The Origins Of The Languages Of South Africa
South African language dates back further than language in almost every other location on Earth. That’s because Africa (most likely East Africa) was the birthplace of modern humans. Historians believe that there were humans in South Africa over 100,000 years ago, providing some idea of just how long the country’s linguistic heritage is.
The Fascinating History of Language In South Africa
Clearly, over such a vast period of time, many languages have come and gone. However, we can still see ancient linguistic traces in some of the indigenous languages spoken in South Africa today. Khoekhoegowab, !Orakobab, Nǁng, N|uuki, !Xunthali and Khwedam are some of the oldest languages in Southern Africa.
Indigenous Languages
Sadly, we are likely to see !Orakobab and Nǁng join the ranks of South Africa’s lost languages very soon, if they haven’t already become extinct. !Orakobab was noted to have just six native speakers back in 2008, while Nǁng had only five in 2013.
Thankfully, the South African language Khoekhoegowab is faring somewhat better. Also called Nama and Damara, the language has around 167,000 native speakers currently, spread across both South African and Namibia (where it is a national language and used in public administration as well as education up to university level). In South Africa, Khoekhoegowab is used for radio shows, but is not classed as one of the country’s 11 official languages.
Colonial Languages
From the 13th century onwards, the South Africa language map began to be influenced by native tongues from Europe. Portuguese explorers, in particular, were determined to navigate their way around Africa in order to find a new route to China. They began exploring the African coast in the 13th century and continued to do so in both the 14th and 15th centuries, finally rounding the Cape of Good Hope in 1488.
While Portugal’s explorers focused mainly on mapping the coastline, representatives of the Dutch East India Company had rather more greedy intentions when they founded a trading post in Cape Town in 1652. With the establishment of the Dutch Cape Colony, the influence of European languages in South Africa began to grow in earnest.
The English vied with the Dutch for control of South African resources, meaning that both nations were at pains to establish their languages in South Africa, often at the expense of the languages already in existence there. When the colonisers discovered gold and diamonds in South Africa in the 19th century, the linguistic invasion intensified.
The Most Common Language in South Africa
What language is spoken in South Africa more than any other? Zulu. Called isiZulu in South African English and with well over 11.5 million speakers, Zulu is the most common language in South Africa. It is the most widely used native language of South Africa, spoken by 22.7% of the population at home and understood by around 50% of the population.
How Many Languages Are Spoken In South Africa
Until the mid-1990s, the official languages of South Africa were Dutch, Afrikaans and English—despite African languages being spoken by more than 80% of the population. Fortunately, 1996 brought a new constitution, which changed all of that.
Now, there are 11 official languages in South Africa, nine of which are African languages from the Bantu family. They were brought from West Africa as early as 3000 BCE. As part of the larger Niger-Congo language family, all the African languages of South Africa are tonal: Using a high or low tone changes the meaning of a word.
