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Makhuwa language
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Makhuwa language
Makhuwa (Emakhuwa; also spelled Makua and Macua) is the primary Bantu language of northern Mozambique. It is spoken by roughly 5.8 million Makua people, who live north of the Zambezi River, particularly in Nampula Province, which is virtually entirely ethnically Makua. It is the most widely spoken indigenous language of Mozambique.
Apart from the languages in the same group, eMakhuwa is distinguished from other Bantu languages by the loss of consonant + vowel prefixes in favour of e; compare epula, "rain", with Tswana pula.
Long and short vowels distinguish five vowel qualities /i e a o u/, which is unusually sparse for a Bantu language:
The consonants are more complex: postalveolar tt and tth exist, both p and ph are used. Both x (English "sh") and h exist while x varies with s. Regionally, there are also θ (the "th" of English "thorn"), ð (the "th" of English "seethe"), z and ng. For instance in eLomwe, to which Makhuwa is closely related, the tt of eMakhuwa is represented by a "ch" as in English "church".
In Makhuwa, tone is distinctive. In the eNahara dialect, there are two tones, low (L) and high (H), and the tone-bearing unit in Makhuwa phonology is the mora. Low tone is unmarked in writing, while high tone is indicated by an acute accent above vowels or nasals (á, ń) or next to tone-bearing consonants (´l).
The names of the dialects vary in different sources. The shibboleth or distinctive variant in the dialects is the treatment of the s:
Maho (2009) lists the following dialects:
Mutual intelligibility between these is limited. Central Makhuwa ("Makhuwa-Makhuwana") is the basis of the standard language. Ethnologue lists Central Makhuwa, Meetto–Ruvuma, Marrevone–Enahara, and Esaka as separate languages, and Chirima as six languages.
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Makhuwa language
Makhuwa (Emakhuwa; also spelled Makua and Macua) is the primary Bantu language of northern Mozambique. It is spoken by roughly 5.8 million Makua people, who live north of the Zambezi River, particularly in Nampula Province, which is virtually entirely ethnically Makua. It is the most widely spoken indigenous language of Mozambique.
Apart from the languages in the same group, eMakhuwa is distinguished from other Bantu languages by the loss of consonant + vowel prefixes in favour of e; compare epula, "rain", with Tswana pula.
Long and short vowels distinguish five vowel qualities /i e a o u/, which is unusually sparse for a Bantu language:
The consonants are more complex: postalveolar tt and tth exist, both p and ph are used. Both x (English "sh") and h exist while x varies with s. Regionally, there are also θ (the "th" of English "thorn"), ð (the "th" of English "seethe"), z and ng. For instance in eLomwe, to which Makhuwa is closely related, the tt of eMakhuwa is represented by a "ch" as in English "church".
In Makhuwa, tone is distinctive. In the eNahara dialect, there are two tones, low (L) and high (H), and the tone-bearing unit in Makhuwa phonology is the mora. Low tone is unmarked in writing, while high tone is indicated by an acute accent above vowels or nasals (á, ń) or next to tone-bearing consonants (´l).
The names of the dialects vary in different sources. The shibboleth or distinctive variant in the dialects is the treatment of the s:
Maho (2009) lists the following dialects:
Mutual intelligibility between these is limited. Central Makhuwa ("Makhuwa-Makhuwana") is the basis of the standard language. Ethnologue lists Central Makhuwa, Meetto–Ruvuma, Marrevone–Enahara, and Esaka as separate languages, and Chirima as six languages.
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