Nyamwezi language

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

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	Either: nym – Nyamwezi kcz – Konongo
Glottolog	nyam1276  Nyamwezi kono1265  Konongo
Guthrie code	F.22[2]

Nyamwezi proper and Konongo are often considered distinct languages. Ruwila may be a third.[3]

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/.[4]

References

1. Nyamwezi at Ethnologue (22nd ed., 2019)
   Konongo at Ethnologue (22nd ed., 2019)
2. Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
4. Maganga, Clement; Schadeberg, Thilo C. (1992). Kinyamwezi: Grammar, Texts, Vocabulary. Cologne: Rüdiger Köppe. pp. 15–53.