Mzala Tom
There are many languages spoken in Zimbabwe. Of these, 16 are official — a world record. Other than Shona, Ndebele and English there are more languages spoken all over the country.
Barwe – mainly spoken in the Nyamaropa and Nyakombu districts in Nyanga as well as in the Mazezuru and Mukosa areas of Mudzi.
Chewa/Nyanja – mainly spoken in mining and farming towns. In Harare they are concentrated in Mufakose, Mabvuku and Tafara. In Bulawayo they are concentrated in Sizinda, Matshobana,
Makhokhoba, Njube, Tshabalala and Luveve. The Chewa came as migrant workers from Malawi and Zambia.
Chikunda- mainly spoken in the lower Guruve (Kanyemba and Chikata) and Muzarabani districts.
Doma — mainly spoken in the Chiramba, Koranzi, Chiyambo, Mugoranapanja and Kuhwe areas of the Guruve districts.
Xhosa — mainly spoken in the Mbembesi area near Bulawayo, Fort Rixon, Goromonzi (in Chief Rusike’s area), Msengezi, Marirangwe and Gwatemba. The Xhosa came with Cecil Rhodes when he moved from Cape Town to Bulawayo and worked as cooks, drivers etc.
Kalanga — mainly spoken in Bulilima and Mangwe districts, Nyamandlovu, Kezi, Tsholotsho and Matobo dis-tricts.
Nambya — mainly spoken in Hwange, Tsholotsho and western Lupane. It is closely related to the Kalanga language.
Hwesa — mainly spoken in the northern part of Nyanga district.
Shangani/Tsonga —mainly spoken in Chiredzi district, Beitbridge (Chikwalakwala), Mwenezi (in Chief Chitanga’s area), Zaka (in Chiefs Tshovani and Mutshiphisi’s areas), Mberengwa and
Chipinge (in Gonarezhou). It’s related to the Shangani/Tsonga of South Africa.
Sotho — mainly spoken in Gwanda South (around Manama), Gwanda North (in Chief Nhlamba’s area), Bulil-imamangwe, Beitbridge, Shashe, Muchuchuta, Masera, Siyoka, Kezi and Masema (in the Masvingo district). The Sotho are originally from South Africa.
Tonga — spoken in Binga, Lupane northwest /west, Hwange, Chirundu (Kariba, Nyaminyami and Omay districts), Gokwe South (Simchembu and Nenyunga, Mount Darwin and Mudzi (Goronga,
Mukota and Dendera).It is re-lated to the Tonga spoken in Zambia.
Tswana — spoken in Bulilimamangwe district and Mphoengs (between Ramakgoebana and Simukwe rivers). Batswana came with Mzilikazi to the Zimbabwe plateau. Some Nswazi people who fled to Zimbabwe in 1947 after a clashes with Tshekedi Khama voluntarily returned to Botswana in 2006.
Khoisan/Tshwawo — mainly spoken in Tsholotsho (Maganwini, Sinkente, Phumula and Dombo Masili) and Bulil-imamangwe’s area of Siwowo. These are the original inhabitants of the Zimbabwe plateau. They are related to the Basarwa of Botswana.
Venda — mainly spoken in Beitbridge. It is related to Venda spoken in South Africa.
Sena-mostly spoken in Muzarabani in plantations like Katiyo Tea Estate and other commercial farms and mines. The Sena originally are from Mozambique. They came as migrant workers before independence and others came during the liberation and post-independence civil war in Mozambique.
Ndau — is mainly spoken in eastern Zimbabwe, south of Chipinge and Chimanimani. It is also spoken in the Zambezi valley, in central Mozambique all the way to the coast and in central Malawi.
Ndau is distinct from Shona dialects and Ndau ancestry has Nguni influence.
