| sheKgalagadi | |
|---|---|
| Spoken in | Botswana South Africa Namibia |
| Native speakers | 4000 (date missing) |
| Language family |
Niger–Congo
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | xkv |
| Linguasphere | 99-AUT-eh incl. varieties 99-AUT-eha to 99-AUT-ehc |
SheKgalagari (pronounced [ʃɛkxalaxari] or [ʃɛkxalaxadi] ) is one of the languages spoken in Botswana, along the South African border and in Namibia. SheKgalagari is spoken by about 40,000 people.[1] SheKgalagari is the autoglottonym or name of the language used by its native speakers as defined by the United Nations, Kgalagadi is the heteroglottonym.
SheKgalagari (also known as Kgalagadi, Kgalagarhi, Kgalagari, Khalagari, Khalakadi, Kxhalaxadi, Qhalaxarzi, Shekgalagadi, Shekgalagari) is a language of the Bantu family within the Niger–Congo language phylum. Shekgalagari is specifically found within the Sotho languages branch of Zone S (S.30). Thus, this language is most closely related to Northern Sotho (Sesotho sa Leboa), Tswana (Setswana), Lozi (Silozi) and Sotho (Sesotho/Southern Sotho).
Dialects include Shengologa, Sheshaga, Shebolaongwe, Shelala, Shekhena, Sheritjhauba, and Shekgwatheng.