| West Kilimanjaro | |
|---|---|
| West Chaga | |
| Native to | Tanzania |
| Region | Machame, Kilimanjaro Region |
| Ethnicity | Chaga |
| Language family | Niger–Congo? |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | Either:jmc – Machamerwk – Rwa |
| Glottolog | west2852 |
| Guthrie code | E.621 (ex-E.61,62a) |
West Kilimanjaro, or West Chaga, is a Bantu language of Tanzania spoken by the Chaga people.
There are several dialects:
- 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
Vowels
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | i iː | u uː | |
| Mid | e eː | o oː | |
| Low | a aː |
Consonants
| 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 in free variation.
- /β/ can also be realized as or among some speakers.
- is found in loanwords.
- /h/ only rarely occurs.
References
- ^ Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
- ^ Rugemalira, Josephat Muhozi (2008). Kimashami: Kamusi ya Kimashami-Kiingereza-Kiswahili. Dar es Salaam: Dept. of Foreign Languages and Linguistics, University of Dar es Salaam.
- ^ Rugemalira, Josephat M.; Phanuel, Benedictor (2012). A grammatical sketch of Kimashami. University of Dar es Salaam.
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