Symbols
61Click a symbol to copy it and open its page.
Ronga alphabet
Plain Latin letters, no accents. x is read like English sh (Xironga), and sounds such as ny and hl are written with two letters.
Apostrophe and punctuation
The apostrophe belongs inside words such as n'wana (child); the other marks follow Portuguese and English practice.
Where it's spoken
Maputo, Matola and the land around Maputo Bay in southern Mozambique; about 1.1 million speakers by CLDR's estimate. Prices are in meticais, written MT: the metical has no Unicode sign.
Ronga in emoji
🎸 marrabenta, the guitar music of Maputo, sung largely in Ronga and Changana.
On the map
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The Ronga alphabet
Ronga uses the Latin script, but its standardized orthography includes multiletter spellings such as zr, tsr and dzr, plus apostrophized consonants such as n’; these are not all shown in the basic-letter grid. The Latin letters and apostrophe can be typed on ordinary Portuguese or English keyboards.
The vowels a e i o u are read much as in Portuguese or Italian. Ronga is a tonal Bantu language, but everyday spelling does not mark tone, so careful Ronga writing still needs no accents.
The letter that surprises newcomers is x: in Ronga, as in the other languages of southern Mozambique, it stands for the sound English writes sh. The standardized spelling of the language name is Xizronga, and Maputo also has a market called Xipamanine. Other sounds are written with two letters built from the plain ones in the grid, such as ny for the sound of Spanish ñ and hl for a breathy l, close to Welsh ll.
The apostrophe in Ronga words
Ronga shares with Tsonga a spelling that puts an apostrophe inside a word: n'wana, a child. Here the apostrophe marks the velar nasal n’ before w; it is part of the spelling, not a quotation mark.
On a keyboard the straight apostrophe ' is the key next to Enter on US layouts; phones and word processors often turn it into the curly ’, and both are in the grid. On Windows the curly one is Alt0146 on the number pad, on a Mac OptionShift], and in HTML ’.
Other punctuation follows Portuguese practice in Mozambique: the comma, full stop, ? and ! and the curly quotes “ ” and ‘ ’. On Windows the double quotes are Alt0147 and Alt0148; on a Mac Option[ and OptionShift[.
Where the Ronga language is spoken
Ronga is the language of the far south of Mozambique : the capital Maputo, its neighbour Matola and the countryside around Maputo Bay, the old Delagoa Bay. CLDR, Unicode's locale data, estimates about 1.1 million speakers. In the city it lives side by side with Portuguese, the official language, and with Changana, its close relative from the provinces to the north.
Linguists group Ronga with Tsonga (Changana) and Tswa in the Tswa-Ronga branch of southern Bantu, numbered S54 in Guthrie's classification. Speakers of the three understand a great deal of each other's speech, but Ronga has its own words and sounds and is counted among Mozambique's national languages.
Money is written the Mozambican way: the metical has no Unicode sign and is written MT, as in 100 MT. Mozambique has its own collection here with its flag and emoji, and so do the neighbouring languages: Tsonga, Portuguese, Swati, Zulu, Sena and Ndau.
Ronga in emoji and song
The guitar stands for marrabenta, the dance music born in the suburbs of Maputo in the colonial era. Its classic singers, Fany Mpfumo among them, sang in Ronga and other local languages of the south, and the songs are still the sound of weddings and parties in the capital.
For everything else, the flag after a name or a place is a common addition to show where someone writes from, and a well-known Ronga word, kanimambo, thank you, is heard across the country and has become the name of Mozambican restaurants as far away as Portugal.
How to use them
5 situationsClick to copyRonga Language combos
7Worth knowing
- Ronga needs nothing beyond a standard keyboard: no accented letter, only the apostrophe inside words such as n'wana.
- The x in Xironga, Xipamanine and Xai-Xai is read like English sh, a spelling shared by the languages of southern Mozambique.
- In the 1890s the Swiss missionary Henri-Alexandre Junod wrote a grammar of Ronga, and his later book The Life of a South African Tribe remains a classic ethnography of the Thonga (Tsonga) and Ronga peoples of southern Mozambique.
- Kanimambo, Ronga for thank you, has travelled far beyond the language: it is the name of Mozambican restaurants and lodges abroad.
Questions people ask
7What is the Ronga language?
Ronga, called Xironga by its speakers, is a Bantu language of southern Mozambique, closely related to Tsonga (Changana) and Tswa. CLDR estimates about 1.1 million speakers.
Where is the Ronga language spoken?
In the far south of Mozambique: Maputo city, Matola and the surrounding Maputo province around Maputo Bay.
What does kanimambo mean?
Thank you. It is a well-known Ronga word and is understood throughout southern Mozambique.
What is the Ronga alphabet?
Ronga uses the Latin script; its standardized alphabet includes spellings such as zr, tsr and dzr, as well as apostrophized consonants such as n’.
How do you pronounce x in Xironga?
Like English sh: Xironga sounds like shi-RON-ga. The same x appears in Mozambican names such as Xipamanine and Xai-Xai.
Is Ronga the same as Tsonga?
No, but they are close relatives. Ronga, Tsonga (Changana) and Tswa form the Tswa-Ronga group, and their speakers understand much of each other's speech.
Is Ronga an official language of Mozambique?
Portuguese is the only official language; Ronga is one of the national languages, used in bilingual schooling, radio and church.
