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The Bantu languages are a language family of about 600 languages that are spoken by the Bantu peoples of Central, Southern, Eastern and Southeast Africa. They form the largest branch of the Southern Bantoid languages.
Swahili, also known by its local name Kiswahili, is the native language of the Swahili people, who are found primarily in Tanzania, Kenya and Mozambique. It is a Bantu language, though Swahili has borrowed a number of words from foreign languages, particularly Arabic and Persian, but also words from Portuguese, English and German. Around forty percent of Swahili vocabulary consists of Arabic loanwords, including the name of the language. The loanwords date from the era of contact between Arab traders and the Bantu inhabitants of the east coast of Africa, which was also the time period when Swahili emerged as a lingua franca in the region. The number of Swahili speakers, be they native or second-language speakers, is estimated to be around 80 million.
The languages of Africa are divided into several major language families:
Sotho or SesothoSouthern Sotho is a Southern Bantu language of the Sotho–Tswana ("S.30") group, spoken in Lesotho, where it is the national and official language; South Africa, where it is one of the 11 official languages; and in Zimbabwe where it is one of 16 official languages.
The Chaga or Chagga are Bantu-speaking indigenous Africans and the third-largest ethnic group in Tanzania. They traditionally live on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro and eastern Mount Meru in both Kilimanjaro Region and eastern Arusha Region. Their relative economic wealth comes from favorable fertile soil of mount Kilimanjaro and successful agricultural methods, which include extensive irrigation systems, terracing, and continuous organic fertilization methods practiced for thousands of years.
In Uganda the most spoken local language is Luganda. The Baganda tribe occupies the southern central part of Uganda and the capital city of the country, followed by English, as all schools in Uganda use it in their studies due to the introduction of English during the colonial period. English is also the language of business and judicial matters. Most spoken after Luganda and English is Swahili. This language is more common in neighbouring Kenya and Tanzania. Swahili is taught in schools as an optional additional language and it is mostly spoken by the Ugandan army. In 2005, there were talks to include Swahili into as the second official language as it was seen as neutral, however this is still not ratified by the government.
Central Kilimanjaro, or Central Chaga, is a Bantu language of Tanzania spoken by the Chaga people.
Kenya is a multilingual country. Swahili, a Bantu language, and English are widely spoken as lingua francas and serve as the two official languages. English was inherited from colonial rule. Including second-language speakers, there are more speakers of Swahili than English in Kenya.
Chaga, also Kichaga or Kichagga, is a Bantu dialect continuum spoken by the Chaga people of northern Tanzania, south of Mount Kilimanjaro. They also speak 9 dialects: Kivunjo, Kimarangu, Kirombo, Kimachame, Kisiha, Kikibosho, Kiuru, Kioldimoshi and Kingassa.
The Rombo language, or Kirombo, is a Bantu language of Tanzania spoken by the Chaga people, in the Chaga area of the Kilimanjaro region. Rombo forms a dialect continuum with other Chaga languages.
The Kahe are an ethnic and linguistic group based southeast of Moshi in Kilimanjaro Region Tanzania. The Kahe language, or Kikahe, is in the Chagga cluster of Bantu languages. Three dialects are recognized: Kimwangaria, Msengoni and Kichangareni. Kikahe is spoken by 9,130 people, and is one of the smaller language communities in Tanzania.
Digo (Chidigo) is a Bantu language spoken primarily along the East African coast between Mombasa and Tanga by the Digo people of Kenya and Tanzania. The ethnic Digo population has been estimated at around 360,000, the majority of whom are presumably speakers of the language. All adult speakers of Digo are bilingual in Swahili, East Africa's lingua franca. The two languages are closely related, and Digo also has much vocabulary borrowed from neighbouring Swahili dialects.
El Molo is an extinct language belonging to the Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family. It was spoken by the El Molo people on the southeastern shore of Lake Turkana, in northern Kenya. Alternate names to El Molo are Dehes, Elmolo, Fura-Pawa, and Ldes. It was thought to be extinct in the middle part of the 20th century, but a few speakers were found in the later 20th century. However, it may now be truly extinct, as the eight speakers found in a survey published in 1994 were over 50. Most of the El Molo population have shifted to the neighboring Samburu language. El Molo also has no known dialects but it is similar to Daasanach
Aka, also known as Yaka or Beka, is a Bantu language spoken in the Central African Republic and Republic of Congo, along the Ubangi River dividing the two countries.
Baka is a dialect cluster of Ubangian languages spoken by the Baka Pygmies of Cameroon and Gabon. The people are ethnically close to the Aka, the two together called the Mbenga (Bambenga), but the languages are not related, apart from some vocabulary dealing with the forest economy, which suggests the Aka may have shifted to Bantu, probably 15000 people have shifted.
Zaramo is a Niger-Congo language, formerly primary language of the Zaramo people of eastern Tanzania. Zaramo is also known as Zalamo, Kizaramo, Dzalamo, Zaramu, Saramo and, Myagatwa. The language is critically endangered. The ethnic population of the Zaramo people reaches about 200,000, yet there are only a few elderly speakers remaining.
Tanzania is a multilingual country. There are many languages spoken in the country, but no one language is spoken natively by a majority or a large plurality of the population. Swahili and English, the latter of which was inherited from colonial rule, are widely spoken as lingua francas. They serve as working languages in the country, with Swahili being the official national language. There are more speakers of Swahili than of English in Tanzania.
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 variety is distinct enough to be considered a language separate from the Daw'ida and Kasigau dialects.
The Rusa (Rusha) language, also known as Arusha-Chini, is one of the Bantu languages of Tanzania spoken by the Chaga people. It is spoken in the Chaga area of the Kilimanjaro region, and forms a dialect continuum with other Chaga languages.
References
- 1 2 3 4 Gweno language at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- ↑ Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
- 1 2 Phillipson, Gerard; Nurse, Derek. "Gweno, a little known Bantu language of Northern Tanzania" (PDF). CNWS Publications.
- 1 2 "Gweno: UNESCO-CI". portal.unesco.org. Retrieved 2017-02-10.
