Lala is a Bantu language of
South Africa, claimed to be extinct in some sources. As of 1999, however, there were still a number of communities of speakers in the coastal regions of the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. Although it is a Tekela Nguni language it is often considered a dialect of
Zulu (a Zunda Nguni language), whereas it differs quite markedly in
phonology and to a degree in
morphology, and with a large portion of its
lexicon derived from
Xhosa (because of Xhosa-medium schooling in the old Natal South Coast) and the
IsiZansi Tekela variety of the lower South Coast.