Shona language

Shona
Native to	Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Botswana
Native speakers	8.3 million, Shona proper (2007) 10.8 million Zezuru, Karanga, Korekore (2000) 15 million incl. Manyika, Ndau (2000–2006)
Language family	Niger–Congo Atlantic–Congo Benue–Congo Southern Bantoid Bantu Shona (S.10) Shona
Dialects	Korekore Zezuru Manyika Karanga Ndau
Writing system	Latin script (Shona alphabet) Shona Braille
Official status
Official language in	Zimbabwe
Language codes
ISO 639-1	sn
ISO 639-2
ISO 639-3	Variously: sna – Zezuru, Karanga, Korekore twl – Tavara (Korekore) mxc – Manyika twx – Tewe (Manyika) ndc – Ndau
Glottolog	core1255  (Core Shona) tawa1270  (Tawara)
Guthrie code	S.11–15
Linguasphere	99-AUT-a = List 99-AUT-aa (standardised Shona)+ 99-AUT-ab (chiKorekore incl. varieties -aba to -abk)+ 99-AUT-ac (chiZezuru -aca..-ack)+ 99-AUT-ad (north chiManyika -ada..-adk)+ 99-AUT-ae (central chiManyika -aea..-aeg)+ 99-AUT-af (chiKaranga -afa..-aff)+ 99-AUT-ag (chiNdau -aga..-age)+ 99-AUT-ah (chiShanga)+ 99-AUT-ai (chiKalanga)+ 99-AUT-aj (chiNambya -aja..-ajc)+ 99-AUT-ak (chiLilima -aka..-akf)
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Shona /ˈʃoʊnə/, or chiShona, is the most widely first spoken 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 , Mozambique and of late South Africa due to influx of economical refugees fleeing the economic crisis in Zimbabwe.There are an estimated +/- 3 million Zimbabweans in South Africa of which more than half of them are Shona speakers.

Shona is the most spoken Bantu language by the criterion of number of native speakers. According to Ethnologue, Shona, comprising the Karanga, Zezuru, and Korekore dialects, is spoken by about 10.8 million people. The Manyika and Ndau dialects of Shona are listed separately by Ethnologue, and are spoken by 1,025,000 and 2,380,000 people, respectively. The total figure of Shona speakers is then about 14.2 million people. Zulu is the second most widely spoken Bantu language with 10.3 million speakers according to Ethnologue.