Bena–Kinga Languages
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Bena–Kinga Languages
The Northeast Bantu languages are a group of Bantu languages spoken in East Africa. In Guthrie classification of Bantu languages, Guthrie's geographic classification, they fall within Bantu zones E50 plus E46 (Sonjo), E60 plus E74a (Taita), F21–22, J, G60, plus Northeast Coast Bantu (of zones E & G).Derek Nurse, 2003, ''The Bantu Languages'' Some of these languages (F21, most of E50, and some of J) share a phonological innovation called Dahl's law that is unlikely to be borrowed as a productive process, though individual words reflecting Dahl's law have been borrowed into neighboring languages. The languages, or clusters, are: *Northeast Bantu languages **Kikuyu–Kamba Thagiicu languages, Thagiicu (primarily E50): ***Sonjo language, Sonjo (E40) ***Cuka language, Cuka ***Meru language, Meru (incl. Tharaka, Mwimbi-Muthambi) ***South ****Kamba language, Kamba, Daisu language, Daisu ****Gikuyu language, Gikuyu, Embu language, Embu **Chaga–Taita ***Taita language, Taita (Dawida ...
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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 the south; Zambia to the southwest; and Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west. According to a 2024 estimate, Tanzania has a population of around 67.5 million, making it the most populous country located entirely south of the equator. Many important hominid fossils have been found in Tanzania. In the Stone and Bronze Age, prehistoric migrations into Tanzania included South Cushitic languages, Southern Cushitic speakers similar to modern day Iraqw people who moved south from present-day Ethiopia; Eastern Cushitic people who moved into Tanzania from north of Lake Turkana about 2,000 and 4,000 years ago; and the Southern Nilotic languages, Southern Nilotes, including the Datooga people, Datoog, who originated fro ...
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Sonjo Language
Sonjo, or Temi, is a Bantu language spoken in northern Tanzania, west of Lake Natron. Ethnolinguistically, it is a displaced member of Guthrie’s E50 group, most other members of which are found in Central Kenya. Within that group, it is most closely related to Gikuyu. The Sonjo people number about 30,000 (2002 SIL); many of them are bilingual in Swahili, the local language of education. Sonjo is largely undescribed. The Sonjo have lived for centuries as an isolated enclave in Maasai territory. They are known for their use of irrigation systems in agriculture, a rare trait which causes some historians to link them to the hitherto unexplained ruined irrigation systems of Engaruka, to the southeast. The term ''Sonjo'' is the name given to the people by the Maasai; they call themselves ''batɛmi'' (sg. ''motɛmi'') and their language ''ketɛmi''. Apart from inevitable Maasai (Eastern Nilotic) influence, Sonjo shows influence from Chaga (Bantu E40), various Southern Cushitic ...
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Nyamwezi Language
Nyamwezi is a major Bantu language of central Tanzania. It forms a dialect continuum A dialect continuum or dialect chain is a series of Variety (linguistics), language varieties spoken across some geographical area such that neighboring varieties are Mutual intelligibility, mutually intelligible, but the differences accumulat ... with Sukuma, but is more distinct from it. Konongo and Ruwila are sometimes considered dialects. Phonology Consonants * Prenasalized voiceless stops p ⁿtmay also frequently occur, as a result of loan words. * Nasal sounds /m ŋ/ may also occur as labialized ʷ ŋʷ Vowels Tones Tones present in Nyamwezi are high /v́/, low /v̀/, and rising /v̌/. Sample text ''Banhu bose bubyalagwa biyagalulile, n'ikujo haki zilenganelile. Banhu bose bina masala na wiganiki, hu kuyomba ihayilwe bitogwe giti bana ba mbyazi bumo.'' All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and ...
