Central Kilimanjaro language

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

Central Kilimanjaro
Central Chaga
Native to	Tanzania
Region	Kilimanjaro
Ethnicity	Chaga
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Volta-Congo Benue–Congo Bantoid Southern Bantoid Bantu Northeast Bantu Chaga–Taita Chaga Central Kilimanjaro
Dialects	Mochi Uru Mbokomu Wuunjo
Language codes
ISO 639-3	Either: vun – Wunjo old – Mochi
Glottolog	vunj1238  Vunjo moch1256  Mochi
Guthrie code	E.622 (ex-E.62a,62b)[1]

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.

Phonology

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
High	i iː		u uː
Mid	e eː		o oː
Low		a aː

Consonants

Consonants in the Moshi dialect^[2][3]

		Labial	Alveolar	Post- alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal		m	n		ɲ	ŋ
Stop	voiceless	p	t			k
	voiced	b	d
	prenasal	ᵐb	ⁿd			ᵑɡ
Affricate	voiceless	pf	ts	tʃ
	prenasal	ᵐbv	ⁿdz	ᶮdʒ
Fricative	voiceless	f	s	ʃ			h
	voiced	(β)
Rhotic	trill		r
	tap		ɾ
Lateral			l
Approximant		w		ɻ	j

• Sounds /k, ᵑɡ, l/ become palatalized as [kʲ, ᵑɡʲ, lʲ] when occurring before front vowels /i, e/.
• /w/ is heard as a fricative [β] when before front vowels /i, e/.

Consonants in the Vunjo dialect^[4]

		Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal		m	n	ɲ	ŋ
Stop	voiceless	p	t		k
	voiced	b	d		ɡ
	prenasal	ᵐb	ⁿd		ᵑɡ
Affricate	voiceless	pf	ts	tʃ
	prenasal	ᵐbv	ⁿdz	ᶮdʒ
Fricative	voiceless	f	s	ʃ		h
	voiced	(β)			ɣ
Rhotic	trill		r
	tap		ɾ
Lateral			l	(ʎ)
Approximant		w	ɹ	j

• Sounds /k, ᵑɡ, ɣ, l/ become palatalized as [kʲ, ᵑɡʲ, ɣʲ, lʲ] when occurring before front vowels /i, e/.
• /l/ when palatalized as [lʲ] can also have a palatal lateral allophone [ʎ] in the Vunjo dialect.
• /w/ is heard as a fricative [β] when before front vowels /i, e/.^[4][3]

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

1. Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
2. Nurse, Derek; Philippson, Gérard (1977). Tone in Old Moshi (Chaga). Studies in African linguistics 8: University of California, Los Angeles. pp. 49–80.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
3. Philippson, Gérard; Montlahuc, Marie-Laure (2003). Kilimanjaro Bantu (E60 and E74). In Nurse, Derek and Philippson, Gérard (eds.), The Bantu Languages: London & New York: Routledge. pp. 475–500.
4. McHugh, Brian David (1990). Cyclicity in the phrasal phonology of KiVunjo Chaga. University of California at Los Angeles.