Tonga language (Zambia and Zimbabwe)

The Tonga language, Chitonga, of Zambia and Zimbabwe, also known as Zambezi, is a Bantu Language primarily spoken by the Tonga people in those countries who live mainly in the Southern and Western provinces of Zambia, and in northern Zimbabwe, with a few in Mozambique. The language is also spoken by the Iwe, Toka and Leya people, perhaps by the Kafwe Twa (if that is not Ila), as well as many bilingual Zambians and Zimbabweans. It is one of the major lingua francas in Zambia, together with Bemba, Lozi and Nyanja. The Tonga of Malawi, which is classified by Guthrie as belonging to zone N15, is not particularly close to Zambian Tonga, which is classified as zone M64, and can be considered a separate language.

The Tonga-speaking inhabitants are the oldest Bantu settlers, with the Tumbuka, a small tribe in the east, in what is now known as Zambia. There are two distinctive dialects of Tonga, Valley Tonga and Plateau Tonga. Valley Tonga is mostly spoken in the Zambezi valley and southern areas of the Batonga (Tonga People) while Plateau Tonga is spoken more around Monze district and the northern areas of the Batonga.^[4]

Tonga (Chitonga or iciTonga) developed as a spoken language and was not put into written form until missionaries arrived in the area. The language is not standardized, and speakers of the same dialect may have different spellings for the same words once put into written text.^[5]

At least some speakers have a bilabial nasal click where neighboring dialects have /mw/, as in mwana 'child' and kumwa 'to drink'.^[6]

Maho (2009) removes Shanjo as a separate, and not very closely related, language.

Verbs

Tonga follows the standard Bantu language structure. A single word may incorporate a subject-marker, a tense-marker, a direct object, and even an indirect object, combined with the verb root itself.

References

External links

• Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Chitonga
• Glossary of Chitonga, in English and German
• Chitonga Glossary
• OLAC resources in and about the Tonga language
• OLAC resources in and about the Dombe language
• Chitonga language books, Lubuto Library Special Collections

Languages of Zambia
Official language	English
Regional languages	Bemba Kaonde Lozi Lunda Luvale Nyanja Tonga
Indigenous languages	Bwile Chokwe Ila Kuhane Kunda Kwangwa Lala-Bisa Lamba Lenje Luyana Mambwe-Lungu Mbamba Bay Mbowe Mbukushu Mbunda Mwanga Nkangala Nkoya Nsenga Shanjo Shona Soli Tabwa Tumbuka Wanda Yao
Sign languages	Zambian Sign Language

Languages of Zimbabwe
Official languages	Chewa Chibarwe English Kalanga Koisan Nambya Ndau Ndebele Shona Sotho Tonga Tsonga Tswana Venda Xhosa Zimbabwe Sign
Unofficial languages	Dombe Fanagalo Kunda Lozi Manyika Ndau Tsoa Tswa

Languages of Mozambique
Official language	Portuguese
Indigenous languages	Barwe Chewa Chichopi Chuwabu Dema Kimwani Koti Kunda Lomwe Maindo Makhuwa Makonde Makwe Manyika Nathembo Ndau Ngoni Nsenga Nyungwe Phimbi Ronga Sena Shona Swahili Swati Tawara Tewe Tonga Tsonga Tswa Yao Zulu
Sign languages	Mozambican Sign Language