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Sukuma Language
Sukuma is a Bantu language of Tanzania, spoken in an area southeast of Lake Victoria between Mwanza, Shinyanga, and Lake Eyasi. Dialects Dialects (''KɪmunaSukuma'' in the west, ''GɪmunaNtuzu/GɪnaNtuzu'' in the northeast, and ''Jìnàkɪ̀ɪ̀yâ/JimunaKɪɪyâ'' in the southeast) are easily mutually intelligible. Language identity It is reported that although Sukuma is very similar to Nyamwezi, speakers themselves do not accept that they make up a single language. Phonology There are seven vowel qualities, which occur long and short:Rahma Muhdhar, 2006, ''Verb Extensions in Kisukuma, Jinakiiya dialect'', MS dissertation, UDSM , which are written , may be closer to , and may be closer to . Sukuma has gone through Dahl's Law (''ɪdàtʊ́'' 'three', from Proto-Bantu ''-tatʊ'') and has voiceless nasal consonants. It is not clear whether should better be considered as stops or affricates as or whether they are even palatal. Syllables are V or CV. There are fou ...
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Takama Languages
The Takama or Sukuma-Nyamwezi languages are a group of Northeast Bantu languages spoken south of Lake Victoria in north-central Tanzania. History The Proto-Takama homeland was somewhere along the west of the Wembere River . Classification The Takama languages are classified by Glottolog as follows:https://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/suku1274 *Takama **Nyamwezic *** Kimbu *** Konongo-Ruwila ***Nyamwezi *** Sukuma **Sumbwa The Sumbwa are Bantu group native to Bukombe District, Geita Region in central 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 n ... {{Tree list/end References Northeast Bantu languages Languages of Tanzania ...
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Swahili Language
Swahili, also known as as it is referred to endonym and exonym, in the Swahili language, is a Bantu languages, Bantu language originally spoken by the Swahili people, who are found primarily in Tanzania, Kenya, and Mozambique (along the East African coast and adjacent littoral islands). Estimates of the number of Swahili speakers, including both native and second-language speakers, vary widely. They generally range from 150 million to 200 million; with most of its native speakers residing in Tanzania and Kenya. Swahili has a significant number of loanwords from other languages, mainly Arabic, as well as from Portuguese language, Portuguese, English language, English and German language, German. Around 40% of Swahili vocabulary consists of Arabic loanwords, including the name of the language ( , a plural adjectival form of an Arabic word meaning 'of the coasts'). The loanwords date from the era of contact between Arab slave trade, Arab traders and the Northeast Bantu languages, B ...
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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 and the highest free-standing mountain above sea level in the world, at above sea level and above its plateau base. It is also the highest volcano i .... They also speak 9 dialects: Kivunjo, Kimarangu, Kirombo, Kimachame, Kisiha, Kikibosho, Kiuru, Kioldimoshi and Kingassa. The Chaga languages are:Maho (2009) * West Kilimanjaro (West Chaga), including Meru and Machame * Central Kilimanjaro (Central Chaga), including Mochi (Old Moshi) and Wunjo * Rombo * Rusha (Arusha-Chini) * Kahe * Gweno References Languages of Tanzania {{Tanzania-stub ...
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Sagalla Language
Taita is a Bantu language spoken in the Taita Hills of Kenya. It is closely related to the Chaga languages of Kenya and Tanzania. The Saghala (Northern Sagala, Sagalla) variety is distinct enough to be considered a language separate from the Daw'ida and Kasigau dialects. Daw'ida and Saghala contain loanwords from two different South Cushitic languages, called Taita Cushitic, which are now extinct. It is likely that the Cushitic speakers were assimilated fairly recently, since lateral obstruents in the loanwords were still pronounced as such within living memory. However, those consonants have now been replaced by Bantu sounds. The Taveta language was mistaken for Daw'ida by Jouni Maho in his (2009) classification of Bantu languages. However, it's a distinct language, lexically and grammatically closest to Chasu (Pare In aviation, PARE is a mnemonic for a generic spin recovery technique applicable to many types of fixed-wing aircraft, abbreviating the terms ''power'', ''aile ...
