ISO 639-3 · zulzul
Niger–Congo family
Zulu
isiZulu
Zulu is a language of the Nguni branch (Niger–Congo), spoken in South Africa, Lesotho and Mozambique. Wikidata counts 12.1 m first-language speakers (2019) and 15.7 m who speak it as a second language. Wikidata describes it as “Nguni language of eastern South Africa and neighbouring countries”.
At a glance
- ISO 639-3
zul- ISO 639-1
zu- Glottocode
zulu1248- Family
- Niger–Congo
- EGIDS
- 1 National
- Centre point
- -29.00, 31.00
- Wikipedia
- 126 language editions
12.1 mfirst-language speakers
15.7 msecond-language speakers
3countries
1scripts
9levels in the tree
1EGIDS level
Facts
| Name | Zulu · isiZulu |
|---|---|
| Also called | isiZulu, Zulu language |
| L1 speakers | 12,100,000 (2019) |
| L2 speakers | 15,700,000 (2011) |
| Written in | Latin script |
| Official in | South Africa |
| Grammatical cases | 2 listed in Wikidata |
Vitality
EGIDS 1 National1
Institutional. Used in government, education and media — EGIDS 0 to 4.
Other languages at this levelfamily tree
From Niger–Congo to Zulu
The branches above Zulu, top to bottom. Each node counts the languages of this index that belong to it.
where it is spoken
Map and countries
A distribution map from Wikimedia Commons, as linked from Wikidata; borders of language areas are approximate.
Also spoken in South Africa
engEnglishIndo-European · 1.13 bn0 · InternationalpanPunjabiunclassified · 125 mSafetamTamilDravidian · 83 m2 · ProvincialafrAfrikaansIndo-European · 7.2 m1 · NationalsotSesothoNiger–Congo · 6 m1 · NationaltsnTswanaNiger–Congo · 4.5 m1 · NationalnsoNorthern SothoNiger–Congo · 4.1 m1 · NationaltsoTsongaNiger–Congo · 4 m1 · NationalslvSloveneIndo-European · 2.4 m1 · NationalvenVendaNiger–Congo · 1.3 m1 · National