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| | {{ethnic group| | | {{ethnic group| |
| − | |group=Xhosa | + | |group=Shona |
| − | |image=[[Image:Nelson_Mandela.jpg]] | + | |image= |
| − | [[Nelson Mandela]] is a famous Xhosa-speaker.
| + | |poptime= c12,000,000{{fact}} |
| − | |poptime=2001: '''7.9 million''' est. <sup>[[#References|1]]</sup> | + | |popplace=[[Zimbabwe]], [[Mozambique]] |
| − | |popplace=[[Eastern Cape Province|Eastern Cape]]: '''5.4 million''', | + | |rels=[[Christianity]], other |
| − | [[Western Cape Province|Western Cape]]: '''1.1 million''', | + | |langs=[[Shona]], [[English language|English]], [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] |
| − | [[Gauteng Province|Gauteng]]: '''0.7 million''',
| + | |related=other [[Bantu]] peoples |
| − | [[Free State Province|Free State]]: '''0.25 million''', | |
| − | [[Kwazulu-Natal Province|Kwazulu-Natal]]: '''0.22 million'''
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| − | (2001 est. <sup>[[#References|1]]</sup>)
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| − | |langs=[[Xhosa language|Xhosa]], many also speak [[English language|English]] or [[Afrikaans language|Afrikaans]]. | |
| − | |rels=[[Animist]], [[Christian]]
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| − | |related=[[Bantu]], [[Nguni]], [[Basotho]], [[Zulu]], [[Khoisan]] | |
| | }} | | }} |
| | + | '''Shona''' ([[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]]: {{IPA|[ʃona]}}) is the name collectively given to several groups of people in [[Zimbabwe]] and western [[Mozambique]]. Numbering about eight million people, who speak a range of related dialects whose standardised form is also known as [[Shona language|Shona]]. They also speak official languages of their respective countries: [[English language|English]] in Zimbabwe and [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] in Mozambique. Shona are [[Christianity|Christians]], whether [[Roman Catholicism|Roman Catholics]] or [[Protestantism|Protestants]] in both Mozambique and Zimbabwe, or part-Christian, part-[[animism|animist]]-African in Zimbabwe. |
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| − | The '''Xhosa''' ([[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]] pronunciation: {{IPA|/ko'sɑ, -zə/}}) people are a group of peoples of [[Bantu]] origins living in south-east [[South Africa]], and in the last two centuries throughout the southern and central southern parts of the country.
| + | However, many Zimbabweans do not self-identify as Shona, preferring instead to describe their origin in terms of their specific language/dialect group (e.g., [[Zezuru]]) or ancestry group (e.g., [[Rozvi]] / [[Rozwi]] / ba[[Rotse]]). Ancestors of today's Shona groups (the [[Gokomere]] people) are believed to have been the first permanent inhabitants of the region where the [[Great Zimbabwe]] site was later established, with archaeological evidence of Iron Age occupation in the 5th century AD. |
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| | + | Most Zimbabweans identify themselves as either belonging to the ama[[Ndebele]] or maShona ethnic group. Dialect groups are nowadays almost irrelevant because 'standard' Shona is spoken throughout Zimbabwe. Dialects only help to identify which town or village a person is from (e.g. a person claiming to be a Manyika would be from Eastern Zimbabwe, ie. towns like Mutare). The above differences in dialects developed during the dispersion of tribes across the country over a long time. The influx of immigrants, into the country from boardering countries, has obviously contributed to the variety. |
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| − | ==History of the Xhosa==
| + | The Shona people of today are a scattered group of tribes, which are made of several clans; each clan has a very strong sense of unity infact, most Shona people identify with their own clans then the entire Shona people. |
| − | The Xhosa are part of the southern [[Nguni]] migration which slowly moved south from the region around the [[African_Great_Lakes|Great Lakes]]; based on linguistic and archeological evidence, the ancestors of the Xhosa are likely to have arrived in South Africa around 1500 years ago. [http://www.museums.org.za/sh/arch/earlyaf.htm]
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| − | The name Xhosa refers to a specific tribal leader, called uXhosa, from whom the Xhosa clan descend. They refer to themselves as the '''amaXhosa''' and their language as [[Xhosa language|isiXhosa]], a [[Bantu]] language. Xhosa society was historically viewed as an 'open' society, because of its readiness to learn from, trade and interact with other societies. This included the incorporation or absorption of entire [[Khoi]] and [[Griqua]] cultural groups into Xhosa communities, often through marriage, and the wholesale adoption of [[Khoisan]] [[loanwords]] into Xhosa vocabulary.
