Makonde language

Last updated
Makonde
Chi(ni)makonde
Native to Tanzania, Mozambique, Malawi, Kenya
Ethnicity Makonde, Ndonde Hamba
Native speakers
(2.1 million cited 1987–2016) [1]
Dialects
  • ? Matembwe–Machinga
  • Mabiha
  • Ndonde Hamba (Mawanda)
Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-3 Variously:
kde   Makonde
mvw   Machinga
njd   Ndonde Hamba
wtb   Matambwe
Glottolog mako1251   Makonde
mach1265   Machinga
mata1313   Matambwe
P.23,24,25 [2]
Person Mmakonde
People Wamakonde
Language Kimakonde
CountryUmakonde

Makonde, or Kimakonde, is the language spoken by the Makonde, an ethnic group in southeast Tanzania and northern Mozambique. [3] Makonde is a central Bantu language closely related to Yao. The Matambwe (Matembwe) and Mabiha (Maviha) dialects are divergent, and may not be Makonde. [4] [ full citation needed ]

Contents

A mosquito-borne viral fever first identified on the Makonde Plateau is named Chikungunya , which is derived from the Makonde root verb kungunyala (meaning "that which bends up", "to become contorted," or "to walk bent over"). [5] The derivation of the term is generally falsely attributed to Swahili. [6]

Phonology

The following are the consonants and vowels of the Makonde language: [7]

Vowels

Front Back
High i u
Mid e o
Low a

There also tends to be a rising final vowel sound /vv́/ within vowel combinations.

Consonants

Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Plosive voiceless p t k
voiced b d ɡ
prenasal ᵐbⁿdᶮɟᵑɡ
Affricate
Fricative s h
Nasal m n ɲ ŋ
Lateral l
Approximant ʋ j w

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References

  1. Makonde at Ethnologue (26th ed., 2023) Closed Access logo transparent.svg
    Machinga at Ethnologue (26th ed., 2023) Closed Access logo transparent.svg
    Ndonde Hamba at Ethnologue (26th ed., 2023) Closed Access logo transparent.svg
    Matambwe at Ethnologue (26th ed., 2023) Closed Access logo transparent.svg
  2. Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
  3. Hammarström (2015) Ethnologue 16/17/18th editions: a comprehensive review: online appendices
  4. Nurse 2003
  5. Morens DM and Fauci AS (2014). "Chikungunya at the Door — Déjà Vu All Over Again?". New England Journal of Medicine. 371 (10): 885–887. doi: 10.1056/NEJMp1408509 . PMID   25029435.
  6. Singh, SS; Manimunda, SP; Sugunan, AP; Sahina, Vijayachari P (2008). "Four cases of acute flaccid paralysis associated with chikungunya virus infection". Epidemiol Infect. 136 (9): 1277–80. doi:10.1017/S0950268807009739. PMC   2870928 . PMID   18634716.
  7. Kraal, Pieter J. (2005). A Grammar of Makonde (Chinnima, Tanzania). pp. 16–32.