Venda language
Venda, also known as Tshivenḓa, or Luvenḓa, is a Bantu language and an official language of South Africa. The majority of Venda speakers live in South Africa, but there are also speakers in Zimbabwe. During the Apartheid era of South Africa, the bantustan of Venda was set up to cover the Venda speakers of South Africa.
Classification
Venda belongs to the Bantu branch of the Niger-Congo languages.
Geographic distribution
Geographical distribution of Tshivenda in South Africa: proportion of the population that speaks Tshivenda at home.
| 0–20% 20–40% 40–60% |
|
60–80% 80–100% No population |
|
Geographical distribution of Tshivenda in South Africa: density of Tshivenda 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 |
|
Venda is spoken by about 666,000 people in the northern part of South Africa's Limpopo Province, as well as 84,000 people in Zimbabwe.
Writing system
The Venda language uses the Latin alphabet with 5 additional accented letters—there are 4 consonants with circumflex below the letter (ḓ, ḽ, ṋ, ṱ) and an overdot (ṅ). The letters C, J and Q are used only in quoting foreign words and names.
The Venda alphabet
| A a |
B b |
(C c) |
D d |
Ḓ ḓ |
E e |
F f |
|
| G g |
H h |
I i |
(J j) |
K k |
L l |
Ḽ ḽ |
|
| M m |
N n |
Ṋ ṋ |
Ṅ ṅ |
O o |
P p |
(Q q) |
|
| R r |
S s |
T t |
Ṱ ṱ |
U u |
V v |
W w |
|
| X x |
Y y |
Z z |
|
| letter(s) |
value(s) in IPA |
notes |
| a |
[a] |
|
| b |
[b] |
|
| bv |
[b̪v] |
|
| bw |
[bɣw] or [bj] |
Varies by dialect |
| d |
[d] |
|
| dz |
[d͡z] |
|
| dzh |
[d͡ʒ] |
Similar to English "j" |
| dzw |
[d͡zw] |
|
| ḓ |
[d̪] |
|
| e |
[ɛ], [e] |
|
| f |
[f] |
|
| fh |
[ɸ] |
|
| g |
[ɡ] |
|
| h |
[ɦ], [h] |
Pronounced h] before e. |
| hw |
[ɣw] |
|
| i |
[i] |
|
| k |
[kˀ] |
|
| kh |
[kʰ] |
|
| khw |
[kʰw] |
|
| l |
[ɭ] |
|
| ḽ |
[l̪] |
|
| m |
[m], [m̩] |
M is syllabic, [m̩], when the following syllable begins with m. |
| n |
[n], [n̩] |
N is syllabic, when the following syllable begins with n. |
| ng |
[ŋɡ] |
|
| ny |
[ɲ] |
|
| nz |
[nd͡z] |
|
| ṋ |
[n̪] |
|
| ṅ |
[ŋ] |
|
| ṅw |
[ŋw] |
|
| o |
[ɔ], [o] |
|
| p |
[pˀ] |
|
| ph |
[pʰ] |
|
| pf |
[p̪f] |
|
| pfh |
[p̪fʰ] |
|
| r |
[ɾ] |
|
| s |
[s] |
|
| sh |
[ʃ] |
|
| sw |
[ʂ] |
|
| t |
[tˀ] |
|
| th |
[tʰ] |
|
| ts |
[t͡s] |
|
| tsh |
[t͡ʃʰ] |
|
| tsw |
[t͡sw] |
|
| ty |
[c] |
|
| ṱ |
[t̪] |
|
| ṱh |
[t̪h] |
|
| u |
[u] |
|
| v |
[v] |
|
| vh |
[β] |
|
| w |
[w] |
|
| x |
[x] |
Similar to the ch in Scottish 'loch.' |
| y |
[j] |
|
| z |
[z] |
|
| zh |
[ʒ] |
|
| zw |
[ʐ] |
|
Unicode
The extra letters have the following Unicode names
- Ḓ U+1E12 LATIN CAPITAL LETTER D WITH CIRCUMFLEX BELOW
- ḓ U+1E13 LATIN SMALL LETTER D WITH CIRCUMFLEX BELOW
- Ḽ U+1E3C LATIN CAPITAL LETTER L WITH CIRCUMFLEX BELOW
- ḽ U+1E3D LATIN SMALL LETTER L WITH CIRCUMFLEX BELOW
- Ṅ U+1E44 LATIN CAPITAL LETTER N WITH DOT ABOVE
- ṅ U+1E45 LATIN SMALL LETTER N WITH DOT ABOVE
- Ṋ U+1E4A LATIN CAPITAL LETTER N WITH CIRCUMFLEX BELOW
- ṋ U+1E4B LATIN SMALL LETTER N WITH CIRCUMFLEX BELOW
- Ṱ U+1E70 LATIN CAPITAL LETTER T WITH CIRCUMFLEX BELOW
- ṱ U+1E71 LATIN SMALL LETTER T WITH CIRCUMFLEX BELOW
References
- ↑ "Venda | African Tribe". Kruger National Park. http://www.krugerpark.co.za/africa_venda.html. Retrieved 2008-08-10.
External links
Software
 Languages of South Africa |
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| Official |
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| Non-official |
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No native speakers
(sub-cultures and
lingua francas) |
Angloromani · isiCamtho/Tsotsitaal · Gail · IsiNgqumo · Fanagalo
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| Extinct |
Korana · Xiri · ǀXam · ǁXegwi · Seroa · Nǀu
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 Languages of Zimbabwe |
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Dombe · English · Fanagalo · Kalanga · Kunda · Lozi · Manyika · Nambya · Ndau · Northern Ndebele · Nsenga · Nyanja · Shona · Tonga · Tsoa · Tsonga · Tswa · Tswana · Venda · Zimbabwe Sign Language/Zimsign
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