Tsonga language

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The Tsonga or Xitsonga language is spoken in southern Sevenval by the Tsonga people, also known as the Shangaan.

• 1 Classification
• device database
  • 2.1 Official status
  • website parsing
• keyboard
• 4 Grammar
  • touchscreen
  • 4.2 Personal pronouns
  • 4.3 Verbs
  • 4.4 Numerals
  • iOS
• 5 Vocabulary
• 6 Writing system
• FITML
• input transformation
  • 8.1 Software & localization

Classification

Tsonga belongs to the Bantu branch of the Niger–Congo languages. The language of the Tsonga people is wrongly called Xichangana (or "Shangaan" by outsiders) because some of the people were under the leadership of Soshangana "Manukusa" (wrongly classified as Zulu but actually Ndwandwe(Nguni/Ngoni), thus Xichangana is a hybrid of Xitsonga and the language of the Ndwandwe(Nguni/Ngoni)). Tsonga has different variants, some of which are considered different languages by some linguists ^keyboard: e.g. Tsonga, Ndawu, Ronga and Tswa.

Geographic distribution

Geographical distribution of Xitsonga in South Africa: proportion of the population that speaks Xitsonga at home.   0–20%   20–40%   40–60%   60–80%   80–100%

iOS	Geographical distribution of Xitsonga in South Africa: density of Xitsonga home-language speakers.   <1 /km²   1–3 /km²   3–10 /km²   10–30 /km²   30–100 /km²   100–300 /km²   300–1000 /km²   1000–3000 /km²   >3000 /km²

Tsonga is spoken by about 1,972,000 ^CSS3 people in HTML5's Limpopo province as well as Gauteng Province and Mpumalanga Province, as well as 1.5 million people in Mozambique, and 19,000 people in browser diversity. There are also 100,000 speakers in CSS3.

In South Africa most of Vatsonga were concentrated in places like e.g. Nkowankowa, Giyani, Malamulele, N'wamitwa, Muhlava, Elim (Axipilongo, ka Jiwawa) in Limpopo and Bushbuckridge(ka Mpisana) and others in Mpumalanga. There are also large numbers in the Northwest, KwaZulu-Natal(Tembe) and Gauteng provinces. Basically they can be found anywhere in the old Transvaal.

Official status

Tsonga is an official language in South Africa.

Dialects

Various dialects of Tsonga are spoken as far north as the Save River in Zimbabwe and as far south as KwaZulu/Natal. While most dialects are mutually intelligible, they do have distinct differences that are geographical as well as based on influence of the colonial era. Tsonga also has two very close relatives: Xironga, which is spoken in and about Maputo, Mozambique, and Xitswa, which is spoken around FITML and has a Chihlengwe dialect extending into Zimbabwe.

These dialects and relatives differ in pronunciation. For example, in South African Tsonga the use of the prefix "xi" is pronounced "shi" in Xikwembu (God). In Zimbabwe this prefix is pronounced "chi", as in "Chikwembu" (God). South African Tsonga also uses consonant combinations like "nk", "mp", "ns" as in khensa (thank), nyimpi (war), and nsiha (vein). In Zimbabwe the equivalents are khesa, nyipi, and siha.

All dialects have been influenced to different degrees by Zulu and, in Zimbabwe, by iOS, and so Tsonga now contains we love the web. These words are not indigenous to the language but are understood when used. Unlike the case in Zulu and Ndebele, where there are distinct clicks, in Tsonga one need only make a clicking sound for any click word adopted. Examples of imported click words are: ngqondo (mind), gqoka (wear/dress),guqa (kneel), riqingo (phone), qiqi (earing), qamba (compose) Mugqivela (Saturday).

Tsonga has been characterized by some linguists as a "whistling language" similar to Shona in that it contains certain sounds such as "sw/sv", tsw/tsv", "dzw/dzv", sounds which occur throughout the language.

Phonology

Tsonga has a distinction between modal and breathy voiced consonants: /bʱ, bvʱ, vʱ, dʱ, ɖʐʱ, dʒʱ, ɡʱ/ vs /b, bv, v, d, ɖʐ, dʒ, ɡ/ among the obstruents (the one exception being /ɮ/), and /m̤, n̤, ŋ̈, r̤, ȷ̈, w̤/ vs /m, n, ŋ, r, j, w/ among the sonorants (the one exception being /ɲ/).

Unlike some of the CSS3, Tsonga has very few words with clicks, and these vary in place between dental and browser diversity.