| + | A small group of Shona speaking migrants of the late 1800s also live in Zambia, in the Zambezi valley, in Chieftainess Chiawa's area. |
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| − | The Xhosa people split in the eighteenth century as the result of a succession dispute between chiefs. The two branches of the group are known as the Gcaleka and the Rharhabe or Ngqika. The name Xhosa is also often used to refer to anyone from a number of different Xhosa-speaking ethnic groups that includes the [[Pondo]] and Thembu, neighbours of the Xhosa people, and the Mfengu people, who are descendants of scattered clans who were displaced during the [[mfecane]] (an enormous upheaval of southern African peoples in the early nineteenth century, resulting in an internal [[diaspora]]). | + | The shona are farmers that grow rice, beans, peanuts, corn, different types of grass, pumpkins, and sweetpotatoes. |
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| − | Although presently at least 8 million Xhosa people are distributed across the country, the population is concentrated in the [[Eastern Cape]] province of South Africa. The pre-1994 South African system of [[bantustan]]s attempted to confine Xhosa people to the nominally self-governing 'homelands' of [[Transkei]] or [[Ciskei]], now both a part of the Eastern Cape Province.
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| − | The Xhosa and white settlers first encountered one another around [[Somerset East]] in the early 1700s. In the late 1700s [[Afrikaner]] [[trekboer]]s migrating outwards from Cape Town came into conflict with Xhosa pastoralists around the [[Great Fish River]] region of the [[Eastern Cape]]. Following [[Cape Frontier Wars|more than 20 years of intermittent conflict]], in 1811 to 1812 the Xhosas were forced east by [[British Empire|British]] colonial forces in the [[Third Frontier War]].
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| − | In the years following, many Xhosa-speaking clans were pushed west by expansion of the [[Zulu]]s, as the northern [[Nguni]] put pressure on the southern Nguni as part of the historical process known as the [[mfecane]], or "scattering". Xhosa unity and ability to resist colonial expansion was further weakened by the [[famine]]s and political divisions that followed the[[History of Cape Colony from 1806 to 1870#The Great amaXhosa Famine| cattle-killing movement of 1856]]. Historians now view this movement as a [[millenialism|millenialist]] response both directly to a lung disease spreading among Xhosa cattle at the time, and less directly to the stress to Xhosa society caused by the continuing loss of their territory and autonomy. At least one historian has also suggested that it can be seen as a rebellion against the upper classes of Xhosa society, which used cattle as a means of consolidating wealth and political power, and which had lost respect as they failed to hold back white expansion.{{cn}}
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| − | Some historians argue that this early absorption into the wage economy is the ultimate origin of the long history of trade union membership and political leadership among Xhosa people. That history manifests itself today in high degrees of Xhosa representation in the leadership of the [[African National Congress]], South Africa's ruling political party.
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| − | ==Local environment==
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| − | The Xhosa settled on mountain slopes of the Amatola and the Winterberg Mountains. Many streams drain into great rivers of this Xhosa territory including the Kei and Fish River. Rich soils and plentiful rainfall make the river basins good for farming and grazing making cattle important and the basis of wealth. Traditional foods include [[sorghum]], [[maize]], [[milk]], [[pumpkins]], [[beans]], [[vegetables]], and ''umphokoqo'', or dry maize porridge. [[Tobacco]] is an important crop in this area.
