West Kilimanjaro | |
---|---|
West Chaga | |
Native to | Tanzania |
Region | Machame, Kilimanjaro Region |
Ethnicity | Chaga |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | Either:jmc – Machamerwk – Rwa |
Glottolog | west2852 |
E.621 (ex-E.61,62a) [1] |
West Kilimanjaro, or West Chaga, is a Bantu language of Tanzania spoken by the Chaga people.
There are several dialects:[1]
- Rwa (Rwo, Meru, Kirwo), or Meru, from Mount Meru
- Mashami (Kimashame), or "Hai" (Kihai)
- Siha
- Kiwoso (Kibosho including Kindi, Kombo, Mweka)
- Masama
- Ng’uni
Phonology
[edit]Vowels
[edit]Front | Central | Back | |
---|---|---|---|
High | i iː | u uː | |
Mid | e eː | o oː | |
Low | a aː |
Consonants
[edit]Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | ||
Stop | voiceless | p | t | k | ||
voiced | b | d | (ɟ) | |||
prenasal | ᵐb | ⁿd | ᵑɡ | |||
Fricative | voiceless | f | s | ʃ | (h) | |
voiced | β | ɣ | ||||
Rhotic | r | |||||
Lateral | glide | l | ||||
fricative | ɮ | |||||
Approximant | w | j |
- /ɣ/ may also be heard as uvular [ʁ] in free variation.
- /β/ can also be realized as [ʋ] or [w] among some speakers.
- [ɟ] is found in loanwords.[3]
- /h/ only rarely occurs.[2]
References
[edit]- ^ a b Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
- ^ a b Rugemalira, Josephat Muhozi (2008). Kimashami: Kamusi ya Kimashami-Kiingereza-Kiswahili. Dar es Salaam: Dept. of Foreign Languages and Linguistics, University of Dar es Salaam.
- ^ a b Rugemalira, Josephat M.; Phanuel, Benedictor (2012). A grammatical sketch of Kimashami. University of Dar es Salaam.