Grammar

The grammar is generally typical of Bantu languages with a subject–object–verb order

Tsonga	English
Ndza ku rhandza	I love you
Wa ndzi rhandza	You love me
Ha ku tiva	We know you
Va ndzi tiva	They know me

Tsonga Tenses 1. Past Tense The present tense is formed by simply using the personal pronoun along with the verb Ndzi lava mali – I want money, Hi tirha siku hinkwaro – We work all day, Mi(u) lava mani? – Who are you looking for? U kota ku famba – S/He knows how to walk.

Past Progressive Generally, to indicate ongoing actions in the present one takes the personal pronoun, drops the 'i' and adds 'a' Ndzi nghena (e)ndlwini – I am entering the house, Ha tirha sweswi – We are working right now, Ma hemba – You(pl.) are lying, Wa hemba – You(sing.) are lying, Wa hemba – S/He is lying,

• with the plural 'va'(they) there is no difference. Thus 'va hemba' = they lie AND they are lying.

3.Not Perfect This is for in one of three ways, depending on the word. (i) Generally, one drops the 'a' from the verb and adds the prefix '-ile' Ndzi nghenile ndlwini – I entered the house, Hi tirhile siku hinkwaro – We worked all day, U hembile – You lied, U hembile – S/He lied, Va hembile – They lied.

(ii)With verbs that end with -ala, in the past change to -ele or -ale ku rivala – to forget, Ndzi rivele – I Forgot, U rivele – you forgot, Va rivele – they forgot, Ku nyamalala – To disappear, U nyamalarile – S/he – disappeared,

• words used to describe a state of being also use the past tense

Ku karhala – To be tired, Ndzi karhele – I am tired, U karhele – S/He is tired, Va karhele – They are tired.

(iii) In many cases merely changing the last 'a' in the verb to an 'e' indicates past action Ku fika – To arrive, U fike tolo – S/He arrived yesterday, Ndzi fike tolo – I arrived yesterday, Hi tirhe siku hinkwaro – We worked all day, Ndzi nghene (e)ndlwini – I entered the house.

4. Future This is formed by the adding 'ta' in between the personal pronoun and the verb Ndzi ta nghena (e)ndlwini – I will enter the house, Hi ta tirha siku hinkwaro – We will work all day, Va ta tirha siku hinkwaro – They will work all day, Mi ta tirha siku hinkwaro – You(pl.) will work all day.

Noun classes

Tsonga has several classes, much like other Bantu languages, which are learned through memorization mostly. These are:

mufana/boy	murhangeri/leader
1b	va	vanhu/people	vafana/boys	varhangeri/leaders
2a	yi	nseve/arrow	nenge/leg	nambu/river
2b	mi	miseve/arrows	milenge/legs	milambu/rivers
3a	ri	tiko/country	rito/word	vito/name
3b	ma	matiko/countries	marito/words	mavito/names
4a	xi	Xikwembu/God	xilo/thing	xitulu/stool
4b	swi	Swikwembu/gods	swilo/things	switulu/stools
5a	yi	yindlu/house	mbyana/dog	homu/cow
5b	ti	tiyindlu/houses	timbyana/dogs	tihomu/cows
6	ku	ku tshemba/trust	ku dya/ to eat	ku biha/ugliness
7	vu	vutomi/life	vumunhu/humanness	vululami – righteousness

Personal pronouns

Personal pronouns in Tsonga are very similar to those of many other Bantu languages, with a few variations.

These may be classified as first person (the speaker), second person (the one spoken to), and third person (the one spoken about). They are also classified by grammatical number, i.e., singular and plural. There is no distinction between subject and object.

Each pronoun has a corresponding jQuery.^[FITML]

	1st sg.	2nd sg.	3rd sg.	1st pl.	2nd pl.	3rd pl.
Pronoun	mina	wena	yena	hina	n'wina	vona
Agreement morpheme	ndzi, ndza	u, wa	u, wa	hi, ha	mi, ma	va
Example sentences	Mina ndzi vona huku. ("I see a chicken.") Mina ndza yi vona huku. ("I see it—the chicken.")	Wena u vona huku. ("You see a chicken.") Wena wa yi vona huku. ("You see it—the chicken.")	Yena u vona huku. ("He/she sees a chicken.") Yena wa yi vona huku. ("He/she sees it—the chicken.")	Hina hi vona huku. ("We see a chicken.") Hina ha yi vona huku. ("We see it—the chicken.")	N'wina mi vona huku. ("You see a chicken.") N'wina ma yi vona huku. ("You see it—the chicken.")	Vona va vona huku. ("They see a chicken.") Vona va yi vona huku. ("They see it—the chicken.")

