Swazi language explained

Swazi
Nativename:Swati: siSwati
Pronunciation:in Swati pronounced as /sísʷaːtʼi/
States:Eswatini, South Africa, Lesotho, Mozambique
Speakers:L1

million

Date:2013–2019
Ref:e26
Speakers2:L2

2.4 million (2013)

Familycolor:Niger-Congo
Fam2:Atlantic–Congo
Fam3:Volta-Congo
Fam4:Benue–Congo
Fam5:Bantoid
Fam6:Southern Bantoid
Fam7:Bantu
Fam8:Southern Bantu
Fam9:Nguni
Fam10:Tekela
Script:Latin (Swazi alphabet)
Swazi Braille
Ditema tsa Dinoko
Nation: South Africa
Iso1:ss
Iso2:ssw
Iso3:ssw
Lingua:99-AUT-fe
Guthrie:S.43
Sign:Signed Swazi
Glotto:swat1243
Glottorefname:Swati
Root:Swati (Swazi)
Person:liSwati
People:emaSwati
Language:siSwati
Country:eSwatini

Swazi or siSwati is a Bantu language of the Nguni group spoken in Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) and South Africa by the Swati people. The number of speakers is estimated to be in the region of 4.7 million including first and second language speakers. The language is taught in Eswatini and some South African schools in Mpumalanga, particularly former KaNgwane areas. Siswati is an official language of Eswatini (along with English), and is also one of the twelve official languages of South Africa.[1]

The official term is "siSwati" among native speakers; in English, Zulu, Ndebele or Xhosa it may be referred to as Swazi. Siswati is most closely related to the other Tekela languages, like Phuthi and Northern Transvaal (Sumayela) Ndebele, but is also very close to the Zunda languages: Zulu, Southern Ndebele, Northern Ndebele, and Xhosa.

Dialects

Siswati spoken in Eswatini can be divided into four dialects corresponding to the four administrative regions of the country: Hhohho, Lubombo, Manzini, and Shiselweni.

Siswati has at least two varieties: the standard, prestige variety spoken mainly in the north, centre and southwest of the country, and a less prestigious variety spoken elsewhere.

In the far south, especially in towns such as Nhlangano and Hlatikhulu, the variety of the language spoken is significantly influenced by isiZulu. Many Swazis (plural Swati: emaSwati, singular Swati: liSwati), including those in the south who speak this variety, do not regard it as 'proper' Swazi. This is what may be referred to as the second dialect in the country. The sizeable number of Swazi speakers in South Africa (mainly in the Mpumalanga province, and in Soweto) are considered by Eswatini Swazi speakers to speak a non-standard form of the language.

Unlike the variant in the south of Eswatini, the Mpumalanga variety appears to be less influenced by Zulu, and is thus considered closer to standard Swazi. However, this Mpumalanga variety is distinguishable by distinct intonation, and perhaps distinct tone patterns. Intonation patterns (and informal perceptions of 'stress') in Mpumalanga Swazi are often considered discordant to the Swazi ear. This South African variety of Swazi is considered to exhibit influence from other South African languages spoken close to Swazi.

A feature of the standard prestige variety of Swazi (spoken in the north and centre of Eswatini) is the royal style of slow, heavily stressed enunciation, which is anecdotally claimed to have a 'mellifluous' feel to its hearers.

Phonology

Vowels

Swazi vowels
FrontBack
Closepronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/
Midpronounced as /link/~pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/~pronounced as /link/
Openpronounced as /link/

Consonants

Swazi does not distinguish between places of articulation in its clicks. They are dental (as pronounced as /[ǀ]/) or might also be alveolar (as pronounced as /[ǃ]/). It does, however, distinguish five or six manners of articulation and phonation, including tenuis, aspirated, voiced, breathy voiced, nasal, and breathy-voiced nasal.[2]

Swazi consonants
LabialDental/
Alveolar
LateralPost-
alveolar
VelarGlottal
plain nasalplain nasal
Clickplainpronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/
aspiratedpronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/
breathypronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/
Nasalpronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/~pronounced as /ŋɡ/
Plosiveejectivepronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/
aspiratedpronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/
breathypronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/
implosivepronounced as /link/
Affricatevoicelesspronounced as /tf/pronounced as /link/~pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/
voicedpronounced as /dv/pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/
Fricativevoicelesspronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/
voicedpronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/
Approximantpronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/

