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Article: The language of peace.(languages that are spoken in South Africa)
- Article from:
- Faces: People, Places, and Cultures
- Article date:
- February 1, 2002
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 Carus Publishing Co. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The Republic of South Africa is a collage of cultures and languages. In 1994, the new government recognized 11 official languages spoken by more than 40 million people. Each language has something special to contribute to this emerging democracy.
For thousands of years, South Africa's many groups existed on the land without formal borders or barriers. A variety of languages evolved. Around 1820, the most powerful Zulu king, Shaka, built an empire based on conquest of other peoples. Many people migrated away from kwaZulu (place of the Zulu) during this war-filled time. People settled in new places and their languages evolved separately from Zulu (language of the ...