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Xhosa language facts for kids

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Xhosa
isiXhosa
Native to South Africa, Zimbabwe, Lesotho
Region Eastern Cape, Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Northern Cape, Free State
Ethnicity Xhosa people
Native speakers 8.2 million  (2011 census)e18
11 million L2 speakers (2002)
Language family
Niger–Congo
Writing system Latin (Xhosa alphabet)
Xhosa Braille
Official status
Official language in  South Africa
 Zimbabwe
Guthrie code S.41
Linguasphere 99-AUT-fa incl.
varieties 99-AUT-faa
to 99-AUT-faj +
99-AUT-fb (isiHlubi)
South Africa Xhosa speakers proportion map.svg
Proportion of the South African population that speaks Xhosa at home

     0–20%      20–40%

     40–60%

     60–80%

     80–100%
This page contains IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters.

Xhosa is one of the official languages of South Africa. Xhosa is spoken by 7.6 million people, or about 18% of the South African population. Xhosa is written using a Latin alphabet. Henry Hare Dugmore helped translate the entire Bible in Xhosa language. Xhosa has ten vowels.

Xhosa is well known for its set of three major clicks.

Images for kids

  • Stellenbosch Magistrate's Office (entrance)

    Trilingual government building sign in Afrikaans, English and Xhosa

  • Henry Hare Dugmore (ca. 1890)

    English missionary Henry Hare Dugmore helped translate the Bible into Xhosa in 1859

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Xhosa language Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.