[1] or North Ndebele,[3][4] and formerly known as Matabele. It is part of the Nguni group of Bantu languages. It is spoken by the amaNdebele,[5] Ndebele and Matabele people of Zimbabwe. It is also known as siNdebele or simply Ndebele.[5]
Ndebele is related to the Zulu language spoken in South Africa. The Ndebele people of Zimbabwe are descended from followers of the Zulu leader Mzilikazi. Mzilikazi and his people left kwaZulu in the early 1800s during the Mfecane. They travelled North, past what is now Gauteng, Mpumalanga and Limpopo, in South Africa, and into Zimbabwe and Botswana. There are Sindebele speakers in many places in Southern Africa.[6]
The Northern Ndebele language and the Southern Ndebele language are not two variations of the same language. Both are Bantu languages, but Northern Ndebele is very similar to Zulu. The Southern Ndebele language has similarities to the Sotho and Tswana languages.
Name: North Ndebele
Name: North Ndebele