Chokwe language

{{Infobox language

|name=Chokwe

|nativename=Ucôkwe (Wuchokwe)

|states= Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zambia

|region=

|speakers={{sigfig|2.491700|2}} million

|date=1990–2018

|ethnicity=Chokwe people

|ref=e25

|familycolor=Niger-Congo

|fam2=Atlantic–Congo

|fam3=Volta-Congo

|fam4=Benue–Congo

|fam5=Bantoid

|fam6=Southern Bantoid

|fam7=Bantu (Zone K)

|fam8=Chokwe–Luchazi (K.10)

|nation= {{flag|Angola}} (national language)

|agency=Instituto de Línguas Nacionais

|iso3=cjk

|glotto=chok1245

|glottorefname=Chokwe

|guthrie=K.11

}}

Chokwe (also known as Batshokwe, Ciokwe, Kioko, Kiokwe, Quioca, Quioco, Shioko, Tschiokloe or Tshokwe{{cite book |last1=Nurse |first1=Derek |last2=Philippson |first2=Gérard |last3=Bostoen |first3=Koen |last4=Van de Velde |first4=Mark |title=The Bantu languages |date=2019 |location=London |isbn=9781317628682 |edition=Second}}) is a Bantu language spoken by the Chokwe people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Angola and Zambia. It is recognised as a national language of Angola, where half a million people were estimated to have spoken it in 1991; another half a million speakers lived in the Congo in 1990, and some 20,000 in Zambia in 2010. It is used as a lingua franca in eastern Angola.

Writing system

{{Expand section|description (and sources) for said system|date=June 2022}}

Angola's Instituto de Línguas Nacionais (National Languages Institute) has established spelling rules for Chokwe with a view to facilitate and promote its use.{{Cite web |date=2012-09-23 |title=Ethnologue report for Angola |url=http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=Angola |access-date=2024-05-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120923031547/http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=Angola |archive-date=2012-09-23 }}

Phonology

= Vowels =

class="wikitable" style=text-align:center
	Front	Central !Back
Close \|{{IPAlink\|i}}\|\| \|{{IPAlink\|u}}
Close-mid \|{{IPAlink\|e}}\|\| \|{{IPAlink\|o}}
Open-mid \|{{IPAlink\|ɛ}} \| \|{{IPAlink\|ɔ}}
Open \| \| colspan="2" \|{{IPAlink\|a}} ~ {{IPAlink\|ɑ}}

class="wikitable" style=text-align:center

Front

Central

!Back

|{{IPAlink|i}}||

|{{IPAlink|u}}

Close-mid

|{{IPAlink|e}}||

|{{IPAlink|o}}

Open-mid

|{{IPAlink|ɛ}}

|{{IPAlink|ɔ}}

Open

| colspan="2" |{{IPAlink|a}} ~ {{IPAlink|ɑ}}

Vowels may also be heard as nasalized when preceding nasal consonants.

= Consonants =

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" ! colspan="2" \| !Labial !Alveolar !Post- alveolar !Palatal !Velar !Glottal
rowspan="5" \|Stop !voiceless \|{{IPAlink\|p}} \|{{IPAlink\|t}} \| \|({{IPAlink\|c}}) \|{{IPAlink\|k}} \|
voiced \|{{IPAlink\|b}} \|{{IPAlink\|d}} \| \|({{IPAlink\|ɟ}}) \| {{IPAlink\|g}} \|
aspirated \|{{IPAlink\|pʰ}} \|{{IPAlink\|tʰ}} \| \| \|{{IPAlink\|kʰ}} \|
prenasal vd. \|{{IPAlink\|ᵐb}} \|{{IPAlink\|ⁿd}} \| \|({{IPAlink\|ᶮɟ}}) \|{{IPAlink\|ᵑɡ}} \|
prenasal vl. \|{{IPAlink\|ᵐp}} \| \| \| \| \|
rowspan="3" \|Affricate !voiceless \|{{IPAlink\|p͡f}} \|{{IPA\|t͡f}} \|{{IPAlink\|t͡ʃ}} \| \| \|
voiced \| \|{{IPA\|t͡v}} \|{{IPAlink\|d͡ʒ}} \| \| \|
prenasal \| \|{{IPAlink\|ⁿd͡v}} \|{{IPAlink\|ⁿd͡ʒ}} \| \| \|
rowspan="3" \|Fricative !voiceless \|{{IPAlink\|f}} \|{{IPAlink\|s}} \|{{IPAlink\|ʃ}} \| \| \|{{IPAlink\|h}}
voiced \|{{IPAlink\|v}} \|{{IPAlink\|z}} \|{{IPAlink\|ʒ}} \| \| \|
prenasal \| \|{{IPAlink\|ⁿz}} \|{{IPAlink\|ⁿʒ}} \| \| \|
colspan="2" \|Nasal \|{{IPAlink\|m}} \|{{IPAlink\|n}} \| \|{{IPAlink\|ɲ}} \| \|
rowspan="2" \|Approximant !lateral \| \|{{IPAlink\|l}} \| \|{{IPAlink\|ʎ}} \| \|
plain \| \| \| \|{{IPAlink\|j}} \|{{IPAlink\|w}} \|

