Makonde, or Kimakonde, is the language spoken by the Makonde, an ethnic group in southeast

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

and northern

Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...

. Makonde is a central

Bantu language The Bantu languages (English: , Proto-Bantu language, Proto-Bantu: *bantʊ̀), or Ntu languages are a language family of about 600 languages of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern, East Africa, Eastern and Southeast Africa, South ...

closely related to Yao. The Matambwe (Matembwe) and Mabiha (Maviha) dialects are divergent, and may not be Makonde. A mosquito-borne viral fever first identified on the Makonde Plateau is named ''

Chikungunya Chikungunya is an infection caused by the chikungunya virus (CHIKV). The disease was first identified in 1952 in Tanzania and named based on the Kimakonde words for "to become contorted". Chikungunya has become a global health concern due to ...

'', which is derived from the Makonde root verb ''kungunyala'' (meaning "that which bends up", "to become contorted," or "to walk bent over"). The derivation of the term is generally falsely attributed to Swahili.

Phonology

The following are the consonants and vowels of the Makonde language:

Vowels

There also tends to be a rising final vowel sound /vv́/ within vowel combinations.

Consonants

References

Rufiji-Ruvuma languages {{Bantu-lang-stub