Shona , or
chiShona, is a
Bantu language, native to the
Shona people of
Zimbabwe. The term is also used to identify peoples who speak one of the Shona language dialects: Zezuru, Karanga, Manyika and Korekore, sometimes also Ndau. Some researchers include
Kalanga: others recognise it as a language in its own right. Desmond Dale's basic English–Shona and Shona–English dictionaries comprise special vocabulary of the Karanga, Korekore, Manyika and Zezuru dialects, but no Ndau or Kalanga. Shona is a principal language of Zimbabwe, along with
Ndebele and the official business language,
English. Shona is spoken by a large percentage of the people in
Zimbabwe. Other countries that host Shona language speakers include
Botswana and
Mozambique.