Shona belongs to the Shona Group of Bantu (Guthrie S10). It is spoken by various groups (including Karanga, Makorekore, Manyika, Ndau, and Zezuru), primarily in Zimbabwe but also in western Mozambique (Manyika) and in south central Zambia.
Grimes (1996; citing UBS 1990) estimates 7 million speakers. Horn (personal communication, 1983) reports there are about six million Shona speakers in Zimbabwe. Figures are unavailable for Mozambique and Zambia. Alexandre (1981) states there are at least one million speakers.
Shona is a language of education in Zimbabwe. Numerous newspapers publish in Shona, and a sizable literature exists. Shona is also heard over the radio.
Shona has a standardized orthography.
One set of learning materials will be sufficient for Shona.
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