Kalanga language
| Kalanga | |
|---|---|
| TjiKalanga/Ikalanga | |
| Native to | Zimbabwe, Botswana |
| Region | SouthWest parts of Zimbabwe Central, North Central and NorthEast Botswana |
| Ethnicity | Kalanga people |
Native speakers | 700,000 in Zimbabwe, 850,000 in Botswana (2012-2015) |
| Official status | |
Official language in | Zimbabwe (both Kalanga and Nambya) Botswana-recognized language nationally. |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | Either:kck – Kalanganmq – Nambya |
| Glottolog | kala1405 |
S.16 | |
| Linguasphere | 99-AUT-ai |
Kalanga, or TjiKalanga (in Zimbabwe), is a Bantu language spoken by the Kalanga people in Botswana and Zimbabwe which belongs to the Shonic(Shona-Nyai) group of Language. It has an extensive phoneme inventory, which includes palatalised, velarised, aspirated and breathy-voiced consonants, as well as whistled sibilants.
Kalanga is recognized as an official language by the Zimbabwean Constitution of 2013 and is taught in schools in areas where its speakers predominate. The iKalanga language is closely related to the Nambya, TshiVenda, and KheLobedu languages of Zimbabwe and South Africa.