Swazi
Language · official in 2 countries and territories
SiSwati is the name native speakers use for the language English calls Swazi or Swati. A Bantu language of the Nguni group, spoken by the Swati people, it holds official status in 2 countries on record: beside English in Eswatini, and among the twelve official languages of South Africa, where some schools in Mpumalanga teach it.
The language on record
- Own name
- Siswati
- ISO 639-1
- SS
- ISO 639-3
- SSW
- Script
- Latin
- Family
- Bantu (Nguni)
- Official in
- 2 countries
Where Swazi is official
Eswatini shares official status between siSwati and English. South Africa lists it among twelve official languages, and Eswatini's speakers regard the South African form as non-standard.
Official beside Swazi
About Swazi
Which Swati counts as proper Swati
The language of Eswatini divides into four dialects matching the four administrative regions: Hhohho, Lubombo, Manzini and Shiselweni. Speakers also recognise a simpler split. The standard, prestige variety is spoken mainly in the north, centre and southwest of the country, and a less prestigious one elsewhere.
In the far south, in towns such as Nhlangano and Hlatikhulu, the speech shows strong influence from Zulu, and many emaSwati, including people in the south who speak it, do not regard it as proper Swati. The sizeable body of speakers in South Africa, mainly in Mpumalanga and in Soweto, is considered by speakers in Eswatini to use a non-standard form.
What relatives sit closest to siSwati
SiSwati belongs with the Tekela languages, beside Phuthi and the Sumayela Ndebele of the former Northern Transvaal. It is also very close to the Zunda languages: Zulu, Southern Ndebele, Northern Ndebele and Xhosa.
How the unwritten tones behave
SiSwati has three surface tones, high, mid and low, and the standard spelling marks none of them. The traditional analysis counts only high and mid as underlying, with low produced by a preceding depressor consonant, any voiced obstruent other than /ɓ/. Bradshaw in 2003 argued that all three exist underlyingly. A high tone spreads over the syllables between it and the next high tone unless a depressor intervenes, and the spreading crosses the boundary between a verb and its object.
The clicks do not contrast place of articulation; they are dental or alveolar. They do contrast five or six manners, including aspirated, breathy voiced and nasal forms.
How a noun is built
A noun, libito, has two parts: the prefix, sicalo, and the stem, umsuka. The prefixes sort nouns into classes, numbered in sequence so that they line up with the classes of other Bantu languages.
Common questions
Questions about Swazi
Should it be called Swazi, Swati or siSwati?
SiSwati is the official term among native speakers. Swazi is how the language is named in English, Zulu, Ndebele or Xhosa. One speaker is a liSwati, several are emaSwati.
Where in South Africa is siSwati taught?
In some schools in Mpumalanga, particularly in the former KaNgwane areas, where many South African speakers live.
Are Swati tones marked in writing?
No. The standard orthography leaves all three tones unwritten, so a reader supplies them from knowledge of the word and of the depressor consonants around it.