Hehe, also known by its native name , is a
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 ...
that is spoken by the
Hehe people of the
Iringa region 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 ...
, lying south of the
Great Ruaha River.
[ It was reported to have "Ngoni" features, that is, words of a Zulu-like language introduced when conquered by a Nguni or Zulu-like people in the early 19th century. However, other "Ngoni" speeches seem to have lost most of these distinctive features over the past 150-odd years, the language more resembling those of the neighbouring peoples. In the 1970s, it was estimated that 190,000 people spoke Hehe. There has been some Bible translation (British and Foreign Bible Society). Hehe may be mutually intelligible with Bena.]
Grammar
Hehe has 15 noun classes, marked with prefixes.
Hehe has a complex tense-aspect-mood system.
Phonology
Consonants
* can be heard as an allophone of among speakers in free variation.
* occurs in the language, but is mainly heard as an allophone of after nasal sounds, or as a result of Swahili loanwords.
Vowels
References
Languages of Tanzania
Northeast Bantu languages
{{Bantu-lang-stub