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Kalanga language

{{Short description|Bantu language of Zimbabwe and Botswana}}

{{distinguish|Kalagan language|Zezuru language}}

{{Infobox language

| name = Kalanga

| nativename = TjiKalanga/Ikalanga

| pronunciation =

| states = Zimbabwe, Botswana

| region = SouthWest parts of Zimbabwe

Central, North Central and NorthEast Botswana

| ethnicity = Kalanga people

| speakers = 700,000 in Zimbabwe,
850,000 in Botswana

| date = 2012-2015

| ref = {{Cite news|url=https://www.ethnologue.com/language/kck|title=Kalanga|work=Ethnologue|access-date=2018-08-14|language=en}}

| familycolor = Niger-Congo

| fam2 = Atlantic–Congo

| fam3 = Benue–Congo

| fam4 = Southern

| fam5 = Bantu

| fam6 = Shona group (S.10)

| nation = {{flag|Zimbabwe}} (both Kalanga and Nambya)

Botswana-recognized language nationally.

| lc1 = kck

| ld1 = Kalanga

| lc2 = nmq

| ld2 = Nambya

| lingua = 99-AUT-ai

| guthrie = S.16

| glotto = kala1405

| glottorefname = Kalanga–Nambya

}}

Kalanga{{Pronunciation needed}}, or TjiKalanga (in Zimbabwe), is a Bantu language spoken by the Kalanga people in Botswana and Zimbabwe which belongs to the Shonic(Shona-Nyai) group of Language. It has an extensive phoneme inventory, which includes palatalised, velarised, aspirated and breathy-voiced consonants,{{Cite book|title=Ikalanga phonetics and phonology: a synchronic and diachronic study.|last=Mathangwane|first=Joyce T.|publisher=Stanford, CA: CSLI Publications.|year=1999}} as well as whistled sibilants.

Kalanga is recognized as an official language by the Zimbabwean Constitution of 2013 and is taught in schools in areas where its speakers predominate. The iKalanga language is closely related to the Nambya, TshiVenda, and KheLobedu languages of Zimbabwe and South Africa.

Classification and varieties

Linguists place Kalanga (S.16 in Guthrie's classification) and Nambya (in the Hwange region of Zimbabwe) as the western branch of the Shona group (or Shonic, or Shona-Nyai) group of languages, collectively coded as S.10.

Kalanga has a dialectal variation between its Botswana and Zimbabwean varieties and they use slightly different orthographies. Historically, Wentzel mentioned Kalanga proper in the east and Lilima (Tjililima, Humbe) on the west, as well as varieties that are now rare or extinct: Nyai (Rozvi), Lemba (Remba), Lembethu (Rembethu), Twamamba (Xwamamba), Pfumbi, Jaunda (Jawunda, Jahunda), and †Romwe, †Peri, †Talahundra (Talaunda).{{Cite book|title=The Relationship between Venda and Western Shona.|last=Wentzel|first=Petrus Johannes|publisher=Ph.D. Thesis. Univ. of South Africa|year=1981}}

Phonology

= Consonants =

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

! colspan="2" rowspan="2" |

! colspan="2" |Labial

! colspan="2" |Dental

! colspan="2" |Alveolar

! colspan="2" |Post-
alveolar

! rowspan="2" |Palatal

! colspan="2" |Velar

! rowspan="2" |Glottal

plain

!alveolar

!plain

!lab.

!plain

!lab.

!plain

!lab.

!plain

!lab.

align="center"

! rowspan="6" |Plosive

!voiceless

|{{IPA|p}}

|

|{{IPA|t̪}}

|

|

|({{IPA|tʷ}})

|

|

|

|{{IPA|k}}

|{{IPA|kʷ}}

|

voiced

|{{IPA|b}}

|

|{{IPA|d̪}}

|

|{{IPA|d}}

|{{IPA|dʷ}}

|

|

|

|{{IPA|ɡ}}

|{{IPA|ɡʷ}}

|

prenasal

|{{IPA|ᵐb}}

|

|

|

|{{IPA|ⁿd}}

|

|

|

|

|{{IPA|ᵑɡ}}

|{{IPA|ᵑɡʷ}}

|

aspirated

|{{IPA|pʰ}}

|

|{{IPA|t̪ʰ}}

|

|{{IPA|tʰ}}

|{{IPA|tʰʷ}}

|

|

|

|{{IPA|kʰ}}

|{{IPA|kʰʷ}}

|

breathy

|{{IPA|pʱ}}

|

|

|

|{{IPA|tʱ}}

|

|

|

|

|

|{{IPA|kʷʱ}}

|

ejective

|

|

|

|

|({{IPA|tʼ}})

