All languages- Where it's spoken
- South Africa, with speakers in Eswatini, Lesotho and Zimbabwe
- Speakers
- around 12 million first-language speakers
- Writing system
- Latin alphabet, including the letters c, q and x for click sounds
Zulu is South Africa's most widely spoken home language and opens the door to the rest of the Nguni family, including Xhosa and Siswati.
What makes Zulu different
- c, q and x spell three different clicks — cha (no) starts with a dental click, not a ch sound.
- hl is a breathy side-of-the-tongue sound, so kuhlanu (five) is nothing like English hl.
- Verbs carry the subject as a prefix: ngiyabonga is literally I-am-thanking.
Your first Zulu phrases
Each phrase is written the way it's spelled, then respelled for English speakers with the stressed syllable in capitals.
- SawubonaHello (to one person)/sa-woo-BO-na/
- SanibonaniHello (to many)/sa-nee-bo-NA-nee/
- NgiyabongaThank you/ngee-ya-BON-ga/
- Hamba kahleGoodbye (go well)/HAM-ba KAH-shleh/
- YeboYes/YEH-bo/
- ChaNo/chah/
- NgicelaPlease/ngee-CHEH-la/
- UxoloSorry/oo-KLO-lo/
Want the full list? Read the free Zulu phrasebook with pronunciation, grab the free printable Zulu starter kit, or compare SemaSoma with other African language apps.