Siswati
/siˈswɑːti/noun
Siswati, also spelled siSwati, is a Bantu language spoken mainly in Eswatini and parts of South Africa.
Did you know?The lowercase-and-uppercase form siSwati preserves its structure: si- is a Bantu noun-class prefix associated with languages, while Swati identifies the people and cultural group.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Bantu
Proto-Bantu
*si-
“Noun-class prefix used in forms referring to languages and related cultural objects”
19th Century
Nguni
Swati
“Name associated with the Swati people and their language”
19th Century
siSwati
siSwati
“The Swati language; literally, the language associated with the Swati people”
20th Century
English
Siswati
“English spelling of the name of the Swati language”
Modern English
English
Siswati
“A Bantu language spoken chiefly in Eswatini and South Africa”