The Mbugu people, also known as the Va'maa, Ma'a (''Wambugu'' in
Swahili
Swahili may refer to:
* Swahili language, a Bantu language official in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda and widely spoken in the African Great Lakes
* Swahili people, an ethnic group in East Africa
* Swahili culture
Swahili culture is the culture of ...
) are an ethnic and linguistic group hailing from western
Usambara Mountains of
Lushoto District
Lushoto is one of the eleven districts of Tanga Region in Tanzania. It is bordered to the northeast by Kenya, to the east by the Muheza District, to the northwest by the Kilimanjaro Region, west by Korogwe District and to the south by the Bumbuli ...
in
Tanga Region of
Tanzania
Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...
. Tanzania's Mbugu (or Ma'รก) language is one of the few true hybrid languages, combining Bantu grammar with
Cushitic
The Cushitic languages are a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. They are spoken primarily in the Horn of Africa, with minorities speaking Cushitic languages to the north in Egypt and the Sudan, and to the south in Kenya and Tanzania. As o ...
lexicon. In actuality, the people speak two languages: one mixed and the other
Pare, which is closely linked to the Bantu language. They are estimated to be around 60,000 Mbugu people left.
References
Ethnic groups in Tanzania
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