South Ndebele

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South Ndebele

Spoken in

Republic of South Africa
speaker Native speaker 1.09 million, total 2.49 million
Linguistic
classification
Official status
Official language in Republic of South Africa
Language codes
ISO 639 -1

No

ISO 639 -2

nbl

ISO 639-3

nbl

Proportion of Ndebel speakers in South Africa (2011)
Density of Ndebel speakers in South Africa (2011)

Süd-Ndebele (own name: isiNdebele ; also Transvaal Ndebele or Nrebele ) is spoken of about 1.48 million (as of 2015) of the over 15-year-old Ndebele in South Africa , who mainly live in the region of the former homelands KwaNdebele and live in today's South African provinces of Mpumalanga , Gauteng and Limpopo . Until 1994, their territories were in the former Transvaal Province . Another 1.4 million people in the region speak it as a second language . South Ndebele is one of the eleven official languages ​​of South Africa.

There are clear differences to the North Ndebele of the Zimbabwean Ndebele . In most cases the language is called - though of Sotho-Tswana languages and from Venda influenced - Nguni-language classified. Ethnically, the South Ndebele-speaking tribes consider themselves to be members of the Nguni .

History of the amaNdebele

The amaNdebele have been settling as cattle herders in the eastern Transvaal since around 1500. In the early 19th century, under pressure from the Boers and the Mfecane , the amaNdebele separated from the Zulu and first moved north to the area of ​​today's Pretoria , where the name Ndebele came up as a foreign name from neighboring peoples. Part of the Ndebele stayed there. Under King Mabokho (Mapoch) around 1840, they created a system of escape and retreat options. In 1849, 1863 and 1864 the Zuid Afrikaanse Republiek tried in vain to subdue them. In 1882/83, in the so-called Mapoch War, the royal kraal was conquered, the land was devastated or divided among the whites. In 1895 the whole area around Middelburg was annexed , men, women and children were assigned to the settlers as forced laborers for five years. Many became permanent slaves, King Nyabela was released conditionally after 15 years. It was not until 1922 that the impoverished tribe were able to buy back land around the Weltevreden farm and build a new identity-giving king kraal there.

The greater part moved on to what is now Zimbabwe in the early 19th century and subjugated the Shona resident there . The language of the Zimbabwean Ndebele is different from the South Ndebele.

Linguistic particularities

Most African languages ​​know either R or L; both Ndebele languages ​​are languages ​​with L. Some words that are spoken with R in other Bantu languages ​​have an L in Ndebele and are otherwise similar. South Ndebele is also characterized by clicking sounds that are not spoken in Zimbabwe.

Web links

Commons : Süd-Ndebele  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Institute of Race Relations : South Africa Survey 2017 . Johannesburg 2017, p. 74
  2. ↑ a b Entry at ethnologue.com (English), accessed on September 14, 2015
  3. ↑ amaNbedele. Ed. House of World Cultures. Wasmuth, Tübingen 1991, p. 14.
  4. ↑ amaNdebele. Ed. House of World Cultures. Berlin, Wasmuth, Tübingen 1991, p. 18.
  5. ↑ Entry on Ndebele (Zimbabwe) at ethnologue.com (English), accessed on September 14, 2015
  6. ↑ a b Phonology of isiNdebele at salanguages.com (English), accessed on September 14, 2015