Central Kilimanjaro language

Bantu language spoken in Tanzania From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Central Kilimanjaro, or Central Chaga, is a Bantu language of Tanzania spoken by the Chaga people.

NativetoTanzania
RegionKilimanjaro
EthnicityChaga
Quick facts Native to, Region ...
Central Kilimanjaro
Central Chaga
Native toTanzania
RegionKilimanjaro
EthnicityChaga
Dialects
Language codes
ISO 639-3Either:
vun – Wunjo
old – Mochi
Glottologvunj1238  Vunjo
moch1256  Mochi
E.622 (ex-E.62a,62b)[1]
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There are several dialects:[1]

  • Moshi (Old Moshi, Mochi, Kimochi)
  • Uru
  • Mbokomu
  • Wuunjo (Wunjo, Vunjo, Kivunjo), including Kiruwa, Kilema, Mamba, Moramu (Marangu), Mwika

Moshi is the language of the Chaga cultural capital, Moshi, and the prestige dialect of the Chaga languages.[citation needed]

Phonology

Vowels

More information Front, Back ...
Front Central Back
High i u
Mid e o
Low a
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In orthography, long vowels are written double. However, while older works suggest vowel length contrast may have formerly been phonemic, more recent works suggest the distinction has been partially or completely neutralized, unlike in West Kilimanjaro.[2]

Consonants

More information Labial, Alveolar ...
Consonants in the Moshi dialect[3][4]
Labial Alveolar Post-
alveolar		 Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal m ⟨m⟩ n ⟨n⟩ ɲ ⟨ny⟩ ŋ ⟨ng'⟩
Stop voiceless p ⟨p⟩ t ⟨t⟩ k ⟨k⟩
voiced b ⟨b⟩ d ⟨d⟩
NC mb ⟨mb⟩ nd ⟨nd⟩ ŋɡ ⟨ng⟩
Affricate voiceless pf ⟨pf⟩ ts ⟨ts⟩ tʃ ⟨ch⟩
NC mbv ⟨mpf⟩ ndz ⟨nts⟩ ndʒ ⟨nch⟩
Fricative voiceless f ⟨f⟩ s ⟨s⟩ ʃ ⟨sh⟩ h ⟨h⟩
Rhotic trill r ⟨r⟩
tap ɾ ⟨r⟩
Lateral l ⟨l⟩
Approximant w ~ β ⟨w⟩ ɻ ⟨rh⟩ j ⟨y⟩
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  • Consonants /k, ŋɡ, l/ become palatalized to [kʲ, ŋɡʲ, lʲ] when occurring before the front vowels /i, e/.
  • /w/ appears as a fricative [β] when before the front vowels /i, e/.[5][4]
More information Labial, Dental/ Alveolar ...
Consonants in the Vunjo dialect[5][6]
Labial Dental/
Alveolar		 Post-
alveolar		 Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal m ⟨m⟩ n̪ ⟨n⟩ ɲ ⟨ny⟩ ŋ ⟨ng'⟩
Stop voiceless p ⟨p⟩ t̪ ⟨t⟩ c ⟨ky⟩ k ⟨k⟩
voiced (b) ⟨b⟩ d ⟨d⟩ (ɡ) ⟨g⟩
NC‡ m̩b ⟨mb⟩ n̩d ⟨nd⟩ ɲ̍ɟ ⟨ngy⟩ ŋ̍ɡ ⟨ng⟩
Affricate voiceless pf ⟨pf⟩ ts ⟨ts⟩ tʃ ⟨c⟩
NC‡ m̩bv ⟨mv⟩ n̩dz ⟨nz⟩ n̩dʒ ⟨nj⟩
Fricative voiceless f ⟨f⟩ s ⟨s⟩ ʃ ⟨sh⟩ h ⟨h⟩
voiced ʝ ~ j
⟨ghy⟩		 ɣ ~ w
⟨gh⟩
Rhotic trill r ⟨r⟩†
tap ɺ ⟨lr⟩
Lateral l̪ ⟨l⟩† l̠ʲ ⟨ly⟩
Approximant w ~ β ⟨w⟩ ɹ ⟨zr⟩† j ⟨y⟩
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  • /b/ and /ɡ/ are restricted to loans. /l̠ʲ/ is native and contrasts with the [ʎ] allophone of /l̪/ but is rare.
  • /t n l/ are dental, /d/ et al. are alveolar.
  • The consonants /k, ŋɡ, ɣ/ and /l̪/ become palatal (and merge with the palatals) when occurring before the front vowels /i, e/.
  • /w/ appears as a fricative [β] when before the front vowels /i, e/.[5]
  • The dental lateral /l̪/ is usually velarized as [ɫ̪].
  • /ɹ/ is also heard as postalveolar [ɹ̠].

‡ NC are not prenasalized consonants but rather consonant sequences; in initial position, the nasal is syllabic.

† /r/, /ɹ/ and /l̠ʲ/ may be pronounced as fricatives. /r/ being heard as an alveolar fricative trill [r̝], the /ɹ/ being heard as a retroflex fricative [ɻ̝], with an extent of frication on the palatalized lateral /l̠ʲ/ as [l̠̝ʲ].[7]

Tones

Vunjo dialect has two underlying tones (high /H/ and low /L/) that surface as three level and five contour tones: [xH] (extra-high), [H], [L], falling [HL] and [xHL], rising [LH] and [LxH], and peaking [LHL], plus two downstepped tones [ꜝH] and [ꜝxH].[5]

Bibliography

  • Dalgish, Gerard M. (1978) 'The syntax and semantics of the morpheme ni in kiVunjo (Chaga)', Kiswahili, 48, 1, 42–56.
  • Philippson, Gérard (1984) '"Gens des bananeraies" (Tanzanie): contribution linguistique à l'histoire culturelle des Chaga du Kilimanjaro' (Cahier no. 16.) Paris: Editions Recherche sur les civilisations.

References

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