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| − | ==Language==
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| − | :''Main article: [[Xhosa language]]''
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| − | In [[South Africa]], the Xhosa-speaking people form the second largest language group (after [[Zulu]], to which the Xhosa language is very closed related). Among a wide variety of common speech sounds, the Xhosa language famously contains a variety of consonantal 'click' sounds, which have been borrowed from now extinct [[Khoisan]] languages of the region.
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| − | Xhosa has three basic click consonants: a dental (front) click, written with the letter 'c', e.g. ''icici'' 'earring' (very similar to the English tut-tut sound of disapproval); a palatal (top click), written with the letter 'q', e.g. ''iqaqa'' 'skunk' (similar to the imitation of a bottle being decorked); and a lateral (side) click, written with the letter 'x', e.g. ''xoxa'' 'discuss'. Each click can be used in up to six contrastive forms (each one is a completely separate consonant in Xhosa), e.g. c (plain), ch (aspirated), gc (voiced), nc (nasalised), ngc (nasalised voiced), nkc (nasalised, velarised). By contrast, Xhosa has five straightforward Spanish-type vowels (a, e, i, o, u).
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| − | ==Religion==
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| − | Traditional Xhosa culture includes [[diviners]], who serve as herbalists, prophets, and healers for the community. This job is mostly taken by women, who spend five years as an apprentice. Many Xhosa people are [[Christian]], particularly within the African Initiated Churches such as the [[Zion Christian Church]].
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| − | ==Oral tradition==
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| − | The key figure in the Xhosa oral tradition is the ''imbongi'' (plural: ''iimbongi'') or praise singer. ''Iimbongi'' traditionally live close to the chief’s 'great place' (the cultural and political focus of his activity); they accompany the chief on important occasions - the ''imbongi'' Zolani Mkiva preceded [[Nelson Mandela]] at his Presidential inauguration in 1994. Iimbongi's poetry praises the chief’s actions and best features, and may also criticise the chief if aspects of his reign or government are unpopular.
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| − | == Headline text ==
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| − | == Headline text ==
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| − | == Headline text ==
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| − | IM BORED LALALALALALA SUP.?
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| − | ==Famous Xhosa people==
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| − | [[Nelson Mandela]] is a Xhosa-speaking member of the Thembu people.
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| − | Other famous Xhosa speakers include:
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| − | *[[Amampondo]]
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| − | *[[Stephen Biko]]
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| − | *[[Fats Bookulane]]
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| − | *[[Brenda Fassie]]
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| − | *[[Ken Gampu]]
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| − | *[[Chris Hani]]
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| − | *[[General Bantu Holomisa]]
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| − | *[[Archibald Campbell Jordan]]
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| − | *[[John Kani]]
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| − | *[[Winnie Madikizela-Mandela]]
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| − | *[[Miriam Makeba]]
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| − | *[[Govan Mbeki]]
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| − | *[[Thabo Mbeki]]
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| − | *[[S.E.K. Mqhayi]]
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| − | *[[Victoria Mxenge]]
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| − | *[[Bongani Ndodana]]
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| − | *[[Bulelani Ngcuka]]
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| − | *[[Makhaya Ntini]]
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| − | *[[Winston Ntshona]]
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| − | *[[Percy Qoboza]]
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| − | *[[Walter Sisulu]]
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| − | *[[Robert Sobukwe]]
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| − | *[[Enoch Sontonga]]
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| − | *[[Oliver Tambo]]
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| − | *[[Zwelithini Tunyiswa]]
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| − | *[[Desmond Tutu]]
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| − | *[[Ashley Buti]]
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| | ==See also== | | ==See also== |
| − | *Reverend [[Henry Hare Dugmore]], the first translator of the [[Christian]] [[bible]] and [[psalms]] into Xhosa | + | *[[Mbira#Mbira_Dzevadzimu|Mbira Dzevadzimu]] |
| − | *[[Partners Across The Ocean]] Ashley Buti | + | *[[Shona music]] |
| − | | + | *[[Shona language]] |
| − | ==References==
| + | *[[Bantu language]] |
| − | * [http://www.southafrica.info/ess_info/sa_glance/demographics/census-main.htm Results of the 2001 South African census] | + | *[[Zimbabwe]] |
| − | ::Note that the figure mentioned on this page is based upon the number of people speaking [[Xhosa language|Xhosa]] as their home language, which may be greater or less than the total number of people claiming Xhosa descent. In addition, several million people in the Johannesburg-Soweto region speak Xhosa or [[Zulu]] as a second or third language. For a majority of these, the two languages become difficult to distinguish (unsurprising given the extreme closeness of their linguistic relationship).
