ABSTRACT
South Africa has a population of 43 million (1996 census) with about 80 languages (Department of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology [DACST], 1996). The main languages are the Bantu languages: Ndebele, Swazi, Xhosa and Zulu, which belong to the Nguni sub-family; Pedi, Tswana, and Sotho, which belong to the Sotho subfamily; and two that belong to neitherTsonga and Venda. Also widely spoken are Afrikaans (an “Africanised Dutch”) and English. Each of these languages includes numerous varieties. In addition, there are a number of European languages, Asian languages, religious languages, and urban mixed varieties (Fanakalo, and an urban youth vernacular Flaaitaal/Tsotsitaal/Iscamtho), as well as several African languages spoken by immigrants from neighbouring countries.
