Northern Ndebele

Is Northern Ndebele a language or Zulu

Grammar, vocabulary and intonation differ in places from Zulu, and Ndebele /tʃ/ usually corresponds to Zulu /ʃ/. The Nguni linguists Anthony Trevor Cope and Cyril Nyembezi treat Northern Ndebele as a dialect of Zulu; Langa Khumalo treats it as a language. The Northern Ndebele article adds that for varieties this close, the decision often rests on subjective and politicised grounds rather than linguistic criteria.

How it differs from South Africa's Ndebele

Southern Ndebele, also called Transvaal Ndebele, is spoken in South Africa. The two are separate but related languages with some mutual intelligibility. Northern Ndebele stays closer to Zulu, while Southern Ndebele, Nguni at root, has taken influence from the Sotho languages. In Zimbabwe it is spoken by the Northern Ndebele people of Matabeleland.

Which letters write the Ndebele clicks

Northern Ndebele has fifteen click consonants, five for each of the letters c, q and x. For c the tongue tip presses the front upper teeth and gums and is drawn back, a sound like the English noise of annoyance, as in cina, end, and cela, ask. The q clicks pop like a cork pulled from a bottle: qalisa, start, and qeda, finish. For x one side of the tongue is pulled quickly from the gums, as in xoxa, discuss, and ixoxo, frog. Five vowels, a, e, i, o and u, complete the sound system.