Editing Zulu language (section)

==History==
Like [[Xhosa people|Xhosa]] and other [[Nguni people]], The Zulu have lived in South Africa for hundreds of years. The Zulu language possesses several [[Alveolar click|click sounds]] typical of Southern African languages, which are not found in the rest of Africa. The Nguni people have coexisted with other Southern tribes like the San and Khoi.

Zulu, like most indigenous Southern African languages, was not a [[written language]] until the arrival of European missionaries, who documented the language using the [[Latin script]]. The first grammar book of the Zulu language was published in [[Norway]] in 1850 by the Norwegian missionary [[Hans Paludan Smith Schreuder|Hans Schreuder]].<ref>Rakkenes, Øystein (2003) ''Himmelfolket: En Norsk Høvding i Zululand'', Oslo: Cappelen Forlag, pp. 63–65</ref> The first written document in Zulu was a Bible translation that appeared in 1883. In 1901, [[John Dube]] (1871–1946), a Zulu from Natal, created the Ohlange Institute, the first native educational institution in South Africa. He was also the author of ''Insila kaShaka'', the first novel written in Zulu (1930). Another pioneering Zulu writer was [[Rolfes Robert Reginald Dhlomo|Reginald Dhlomo]], author of several historical novels of the 19th-century leaders of the Zulu nation: ''U-Dingane'' (1936), ''U-Shaka'' (1937), ''U-Mpande'' (1938), ''U-Cetshwayo'' (1952) and ''U-Dinizulu'' (1968). Other notable contributors to Zulu literature include [[Benedict Wallet Vilakazi]] and, more recently, [[Oswald Mbuyiseni Mtshali]].

The written form of Zulu was controlled by the Zulu Language Board of [[KwaZulu-Natal]]. This board has now been disbanded and superseded by the [[Pan South African Language Board]]<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.pansalb.org.za/ |title=pansalb.org.za |access-date=17 December 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071217141039/http://www.pansalb.org.za/ |archive-date=17 December 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref> which promotes the use of all eleven official languages of South Africa.