Tonga (''Chitonga''), also known as ''Zambezi'', is a Bantu language primarily spoken by the Tonga people (''Batonga'') who live mainly in the Southern province, Lusaka province Central Province and Western province of

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most central point. Its neighbours are t ...

, and in northern

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and ...

, with a few in

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

. The language is also spoken by the Iwe, Toka and Leya people, and perhaps by the Kafwe Twa (if they are not Ila), as well as many bilingual Zambians and Zimbabweans. In Zambia tonga is taught in schools as first language in the whole of Southern Province, Lusaka and Central Provinces. It is one of the major lingua francas in Zambia, together with Bemba, Lozi and

Nyanja Chewa (also known as Nyanja, ) is a Bantu language spoken in much of Southern, Southeast and East Africa, namely the countries of Malawi , where it is an official language, and Mozambique and Zambia. The noun class prefix ''chi-'' is used for l ...

. The Tonga of Malawi, which is classified by Guthrie as belonging to zone N15, is not particularly close to Zambian Tonga, which is classified as zone M64, and can be considered a separate language. The Tonga-speaking inhabitants are the oldest Bantu settlers, with the Tumbuka, a small ethnic group in the east, in what is now known as Zambia. There are two distinctive dialects of Tonga; Valley Tonga and Plateau Tonga. Valley Tonga is mostly spoken in the

Zambezi The Zambezi River (also spelled Zambeze and Zambesi) is the fourth-longest river in Africa, the longest east-flowing river in Africa and the largest flowing into the Indian Ocean from Africa. Its drainage basin covers , slightly less than hal ...

valley and southern areas of the Batonga (Tonga people) while Plateau Tonga is spoken more around

Monze District Monze District is a district of Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its ...

and the northern areas of the Batonga. Tonga (Chitonga or isiTonga) developed as a spoken language and was not put into written form until missionaries arrived in the area. The language is not standardized, and speakers of the same dialect may have different spellings for the same words once put into written text. At least some speakers have a bilabial nasal click where neighboring dialects have /mw/, as in ''mwana'' 'child' and ''kunwa'' 'to drink'. Maho (2009) removes Shanjo as a separate, and not very closely related, language.

Phonology

Consonants

* /l/ can also be heard as a tap sound �in free variation. * Post-alveolar affricates /t͡ʃ, d͡ʒ, ⁿd͡ʒ/ can also be heard as palatal stops , ɟ, ᶮɟin free variation among dialects. * /w/ can also be heard as a labio-palatal �when occurring before /i/. * /f, v/ can also be heard as glottal fricatives , ɦin the Plateau dialect. * /sʲ, zʲ/ are heard as voiceless and breathy palatal approximants ̊, j̤in the Northern dialects. *

Vowels

Verbs

Tonga or Chitonga follows the standard Bantu language structure. A single word may incorporate a subject-marker, a tense-marker, a direct object, and even an indirect object, combined with the verb root itself.

Tonal system

Tonga is a tonal language, with high and low-toned syllables. The placement of the tones is complex and differs from that of other Bantu languages; for example, a syllable which is low in Tonga may be high in the cognate word in other Bantu languages and vice versa.Goldsmith, John (1984
"Tone and Accent in Tonga"
In Clements, G. N. and John Goldsmith ''Autosegmental Studies in Bantu Tone''. Dordrecht, Foris Publications, p. 48. Several scholars, beginning with A. E. Meeussen in 1963, have tried to discover the rules for where to place the tones. One feature of the tonal system is that high tones tend to get disassociated from their original place and move to the left, as is illustrated in these examples: *''íbúsi'' 'smoke' *''ibusu'' 'flour' In these words, the original high tone of the root ''-sí'' has moved to the prefix ''ibu-'', whereas the low tone of ''-su'' has not affected the prefix. The above example of a noun is relatively easy to explain. However, the tones of the verbal system are more complex. An example of one of the puzzles discussed by both

Meeussen Meeussen is a former Belgian car manufacturer. The brothers Meeussen were car manufacturers between 1955 and 1972. They built a van from a VW Beetle Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota ...

and

Goldsmith A goldsmith is a metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Nowadays they mainly specialize in jewelry-making but historically, goldsmiths have also made silverware, platters, goblets, decorative and servicea ...

can be seen below: *''ndi-la-lang-a'' 'I look at' *''ba-la-lang-a'' 'they look at' *''ndi-la-bon-a'' 'I see' *''ba-lá-bon-a'' 'they see' The high tone on the tense-marker ''la'' in the fourth verb is puzzling. If it comes from the verb root ''bon'', it is hard to see why it does not also appear in the 1st person ''ndi-la-bon-a''. Some scholars, such as

Carter Carter(s), or Carter's, Tha Carter, or The Carter(s), may refer to: Geography United States * Carter, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Carter, Mississippi, an unincorporated community * Carter, Montana, a census-designated place * Carter ...

Carter, Hazel (1971) and (1972). "Morphotonology of Zambian Tonga: Some Developments of Meeussen's System". ''African Language Studies'' 12: 1-30 and 14: 36-52. and

, have analysed Tonga as having both tones and accents (the accents in Tonga being mainly on low-toned syllables). Others, such as Pulleyblank, analyse the same data purely in terms of tonal rules, without the need to introduce accents.

References

External links

Universal Declaration of Human Rights in ChitongaOLAC resources in and about the Tonga languageOLAC resources in and about the Dombe languageChitonga language books
Lubuto Library Special Collections {{Authority control Botatwe languages Languages of Mozambique Languages of Zambia Languages of Zimbabwe Library of Congress Africa Collection related Tonal languages Tone (linguistics)