Sitsonga
/siˈtsɔŋɡa/noun
Sitsonga is the Tsonga language, also commonly called Xitsonga, spoken mainly in southern Africa.
Did you know?The prefix si- is a Bantu language-class marker meaning roughly “language of” or “the language associated with,” a grammatical pattern also visible in names such as Siswati and Sishona.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Bantu
Proto-Bantu
*ki-/ci-
“Reconstructed noun-class prefix associated with languages and related cultural categories”
Bantu language development
Bantu
si-
“A later southern and eastern Bantu reflex used in language names and nouns”
Precolonial period
Tsonga languages
Tsonga
“Ethnonym for Tsonga-speaking peoples; the deeper origin of the ethnonym remains disputed”
19th Century
Southern African English records
Tsonga
“Recorded name for the Tsonga people and their language”
20th Century
Tsonga
siTsonga / Xitsonga
“Established native and standardized names for the Tsonga language”
Modern English
English
Sitsonga
“A name for the Tsonga language, especially in descriptions using its native-language form”