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

rowspan="6" |Affricate

!voiceless

|

|{{IPA|p͡s}}

|{{IPA|t̪͡s̪}}

|

|

|

|{{IPA|t͡ʃ}}

|

|

|

|

|

voiced

|

|{{IPA|b͡z}}

|{{IPA|d̪͡z̪}}

|{{IPA|d̪͡z̪ʷ}}

|

|

|{{IPA|d͡ʒ}}

|

|

|

|{{IPA|b͡ɡ}}

|

prenasal

|

|

|

|

|

|

|{{IPA|ⁿd͡ʒ}}

|

|

|

|

|

aspirated

|

|

|{{IPA|t̪͡s̪ʰ}}

|{{IPA|t̪͡s̪ʰʷ}}

|

|

|

|

|

|

|{{IPA|p͡kʰ}}

|

breathy

|

|

|{{IPA|t̪͡s̪ʱ}}

|

|

|

|{{IPA|t͡ʃʱ}}

|

|

|

|

|

ejective

|

|

|

|

|

|

|{{IPA|t͡ʃʼ}}

|

|

|

|

|

align="center"

! rowspan="2" |Fricative

!voiceless

|{{IPA|f}}

|

|

|

|{{IPA|s}}

|{{IPA|sʷ}}

|{{IPA|ʃ}}

|{{IPA|ʃʷ}}

|

|({{IPA|x}})

|({{IPA|xʷ}})

|

voiced

|{{IPA|v}}

|

|

|

|{{IPA|z}}

|{{IPA|zʷ}}

|{{IPA|ʒ}}

|

|

|

|

|{{IPA|ɦ}}

align="center"

! colspan="2" |Nasal

|{{IPA|m}}

|

|

|

|{{IPA|n}}

|

|

|

|{{IPA|ɲ}}

|{{IPA|ŋ}}

|{{IPA|ŋʷ}}

|

align="center"

! colspan="2" |Trill

|

|

|

|

|{{IPA|r}}

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

align="center"

! rowspan="3" |Approximant

!lateral

|

|

|

|

|{{IPA|l}}

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

align="center"

!central

|{{IPA|β̞}}

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|{{IPA|j}}

|

|{{IPA|w}}

|

breathy

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|{{IPA|wʱ}}

|

  • Phonemes {{IPA|/tʰʷ, p͡s, b͡z, t͡ʃʼ/}} occur only as marginal phonemes.
  • Sounds {{IPA|/tʼ, tʷ, x, xʷ/}} are sounds that are borrowed from Tswana.

= Vowels =

Kalanga has a typical five-vowel system:

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

!

!Front

!Central

!Back

align="center"

!Close

|{{IPA|i}}

|

|{{IPA|u}}

align="center"

!Mid

|{{IPA|e}}

|

|{{IPA|o}}

align="center"

!Open

|

|{{IPA|a}}

|

References

{{Reflist}}

Further reading

  • Chebanne, A. M. & Rodewald, M. K & Pahlen, K. W. (1995) Ngatikwaleni iKalanga: A Manual for Writing Kalanga as Spoken in Botswana. Gaborone: Botswana Society.
  • Chebanne, Andy & Schmidt, Daniel (2010). "Kalanga: Summary Grammar". Cape Town, South Africa: CASAS Monograph 75.
  • Dube, Limukani T. 2021. "Zimbabwe’s Kalanga Orthography: The Strengths and Shortcomings of the 2008 Writing System." Arusha Working Papers in African Linguistics, 3(1): 42-51.
  • Letsholo, R. (2013). [https://dx.doi.org/10.1349/PS1.1537-0852.A.436 "Object Markers in Ikalanga"]. Linguistic Discovery. Dartmouth College.
  • Mathangwane, Joyce T. (1999) Ikalanga Phonetics and Phonology: A Synchronic and Diachronic Study. Stanford, CA: CSLI Publications.

External links

{{Incubator|code=kck}}

  • [http://kalanga.org/language/ Language section of the Kalanga Language and Cultural Development Association website]
  • http://talkingdictionary.swarthmore.edu/kalanga/

{{Languages of Botswana}}

{{Languages of Zimbabwe}}

{{Narrow Bantu languages (Zones N–S)}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Shona languages

Category:Languages of Botswana

Category:Languages of Zimbabwe