The Southern Bantu or siNtu languages are a large group of Bantu languages, largely validated in Janson (1991/92). They are nearly synonymous with Guthrie's Bantu zone S, apart from the debated exclusion of Shona and inclusion of Makhuwa. They include all of the major Bantu languages of South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini, and Mozambique, with outliers such as Lozi in Zambia and Namibia, and Ngoni in Zambia, Tanzania and Malawi.

History

Proto-Southern Bantu was first spoken some time during the 2nd millennium CE within the borderland between South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique, where the different Southern Bantu subgroups meet.

Languages

Language groups are followed by their code in the Guthrie classification. Makhuwa languages are included in this tree.