Sena language

Sena is a Bantu language^[3] spoken in the four provinces of central Mozambique (Zambezi valley): Tete, Sofala, Zambezia and Manica. There were an estimated 900,000 native Sena speakers in Mozambique in 1997, with at least 1.5 million if including those who speak it as a second language. It is one of the Nyasa languages.

NativetoMozambique, Malawi, Zimbabwe

EthnicitySena

Native speakers

2,869,000 (2017–2020)^[1]

Language family

Niger–Congo?

• Atlantic–Congo
  • Benue–Congo
    • Southern Bantoid
      • Bantu
        • Nyasa
          • Sena (N40) ?
            • Sena

Quick facts Native to, Ethnicity ...

Sena
Native to	Mozambique, Malawi, Zimbabwe
Ethnicity	Sena
Native speakers	2,869,000 (2017–2020)[1]
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Benue–Congo Southern Bantoid Bantu Nyasa Sena (N40) ? Sena
Dialects	Rue (Barwe) Podzo
Writing system	Latin script Mwangwego script
Official status
Official language in	Zimbabwe (as 'Chibarwe')
Recognised minority language in	Malawi
Language codes
ISO 639-3	Variously: seh – Mozambiquean Sena swk – Malawian Sena bwg – Barwe
Glottolog	nucl1396  Nuclear Sena mala1475  Malawi Sena barw1243  Barwe
Guthrie code	N.44,441 (N.45,46)[2]
Linguasphere	99-AUS-xi; also 99-AUS-xj (Chi-Rue), 99-AUS-xk (Gombe), 99-AUS-xl (Sangwe), & 99-AUS-xm (Chi-Podzo)

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Sena is spoken in several dialects, of which Rue (also called Barwe or Cibalke) and Podzo are divergent. The Sena of Malawi may be a distinct language. Barwe (Chibarwe) has official recognition in Zimbabwe.

Some remarks on Sena tenses can be found in Funnell (2004),^[4] Barnes & Funnell (2005)^[5] and in Kiso (2012).^[6]