The consonants pronounced as //ts k ŋɡ// each have two sounds. pronounced as //ts// and pronounced as //k// can both occur as ejective sounds, pronounced as /[tsʼ]/ and pronounced as /[kʼ]/, but their common forms are pronounced as /[tsʰ]/ and pronounced as /[k̬]/. The sound pronounced as //ŋɡ// differs when at the beginning of stems as pronounced as /[ŋ]/, and commonly as pronounced as /[ŋɡ]/ within words.[3] [4]

Tone

Swazi exhibits three surface tones: high, mid and low. Tone is unwritten in the standard orthography. Traditionally, only the high and mid tones are taken to exist phonemically, with the low tone conditioned by a preceding depressor consonant. Bradshaw (2003) however argues that all three tones exist underlyingly.

Phonological processes acting on tone include:

The depressor consonants are all voiced obstruents other than pronounced as //ɓ//. The allophone pronounced as /[ŋ]/ of pronounced as //ŋɡ// appears to behave as a depressor for some rules but not others.[5]

Orthography

Vowels

Consonants

Labialised consonants

Grammar

Nouns

The Swazi noun (Swati: libito) consists of two essential parts, the prefix (Swati: sicalo) and the stem (Swati: umsuka). Using the prefixes, nouns can be grouped into noun classes, which are numbered consecutively, to ease comparison with other Bantu languages.

The following table gives an overview of Swazi noun classes, arranged according to singular-plural pairs.

ClassSingularPlural
1/2um(u)-ba-, be-
1a/2aØ-bo-
3/4um(u)-imi-
5/6li-ema-
7/8s(i)-t(i)-
9/10iN-tiN-
11/10lu-, lw-tiN-
14bu-, b-, tj-
15ku-
17ku-

Verbs

Verbs use the following affixes for the subject and the object:

Person/
Class
PrefixInfix
1st sing.ngi--ngi-
2nd sing.u--wu-
1st plur.si--si-
2nd plur.ni--ni-
1u--m(u)-
2ba--ba-
3u--m(u)-
4i--yi-
5li--li-
6a--wa-
7si--si-
8ti--ti-
9i--yi-
10ti--ti-
11lu--lu-
14bu--bu-
15ku--ku-
17ku--ku-
reflexive-ti-

Months

Swazi month names
English Swazi/Swati
January Swati: nguBhimbidvwane
February Swati: yiNdlovana
March Swati: yiNdlovulenkhulu
April Swati: nguMabasa
May Swati: yiNkhwekhweti
June Swati: yiNhlaba
July Swati: nguKholwane
August Swati: iNgci
September Swati: iNyoni
October Swati: iMphala
November Swati: Lweti
December Swati: yiNgongoni

Sample text

The following example of text is Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

Swati: Bonkhe bantfu batalwa bakhululekile balingana ngalokufananako ngesitfunti nangemalungelo. Baphiwe ingcondvo nekucondza kanye nanembeza ngakoke bafanele batiphatse futsi baphatse nalabanye ngemoya webuzalwane.[7]

The Declaration reads in English:

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood."[8]

External links

Software

Notes and References

  1. Web site: The NA Approves South African Sign Language as the 12th Official Language - Parliament of South Africa.
  2. Book: Taljaard . P. C. . Handbook of siSwati . Khumalo . J. N. . Bosch . S. E. . 1991 . J.L. van Schaik . Pretoria.
  3. Book: Corum, Claudia W.. An Introduction to the Swazi (Siswati) Language. Bloomington: Indiana University Linguistics. 1991. Indiana University.. 2.7–2.20.
  4. Book: Ziervogel . Dirk . A Grammar of the Swati Language: siSwati . Mabuza . Enos John . J.L. van Schaik . 1976 . Pretoria.
  5. Bradshaw . Mary M. . 2003 . Consonant-tone interaction in Siswati . . 9 . 2 . 277–294 . 11 May 2019 . ko:음성음운형태론연구.
  6. Web site: Swati alphabet, pronunciation, and language . Omniglot . 10 July 2021.
  7. Web site: Universal Declaration of Human Rights - Siswati . Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights . 2020-05-28.
  8. Web site: Universal Declaration of Human Rights . wikisource.org . 20 December 2018.