Mbugu language

Maʼa is a Bantu language of Tanzania.

Mbugu
Kimbugu
Native to	Tanzania
Region	Usambara Mountains
Ethnicity	32,000[1]
Native speakers	(7,000 cited 1997)[1]
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Volta-Congo Benue–Congo Bantoid Southern Bantoid Bantu Northeast Bantu Northeast Coast Bantu Pare-Taveta Pareic Mbugu
Language codes
ISO 639-3	mhd
Glottolog	mbug1240
Guthrie code	G.221[2]

Maʼa
Kimaʼa
Native to	Tanzania
Region	Usambara Mountains
Language family	mixed Cushitic–Pare
Language codes
ISO 639-3	None (mis)
Glottolog	None
Guthrie code	G.20A[2]
ELP	Mbugu

The Mbugu people speak two divergent registers, which have been treated as separate languages by some authorities (e.g. Tucker and Bryan): Mbugu or "Normal Mbugu" (autonym kiMbugu) is purely Bantu, with vocabulary closely related to Pare, while Maʼa or "Inner Mbugu" (autonym kiMaʼa) consists of an inherited Cushitic vocabulary with Bantu morphology similar to that of Shambala and Pare. They share a grammar, to the point that their syntax is identical and a passage in one can be translated to the other simply by changing the content words.^[3]

The Cushitic element was identified as South Cushitic by Ehret. However, Kießling (2001) notes a large East Cushitic admixture.^[4] Mous presents the Cushitic element as a register of a Bantu language, and identifies it as largely East Cushitic rather than South Cushitic.^[5]

Phonology

Consonants

Normal Mbugu distinguishes 29 consonants. Inner Mbugu distinguishes an additional four: /ʔ ɬ x ^ŋ̊x/, for a total of 33. The table below displays the consonants of Mbugu in IPA format, along with Mous' (1995) practical orthography in angle brackets where it differs from IPA.

Table of Mbugu consonants

		Labial	Alveolar		Palatal	Velar	Glottal
			central	lateral
Nasal		m	n		ɲ ⟨ny⟩	ŋ
Plosive	voiceless	p	t		c ⟨ch⟩	k	ʔ ⟨'⟩[a]
	implosive	b	d		ɟ ⟨j⟩	g
Prenasalized plosive	voiceless	ᵐ̥p ⟨mhp⟩	ⁿ̥t ⟨nht⟩			ᵑ̊k ⟨nhk⟩
	voiced	ᵐb ⟨mb⟩	ⁿd ⟨nd⟩			ᵑɡ ⟨ng⟩
Fricative	voiceless	f	s	ɬ ⟨hl⟩[a]	ç ⟨sh⟩	x[a]	h
	voiced	v	z			ɣ ⟨gh⟩
	prenasalized					ᵑ̊x ⟨nhx⟩[a]
Sonorant			r	l	j ⟨y⟩	w

1. Only occurring in Inner Mbugu

Vowels

Both registers of Mbugu distinguish five vowels.

	Front	Back
High	i	u
Mid	e	o
Low	a

Tone

Three tones are distinguished in Mbugu: high, low, and falling. Low tone is default (unmarked). High tone is represented with an acute accent ⟨á⟩, while falling tone is represented with the sequence ⟨áa⟩.

References

1. Mbugu at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
2. Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
3. Mous, Maarten (2003). The Making of a Mixed Language: the case of Maʼa/Mbugu. Amsterdam: J. Benjamins Pub. Co.
4. Roland Kießling, "South Cushitic links to East Cushitic", in Zaborski ed, 2001, New Data and New Methods in Afroasiatic Linguistics
5. Blench, 2006, Classification of Afroasiatic, ms.

Further reading

• Tosco, Mauro. 2000. 'Cushitic Overview.' Journal of Ethiopian Studies 33(2):87-121.