The speakers of Xhosa refer to themselves as amaXhosa; the language they refer to isiXhosa, while the anglicised corruption of that word (Xhosa) is how the language is commonly known.
As the southernmost of the Nguni languages (including such languages as Zulu, Swati and Northern Ndebele), Xhosa shares certain features and an amount of inter-intelligibility with the others. In a larger sense these languages are also part of the Bantu language group and are, as such, related to many of the languages spoken across Africa as a whole.
In modern times the Xhosa language has, following the various political changes and conflicts in the area, borrowed heavily from both English and Afrikaans.
Under apartheid adult literacy rates were as low as 30% in first-language Xhosa speakers; this rose to 50% by 1996, and there are continuing improvements.
These days Xhosa is used as a teaching language only in primary and some secondary schools, but is displaced by English and Afrikaans by later-secondary and tertiary education even in communities, which are mostly Xhosa-speaking. Xhosa is also taught as a subject for both native and non-native speakers.
Newspapers, magazines, poetry and prose are available in Xhosa. The South Africa Broadcasting Corporation includes radio and television broadcasts in Xhosa; there are films, plays and music also produced in the Xhosa language.