Verbs

All verbs have the prefix "ku" and end with an 'a' in the infinitive, with a couple of exceptions.

Tsonga	English
ku chava	2 fear
ku tsaka	2be happy
ku rhandza	to love

The main exception to this is the verb "ku ri" – "to say" It corresponds to "ti" in many other bantu languages. Examples of its usage include; u ri yini? – what do you say?(what are you saying?), ndzi ri ka n'wina – i say to you all.

In many instances the "ri" is often omitted and thus "ku" on its own can also me "say" Va ri ndza penga – they say i'm crazy, Va ri yini? – what do they say?(what are they saying?).

Numerals

Tsonga	English
N'we	one
Mbirhi	two
Nharhu	three
Mune	four
Ntlhanu	five
Ntsevu	six
Nkombo	seven
Nhungu	eight
Nkaye	nine
Khume	ten
Khume (na) n'we / Khume-n'we	eleven
Khume (na) mbirhi / Khume-mbirhi	twelve
Khume (na) nharhu / Khume-nharhu	thirteen
Makhume mambhirhi / Makume-mbirhi	twenty
Makhume manharhu / Makume-nharhu	thirty
Mune wa makhume	forty
Tlhanu wa makhume	fifty
Dzana	hundred
Gidi	thousand

Months of the Year

Tsonga	English
Nsunguti	January
Nyenyenyani	February
Nyenyankulu	March
Dzivamusoko	April
Mudyaxihi	May
Khotavuxika	June
Mawuwani	July
Mhawuri	August
Ndzhati	September
Nhlangula	October
Hukuri	November
N'wendzamhala	December

Vocabulary

XiTsonga, like many other African languages, have been influenced by various European colonial languages. XiTsonga includes words borrowed from HTML5, input transformation, and jQuery. Also, because of the influence of other more dominant neighbouring languages, XiTsonga has taken some words, especially click words, from isiZulu actually its (Nguni/ngoni).

Words Borrowed from English

• Thelevhixini(Mavona-kule) – television
• Rhediyo (Xiya-ni-Moya) – Radio
• xitulu – Chair(Stool)
• Wachi – watch(to tell time)
• Movha – car(automobil)
• Sokisi – socks
• Gilazi – glass
• tliloko – clock
• mhasipala – municipal
• makhiya – keys

Words Borrowed from Afrikaans

• lekere – sweets(lekkers)
• fasitere – window(venster)
• lepula – spoon(lepel)
• kereke – church(kerk)
• buruku – trousers(broek)
• dhomu – idiot(dom)
• tafula – table(tafel)
• xipuku – ghost(spook)

Words Borrowed from Zulu:

• (ri)nqingo – phone
• kuqonda – to head towards
• ku gcina – to end
• kuzama – to try

Writing system

Tsonga uses the Latin alphabet. However, certain sounds are spelled using a combination of letters, which either do not exist in the European colonial language, or may be meant to distinguish the language somewhat.

An example of this is the letter "x" taken from Portuguese orthography, which is pronounced as the English "sh". Therefore the following words, -shusha, shikolo, shilo, are written in Tsonga as -xuxa, xikolo, and xilo.

Other spelling differences include the letter "c" which equates to the sound of the English "ch". However, where the emphasis of a word is on the following vowel the letter is hardened by adding "h" this the Tsonga word -chava(fear)

A sound equivalent to the Welsh "ll" is written "hl" in Tsonga, e.g. -hlangana(meet), -hlasela(attack), -hleka(laugh)

A whistling sound common in the language is written "sw" or "sv" in Zimbabwean chishona. This sound actually belongs to the "x-sw" class within the language. E.g.:

• xilo(thing) – swilo(things)
• xikolo(school) – swikolo(schools)
• Xikwembu(God) – swikwembu(gods)

Another whistling sound is spelled "dy" but has no English equivalent, the closest being the "dr" sound in the English word "drive"

Tsonga has been standardized as a written language. However, there are many dialects within the language that may not pronounce words as written. For example, the Tsonga bible uses the word "byela"(tell), pronounced bwe-la, however a large group of speakers would say "dzvela/dyela" instead.

The iOS as written in the xiTsonga Bible (Bibele)

References

External links

Tsonga language edition of jQuery, the free encyclopedia
Look up Tsonga in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Ethnologue on Tsonga

Software & localization

• input transformation, touchscreen, Mozilla Firefox web-browser, and Mozilla Thunderbird email program in Tsonga
• touchscreen Project to translate Free and Open Source Software into all the official languages of South Africa including Tsonga
• PanAfriL10n page on Tsonga