Where Did Your Family’s Xitsonga Come From?

Xitsonga does not stay in one place. It is a language of families who moved, visited, married across borders and kept talking.

Where is Xitsonga spoken?

South Africa’s Census 2022 found Xitsonga is the language spoken most often at home by 17.3% of people in Limpopo, 10.6% in Mpumalanga and 7.0% in Gauteng. Across the border, Minority Rights Group, citing Mozambique’s 2017 census, puts Xichangana/Xitsonga at 9.7% nationally, with Tsonga-speaking communities concentrated in the south, including Gaza province.

Our Xitsonga course adds that the language is also spoken in Zimbabwe and Eswatini, and that South Africa and Mozambique share one written standard, so spelling differences are small. The names change more than the spelling: the same course lists Xitsonga, Changana and Shangaan for the language.

That means a lot of people grew up hearing one kind of Xitsonga at home and another at school, church, work or a cousin’s house.

So we want to hear from you

• Where is your family’s Xitsonga from? A village in Limpopo, a township in Gauteng, Gaza, Maputo, somewhere else?
• Which word does your family say differently from people in another area?
• Do you call it Xitsonga, Xichangana, Shangaan or something else?

Share your answer in the comments. We read them all, and we may use your examples (with permission) when we build new lessons.

Quick facts

• In Census 2022, Xitsonga was the main home language of 17.3% of people in Limpopo, 10.6% in Mpumalanga and 7.0% in Gauteng.
• Minority Rights Group, citing Mozambique’s 2017 census, puts Xichangana/Xitsonga at 9.7%.
• Tsonga-speaking communities in Mozambique are concentrated in the south, including Gaza province.
• The x in Xitsonga is said like the English “sh”.

Words to know

Family words make a good start, because they are the ones you hear first at home.

Our course notes that makwerhu is the traditional word for a sibling of either sex, while buti (brother) and sesi (sister) are common everyday borrowings. Kokwana covers both grandparents.

In everyday conversation

A morning at home, from our Xitsonga family course:

• Avuxeni, n’wananga. Kunjhani? Good morning, my child. How are you?
• Ndzi pfukile, manana. Wena? I’m fine, mother. And you?
• Famba kahle, manana. Ndza ku rhandza. Go well, mother. I love you.

Notice the mother says Kunjhani?, the informal “how are you?” for a child or close friend. For adults, elders or a group, our course uses Minjhani? instead. When you part, the one leaving is told Famba kahle, go well, and the one staying is told Sala kahle, stay well.

To tell us where your family is from, you could start with Ndzi huma e…, I am from… (ndzee HOO-mah eh).

Frequently asked questions

Where is Xitsonga spoken in South Africa?

Mostly in the north-east. In Census 2022 it was the main home language of 17.3% of people in Limpopo, 10.6% in Mpumalanga and 7.0% in Gauteng.

How do you say family in Xitsonga?

Family is ndyangu, said nDYAHN-goo.

Is Xitsonga spoken in Mozambique?

Yes. Minority Rights Group, citing the 2017 census, lists Xichangana/Xitsonga at 9.7% in Mozambique, with Tsonga-speaking communities concentrated in the south, including Gaza province.

Sources for the figures: Stats SA’s Census 2022 release and Minority Rights Group’s Mozambique profile. For more on the cross-border story, read Xitsonga and Xichangana: A Language That Crosses the Limpopo.

Want to see how we teach it? Visit the Xitsonga language page, start a free 5-minute Xitsonga lesson, or get the Xitsonga: Starter Pack (A1) for family words, greetings and everyday phrases.