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

! colspan="2" |

rowspan="5" |Stop

|{{IPAlink|p}}

|{{IPAlink|t}}

|({{IPAlink|c}})

|{{IPAlink|k}}

voiced

|{{IPAlink|b}}

|{{IPAlink|d}}

|({{IPAlink|ɟ}})

| {{IPAlink|g}}

aspirated

|{{IPAlink|pʰ}}

|{{IPAlink|tʰ}}

|{{IPAlink|kʰ}}

prenasal vd.

|{{IPAlink|ᵐb}}

|{{IPAlink|ⁿd}}

|({{IPAlink|ᶮɟ}})

|{{IPAlink|ᵑɡ}}

prenasal vl.

|{{IPAlink|ᵐp}}

rowspan="3" |Affricate

!voiceless

|{{IPAlink|p͡f}}

|{{IPA|t͡f}}

|{{IPAlink|t͡ʃ}}

voiced

|{{IPA|t͡v}}

|{{IPAlink|d͡ʒ}}

prenasal

|{{IPAlink|ⁿd͡v}}

|{{IPAlink|ⁿd͡ʒ}}

rowspan="3" |Fricative

!voiceless

|{{IPAlink|f}}

|{{IPAlink|s}}

|{{IPAlink|ʃ}}

|{{IPAlink|h}}

voiced

|{{IPAlink|v}}

|{{IPAlink|z}}

|{{IPAlink|ʒ}}

prenasal

|{{IPAlink|ⁿz}}

|{{IPAlink|ⁿʒ}}

colspan="2" |Nasal

|{{IPAlink|m}}

|{{IPAlink|n}}

|{{IPAlink|ɲ}}

rowspan="2" |Approximant

!lateral

|{{IPAlink|l}}

|{{IPAlink|ʎ}}

plain

|{{IPAlink|j}}

|{{IPAlink|w}}

Affricate sounds /t͡ʃ, d͡ʒ, ⁿd͡ʒ/ may also be pronounced as palatal stops [c, ɟ, ᶮɟ].

= Tones =

Chokwe has three tones as /v́/, /v̀/, and /v̂/.{{Cite thesis |last=Ualhanga |first=Xavier Chipuleno |title=Antroponímia na Língua Cokwe (Lunda-Norte) |date=2017 |degree=Master's |publisher=Universidade NOVA de Lisboa |language=Portuguese |trans-title=Anthroponymy in the Cokwe Language (Lunda-Norte) |hdl=10362/21952 |hdl-access=free }}{{Cite book |last=Martins |first=João Vicente |title=Elementos de Gramática de Utchokwe |publisher=Lisboa: Instituto de Investigação Científica Tropical |year=1990 |pages=25–32 |language=Portuguese |trans-title=Utchokwe Grammar Elements}}

Examples

class="wikitable"

!English

!Chokwe

Good Morning

-Response

|Menekenu

-Mwane

See you

|Ndo shimbu yikehe

Goodbye

|Salenuho

What is your name?

|Jina lie yena iya?

My name is ____

|Jina liami ___

{{Cite web|last=Akindipe|first=Omotola|title=Learn Chokwe (Greetings and Introduction)|url=https://chokwe.mofeko.com//greetings.html|url-status=live|website=Learn Chokwe|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210509162920/http://chokwe.mofeko.com/greetings.html |archive-date=2021-05-09 }}

References

External links

[http://chokwe.mofeko.com/ Learn Chokwe on the internet (Mofeko)] Omotola Akindipe, Geofrey Kakaula & Alcino Joné

Category:Chokwe-Luchazi languages

Category:Languages of Angola

Category:Languages of the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Category:Languages of Zambia

Category:Chokwe