Zulu (isiZulu)

Zulu is one of the official languages of South Africa and is a member of the Bantu/Nguni family of languages. It is spoken by about 9 million people mainly in Zululand and northern Natal in South Africa and also in Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique and Swaziland.

During the early 19th century Christian missionaries, including J W Colenso, S B Stone, H Callaway and Lewis Grant devised a way to write Zulu. The first Zulu Christian booklet Incwadi Yokuqala Yabafundayo was written by Newton Adams, George Newton and Aldin Grout between 1837-8 and explained the spelling of Zulu words and the history of the Old Testament. The first Zulu version of the bible was produced between 1845-1883 and in 1859 L. Grout published the first Zulu grammar book.

Zulu pronunciation

Zulu pronunciation

Sample text in Zulu

Bonke abantu bazalwa bekhululekile belingana ngesithunzi nangamalungelo. Bahlanganiswe wumcabango nangunembeza futhi kufanele baphathane ngomoya wobunye.

A recording of this text by Cynthia Nozwelo

Translation

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.
(Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)

Useful phrases in Zulu

books   Zulu language learning materials

Links

Information about the Zulu language
http://www.cyberserv.co.za/users/~jako/lang/zul.htm

Zulu language lessons
http://zulumaiden.podomatic.com
http://www.solarnet.tv/forum/index.php?board=158.0

A small collection of Zulu phrases
http://my.cybersoup.com/vusezakithi/izilimi.html

Recordings of Zulu sounds
http://isizulu.net/p11n/

Online Zulu dictionaries
http://isizulu.net
http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org/definition/Zulu-english/

Niger-Congo languages

Akan, Bambara, Bamum, Bassa, Bemba, Chichewa, Duala, Ewe, Ewondo, Fula(ni), Ga, Ganda/Luganda, Herero, Igbo, Kinyarwanda, Kirundi, Kpelle, Lingala, Loma, Mandekan, Mende, Ndebele, Northern Sotho, OshiWambo, Shona, Southern Sotho, Swahili, Swati, Tshiluba, Tsonga, Tswana, Tumbuka, Twi, Vai, Venda, Wolof, Xhosa, Yorùbá, Zulu

Other languages written with the Latin alphabet

Learn Chinese Characters with the Omniglot Chinese app