| + | *[[Great Zimbabwe]] |
| − | * Reader, J., 1997. ''[[Africa]]: A Biography of the Continent'', Vintage Books, [[New York]], NY, United States of America. | + | *[[Gokomere]] |
| − | * Kaschula, Russell ''[[The Heritage Library of African People]]: Xhosa,'' New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc., 1997. | + | *[[Matabele]] |
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| − | ==External links==
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| − | {{interwiki|code=xh}}
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| − | *[http://www.statssa.gov.za/census2001/digiAtlas/index.html 2001 Digital Census Atlas] | |
| − | * [http://www.sacred-texts.com/afr/xft/ Xhosa Folklore] - a collection of Xhosa folklore collected in 1886.
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| − | * [http://www.google.com/intl/xh/ Xhosa Google] - Google interface in Xhosa
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| − | [[Category:Xhosa|*]]
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| − | [[Category:Ethnic groups in South Africa]] | |
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| − | {{Ethnic Groups South Africa}}
| + | [[Category:Ethnic groups in Zimbabwe]] |
| | + | [[Category:Ethnic groups in Mozambique]] |
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| − | [[da:Xhosa-folket]] | + | [[sh:Šona (narod)]] |
| − | [[de:Xhosa (Volk)]]
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| − | [[es:Xhosa]]
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| − | [[gl:Xhosa]]
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| − | [[it:Xhosa]]
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| − | [[nl:Xhosa (volk)]]
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| − | [[pt:Xhosa]]
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| − | [[sh:Xhosa]]
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| − | [[fi:Xhosat]]
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| − | [[sv:Xhosa]]
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Shona (IPA: [ʃona]) is the name collectively given to several groups of people in Zimbabwe and western Mozambique. Numbering about eight million people, who speak a range of related dialects whose standardised form is also known as Shona. They also speak official languages of their respective countries: English in Zimbabwe and Portuguese in Mozambique. Shona are Christians, whether Roman Catholics or Protestants in both Mozambique and Zimbabwe, or part-Christian, part-animist-African in Zimbabwe.
However, many Zimbabweans do not self-identify as Shona, preferring instead to describe their origin in terms of their specific language/dialect group (e.g., Zezuru) or ancestry group (e.g., Rozvi / Rozwi / baRotse). Ancestors of today's Shona groups (the Gokomere people) are believed to have been the first permanent inhabitants of the region where the Great Zimbabwe site was later established, with archaeological evidence of Iron Age occupation in the 5th century AD.
Most Zimbabweans identify themselves as either belonging to the amaNdebele or maShona ethnic group. Dialect groups are nowadays almost irrelevant because 'standard' Shona is spoken throughout Zimbabwe. Dialects only help to identify which town or village a person is from (e.g. a person claiming to be a Manyika would be from Eastern Zimbabwe, ie. towns like Mutare). The above differences in dialects developed during the dispersion of tribes across the country over a long time. The influx of immigrants, into the country from boardering countries, has obviously contributed to the variety.
The Shona people of today are a scattered group of tribes, which are made of several clans; each clan has a very strong sense of unity infact, most Shona people identify with their own clans then the entire Shona people.
A small group of Shona speaking migrants of the late 1800s also live in Zambia, in the Zambezi valley, in Chieftainess Chiawa's area.
The shona are farmers that grow rice, beans, peanuts, corn, different types of grass, pumpkins, and sweetpotatoes.
See also
sh:Šona (narod)
