Dciriku language

Gciriku, or Dciriku (Also Diriku, Dirico, Manyo or Rumanyo), is a Bantu language spoken by 305,000 people along the Kavango River in Namibia, Botswana and Angola. 24,000 people speak Gciriku in Angola, according to Ethnologue.^[3] It was first known in the west via the Vagciriku, who had migrated from the main Vamanyo area and spoke Rugciriku, a dialect of Rumanyo. The name Gciriku (Dciriku, Diriku) remains common in the literature, but within Namibia the name Rumanyo has been revived.^[4] The Mbogedu dialect is extinct; Maho (2009) lists it as a distinct language, and notes that the names 'Manyo' and 'Rumanyo' are inappropriate for it.

Dciriku
Gciriku
Rumanyo
Region	Kavango East
Ethnicity	Vagciriku, Vamanyo, Vashambyu
Native speakers	82,000 (2004–2018)[1]
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Benue–Congo Southern Bantoid Bantu Kavango–Southwest Kavango Dciriku
Dialects	Gciriku Shambyu Mbogedu (extinct)
Language codes
ISO 639-3	diu
Glottolog	diri1252
Guthrie code	K.331,334 (K.332)[2]
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It is one of several Bantu languages of the Okavango which have click consonants, as in [ǀɛ́ǀˀà] ('bed'), [mùǀûkò] ('flower'), and [kàǀûrù] ('tortoise'). These clicks, of which there are half a dozen (c, gc, ch, and prenasalized nc and nch), are generally all pronounced with a dental articulation, but there is broad variation between speakers. They are especially common in place names and in words for features of the landscape, reflecting their sources in Khwe and Ju, two so-called Khoisan languages. Many of the words with clicks in Gciriku, including those in native Bantu vocabulary, are shared with Kwangali, Mbukushu, and Fwe.^[5]

Phonology

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i		u
Mid	ɛ		ɔ
Open		ɑ

Consonants

		Bilabial	Labio- dental	Dental	Alveolar	Postalveolar/ Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Click	voiceless			ᵏǀ
	voiced			ᶢǀ
	prenasal vl.			ᵑǀᵏ
	prenasal vd.			ᵑǀᶢ
	prenasal asp.			ᵑǀʰ
Nasal		m			n	ɲ	ŋ
Stop/ Affricate	voiceless	p		t̪	t	t͡ʃ	k
	voiced	b			d	d͡ʒ	g
	prenasal vl.	ᵐpʰ		ⁿt̪	ⁿtʰ	ᶮt͡ʃ	ᵑkʰ
	prenasal vd.	ᵐb			ⁿd	ᶮd͡ʒ	ᵑɡ
Fricative	voiceless		f		s	ʃ		h
	voiced	β	v		z		ɣ
	prenasal vl.		ᶬf
	prenasal vd.		ᶬv
Trill					r
Approximant					l	j	w

• Click sounds are mainly dental [ǀ], but may also have various articulation points [ǁ], [ǃ].
• Most consonant sounds are also palatalized [ʲ] or labialized [ʷ], when before glide sounds /j, w/.
• /ɡ/ may be heard as a fricative [χ] in Afrikaans loanwords.^[6]