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Taita Language
Taita is a Bantu language spoken in the Taita Hills of Kenya. It is closely related to the Chaga languages of Kenya and Tanzania. The Saghala (Northern Sagala, Sagalla) variety is distinct enough to be considered a language separate from the Daw'ida and Kasigau dialects. Daw'ida and Saghala contain loanword A loanword (also a loan word, loan-word) is a word at least partly assimilated from one language (the donor language) into another language (the recipient or target language), through the process of borrowing. Borrowing is a metaphorical term t ...s from two different South Cushitic languages, called Taita Cushitic, which are now extinct. It is likely that the Cushitic speakers were assimilated fairly recently, since lateral obstruents in the loanwords were still pronounced as such within living memory. However, those consonants have now been replaced by Bantu sounds. The Taveta language was mistaken for Daw'ida by Jouni Maho in his (2009) classification of Bantu lan ...
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Embu Language
Embu, also known as Kîembu, is a Bantu language of Kenya. It is spoken by the Embu people, also known as the Aembu (sg. Muembu). Speakers of the Embu language can also be found in neighboring districts/counties and in the diaspora. The language is closely related to the Kikuyu and Kimeru languages. Dialects Embu has two known dialects; Mbeere (Mbere, Kimbeere) and Embu proper. Native Embu speakers can also tell apart a speaker from areas close to Mount Kenya Mount Kenya (Meru people, Meru: ''Kĩrĩmaara,'' Kikuyu people, Kikuyu: ''Kĩrĩnyaga'', Kamba language, Kamba: ''Ki nyaa'', Embu language, Embu: ''Kĩ nyaga'') is an extinct volcano in Kenya and the Highest mountain peaks of Africa, second-highe ..., because they speak with a slight dialect locally called Kiruguru (Kirũgũrũ). Sample Translations Sample translations of words from English to Kiembu. Note: Accented characters or diacritical mark are not shown in the following two tables.                 ...
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Gikuyu Language
Kikuyu or Gikuyu ( ) (also known as Gĩgĩkũyũ) is a Bantu language spoken by the Gĩkũyũ (''Agĩkũyũ'') of Kenya. Kikuyu is mainly spoken in the area between Nyeri, Kiambu, Nairobi and Nakuru. The Kikuyu people usually identify their lands by the surrounding mountain ranges in Central Kenya, including Mount Kenya, which they call ''Kĩrĩnyaga''. Phonology Symbols shown in angle brackets replace the IPA symbols which are not in the orthography. Vowels Consonants The prenasalised consonants are often pronounced without prenasalisation, and thus are often realised as . Tones Kikuyu has two level tones (high and low), a low-high rising tone, and downstep. Grammar Gĩkũyũ has subject–verb–object word order. It uses prepositions rather than postpositions. Nouns are followed by possessive and demonstrative pronouns, which can coexist in that order, and subsequently adjectives, quantifiers, and numerals, which have no order among themselves. Noun classes ...
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Daisu Language
Kamba, or Kikamba, is a Bantu language spoken by millions of Kamba people, primarily in Kenya, as well as thousands of people in Uganda, Tanzania, and elsewhere. In Kenya, Kamba is generally spoken in four counties: Machakos, Kitui, Makueni, and Kwale. The Machakos dialect is considered the standard variety and has been used in translation. The other major dialect is Kitui. Kamba has lexical similarities to other Bantu languages such as Kikuyu, Meru, and Embu, of whom together they form the GEMA community. The Swedish Museum of World Culture holds field recordings of the Kamba language made by Swedish ethnographer Gerhard Lindblom in 1911–12. Lindblom used phonograph cylinders to record songs along with other means of documentation in writing and photography. He also gathered objects, and later presented his work in ''The Akamba in British East Africa'' (1916)''.'' Phonology Vowels Consonants * /tʃ/ occurs as a result of palatalization among /k/ before /j/. ...
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