Makonde | |
---|---|
Chi(ni)makonde | |
Native to | Tanzania, Mozambique, Malawi, Kenya |
Ethnicity | Makonde, Ndonde Hamba |
Native speakers | (2.1 million cited 1987–2016) [1] |
Niger–Congo?
| |
Dialects |
|
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 |
Country | Umakonde |
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]
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]
The following are the consonants and vowels of the Makonde language: [7]
Front | Back | |
---|---|---|
High | i | u |
Mid | e | o |
Low | a |
There also tends to be a rising final vowel sound /vv́/ within vowel combinations.
Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Plosive | voiceless | p | t | k | ||
voiced | b | d | ɡ | |||
prenasal | ᵐb | ⁿd | ᶮɟ | ᵑɡ | ||
Affricate | tʃ | |||||
Fricative | s | h | ||||
Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | ||
Lateral | l | |||||
Approximant | ʋ | j | w |