Central Kilimanjaro, or Central Chaga, is a
Bantu language of
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 ...
spoken by the
Chaga people
The Chaga or Chagga () are a Bantu ethnic group from Kilimanjaro Region of Tanzania and Arusha Region of Tanzania. They are the third-largest ethnic group in Tanzania. They founded the now former sovereign Chagga states on the slopes of Mou ...
.
There are several dialects:
*
Moshi (Old Moshi, Mochi, ''Kimochi'')
* Uru
* Mbokomu
* Wuunjo (Wunjo, Vunjo, ''Kivunjo''), including Kiruwa, Kilema, Mamba, Moramu (Marangu), Mwika
Moshi is the language of the Chaga cultural capital,
Moshi, and the
prestige dialect
Prestige in sociolinguistics is the level of regard normally accorded a specific language or dialect within a speech community, relative to other languages or dialects. Prestige varieties are language or dialect families which are generally c ...
of the
Chaga languages
Chaga, also ''Kichaga'' or ''Kichagga'', is a Bantu dialect continuum spoken by the Chaga people of northern Tanzania, south of Mount Kilimanjaro
Mount Kilimanjaro () is a dormant volcano in Tanzania. It is the highest mountain in Africa ...
.
Phonology
Vowels
Consonants
* Sounds /k, ᵑɡ, l/ become palatalized as
ʲ, ᵑɡʲ, lʲwhen occurring before front vowels /i, e/.
* /w/ is heard as a fricative
²when before front vowels /i, e/.
* Sounds /k, ᵑɡ, ɣ, l/ become palatalized as
ʲ, ᵑɡʲ, ɣʲ, lʲwhen occurring before front vowels /i, e/.
* /l/ when palatalized as
ʲcan also have a palatal lateral allophone
Žin the Vunjo dialect.
* /w/ is heard as a fricative
²when before front vowels /i, e/.
Bibliography
*Dalgish, Gerard M. (1978) 'The syntax and semantics of the morpheme ni in kiVunjo (Chaga)', ''Kiswahili'', 48, 1, 42–56.
*Philippson, Gérard (1984) '"Gens des bananeraies" (Tanzanie): contribution linguistique à l'histoire culturelle des Chaga du Kilimanjaro' (Cahier no. 16.) Paris: Editions Recherche sur les civilisations.
References
Languages of Tanzania
Chaga languages
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