Nguni

The Nguni languages are a group of Bantu languages, within the wider Niger-Congo family, spoken in southern Africa, mainly South Africa, Zimbabwe and Eswatini, by the Nguni people, whose name traces back to a common ancestor called Mnguni. The group's major languages are Zulu, Xhosa, Ndebele and Swati, and it splits into a larger Zunda subgroup of four languages, including Northern Ndebele, Southern Ndebele, Xhosa and Zulu, and a smaller Tekela subgroup of seven, including Swazi, Bhaca, Hlubi and Phuthi, a division that reflects systematic differences such as z versus t consonants between the two branches. Nguni languages typically have a five-vowel system, high-tone spreading, breathy and aspirated consonants, and, notably in Xhosa, click consonants.