The
Xhosa language ( or ;
Xhosa: ) is one of the
official languages of South Africa. Xhosa is spoken by approximately 7.6 million people, or about 18% of the South African population. Like most
Bantu languages, Xhosa is a
tonal language; that is, the same sequence of consonants and vowels can have different meanings when said with a rising or falling or high or low intonation. One of the most distinctive features of the language is the prominence of
click consonants; the word "Xhosa" begins with a click.