Nyamwezi language

Nyamwezi is a major Bantu language of central Tanzania. It forms a dialect continuum with Sukuma, but is more distinct from it.

Nyamwezi
Region	Tanzania
Ethnicity	Nyamwezi
Native speakers	(1.5 million cited 1987–2016)[1]
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Volta-Congo Benue–Congo Bantoid Southern Bantoid Bantu Northeast Bantu Sukuma-Nyamwezi Nyamwezic Nyamwezi
Language codes
ISO 639-2	nym
ISO 639-3	nym
Glottolog	nyam1276
Guthrie code	F.22[2]

Konongo and Ruwila are sometimes considered dialects.

Phonology

Consonants

		Bilabial	Labio- dental	Alveolar	Post- alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Plosive	plain	p b		t d		ɟ	k ɡ
	prenasal	ᵐb		ⁿd		ᶮɟ	ᵑɡ
Affricate	plain				c͡ʃ
	prenasal				ᶮc͡ʃ
Fricative	plain	β	f v	s z	ʃ			h
	prenasal		ᶬf ᶬv	ⁿs ⁿz	ᶮʃ
Nasal		m̥ m		n̥ n		ɲ̊ ɲ	ŋ̊ ŋ
Approximant				l		j	w

• Prenasalized voiceless stops [ᵐp ⁿt] may also frequently occur, as a result of loan words.
• Nasal sounds /m ŋ/ may also occur as labialized [mʷ ŋʷ].

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
High	i iː		u uː
	ɪ ɪː		ʊ ʊː
Mid	ɛ ɛː		ɔ ɔː
Low		a aː

Tones

Tones present in Nyamwezi are high /v́/, low /v̀/, and rising /v̌/.^[3]

Sample text

Banhu bose bubyalagwa biyagalulile, n'ikujo haki zilenganelile. Banhu bose bina masala na wiganiki, hu kuyomba ihayilwe bitogwe giti bana ba mbyazi bumo.

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.^[4]

References

1. Nyamwezi at Ethnologue (22nd ed., 2019)
2. Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
3. Maganga, Clement; Schadeberg, Thilo C. (1992). Kinyamwezi: Grammar, Texts, Vocabulary. Cologne: Rüdiger Köppe. pp. 15–53.
4. "Universal Declaration of Human Rights - Kinyamwezi (Nyamwezi)". Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. United Nations Development Programme, Tanzania. Retrieved 26 March 2022.