what is the primary language in south africa
Languages of South Africa Since taking power in the 1994 election, the ANC has promoted English as the main language of government, even if South Africans often take pride in using indigenous languages for any purpose. Afrikaans also features prominently in commerce together with English, as the languages with the highest number of fluent speakers are Afrikaans and English.
Xhosa language Xhosa (English: /ˈkɔːsə/ or /ˈkoʊsə/;[6][7][8] Xhosa: isiXhosa [isikǁʰɔ́ːsa]) is a Nguni Bantu language with click consonants ("Xhosa" begins with a click) and one of the official languages of South Africa.[9] Although not widely spoken there, it is also an official language of Zimbabwe.[10] "Xhosa is spoken as a first language by 8.2 million people and by 11 million as a second language in South Africa, mostly in Eastern Cape Province. Total number of users in all countries is 19.2 million (Ethnologue)".[11] Like most other Bantu languages, Xhosa is a tonal language;[12] the same sequence of consonants and vowels can have different meanings, depending on intonation. Xhosa has two tones: high and low.[13]
Thembu people The Thembu people are one of the handful of nations and population groups that speak Xhosa in South Africa.
Languages of South Africa There are eleven official languages of South Africa: Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Northern Sotho, Sotho, Swazi, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa and Zulu. Fewer than two percent of South Africans speak a first language other than an official one.[2] Most South Africans can speak more than one language.[3] Dutch and English were the first official languages of South Africa from 1910 to 1925. Afrikaans was added as a part of Dutch in 1925, although in practice, Afrikaans effectively replaced Dutch, which fell into disuse. When South Africa became a republic in 1961, the official relationship changed such that Afrikaans was considered to include Dutch,[4] and Dutch was dropped in 1984, so between 1984 and 1994, South Africa had two official languages: English and Afrikaans.[5]