Venda
Language · official in 2 countries and territories
Tshivenḓa adds five marked letters to the Latin alphabet: ḓ, ḽ, ṋ and ṱ with a circumflex below for dental sounds, and ṅ with a dot above. It is the Bantu language of the Vhavenḓa of northern Limpopo and southern Zimbabwe, related to the Karanga and Kalanga forms of Shona, and official in 2 countries.
The language on record
- Own name
- Tshivenḓa
- ISO 639-1
- VE
- ISO 639-3
- VEN
- Script
- Latin
- Family
- Bantu
- Official in
- 2 countries
Where Venda is official
South Africa and Zimbabwe, on either side of the Limpopo, both give Tshivenḓa official status: South Africa in its 1996 constitution, Zimbabwe in its 2013 one.
- South AfricaAlso official: Afrikaans, English, Northern Sotho, Sesotho, South African Sign Language, Southern Ndebele, Swazi, Tsonga, Tswana, Xhosa, Zulu.
- ZimbabweAlso official: Barwe, Chewa, English, Kalanga, Khoisan, Nambya, Ndau, Northern Ndebele, Sesotho, Shona, Tonga, Tsonga, Tswana, Xhosa, Zimbabwe Sign Language.
Official beside Venda
About Venda
Where Venda speakers live
The 2011 census found Venda speakers concentrated in Limpopo's Vhembe district: 370,000 in Thulamela, 350,000 in Makhado, 89,000 in Mutale and 35,000 in Musina. Gauteng had 275,000 more. Across South Africa the census counted 1.2 million, 2.2% of the population. Some Lemba people in South Africa also speak the language. Under apartheid the Bantustan of Venda was set up to cover South Africa's Venda speakers.
Figures for Zimbabwe are unclear. Speakers there live mainly in the south of the country, and many work as migrants in South Africa.
What sets Venda sounds apart
Venda separates dental ṱ, ṱh, ḓ, ṋ and ḽ from alveolar t, th, d, n and l, and labiodental f and v from bilabial fh and vh. It has no clicks. As in Zulu, ph, ṱh, th and kh are aspirated while plain p, ṱ, t and k are ejective. Only one tone is specified, high, and unmarked syllables are low. Venda follows Meeussen's rule: a word that begins on a high tone loses it when a high tone comes just before.
Which scripts carry Tshivenḓa
The Latin alphabet is the everyday one, with C, J and Q kept for foreign words and names. The sintu script Isibheqe Sohlamvu, or Ditema tsa Dinoko, is also used, and in Venda it is called Luṱhofunḓeraru lwa Mibvumo.
Common questions
Questions about Venda
Does Venda have click sounds?
No. Its sound system has none, though it shares with Zulu the contrast between aspirated ph, th and kh and ejective p, t and k.
How many people speak Venda in South Africa?
1.2 million at the 2011 census, 2.2% of the population, most of them in the Vhembe district of Limpopo and 275,000 in Gauteng. Numbers for Zimbabwe are unclear.
Which languages is Tshivenḓa related to?
The Karanga and Kalanga forms of Shona. The Kalanga article adds KheLobedu and Nambya to its circle of close relatives.