FANAGALO 
Also known as
Fanakalo, Fanekolo, Piki, isiPiki, isiKula, Lololo, isiLololo, Pidgin Bantu, Basic Zulu and Silunguboi

Introduction
Fanagalo was established as a lingua franca between between speakers of various languages found in South Africa and was mainly used in mines throughout the country. It can be viewed as a pidgin and is basically simplified version of Zulu (and Xhosa) and related languages with adaptations of modern terms from English, Dutch and Afrikaans. About 70% of the lexicon is from Zulu. It evolved from contact between European settlers and African people especially in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa and later also in Zimbabwe, Mozambique and even Malawi. It is easy to learn this language, yet it is important to note that it is not a artificially-manufactured language.

CLASSIFICATION:
Pidgin based on Zulu
Family: Bantu (or rather Ntu) Language Family
Group: South Eastern Bantu (or rather Ntu)
Subgroup: Nguni

VARIETIES: Fanakalo/Fanagalo (South Africa), Cikabanga (Zambia) and Chilapalapa (Zimbabwe)

Speakers
No first language speakers. Some speakers who use it on mines in Southern Africa.
 

MORE INFORMATION

Pronunciation
General words & phrases
Example of texts

Internet Links
ETHNOLOGUE: Fanagalo
Contact Languages in the Bantu Area - Some information on Fanagalo as contact language
Wikipedia: Fanagalo - Introduction to the language
 


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© J. Olivier (2009)
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