Tumbuka language

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Tumbuka
chiTumbuka
Spoken in: Flag of Malawi Malawi
Flag of Zambia Zambia
Flag of Tanzania Tanzania 
Region: Africa
Total speakers: 2 million
Language family: Niger-Congo
 Atlantic-Congo
  Volta-Congo
   Benue-Congo
    Bantoid
     Southern
      Narrow Bantu
       Tumbuka
Language codes
ISO 639-1: none
ISO 639-2: tum
ISO 639-3: tum
Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode.

The Tumbuka language is a Bantu language which is spoken in parts of Malawi, Zambia, and Tanzania.

The language of the Tumbuka people is called chiTumbuka - the 'chi' in front of Tumbuka meaning 'the language of', similar to 'ki' in kiSwahili or 'se' in seTswana.

The World Almanac (1998) estimates approximately 2,000,000 Tumbuka speakers exist in the aforementioned three countries.

There are substantial differences between the form of Tumbuka spoken in urban areas (which borrows some words from Chichewa/Nyanja) and the "village" or "deep" Tumbuka spoken in villages. The Rumphi variant is often regarded as the most "linguistically pure", and is sometimes called "real Tumbuka".

Contents

[edit] Linguistic descriptions

[edit] Written forms

There is apparently no standard orthography.

[edit] Greetings

  • Mwawuka uli ? = Good morning. (How did you wake up?)
  • Tawuka makola. Kwali imwe? = Good morning. How are you? (I woke up well. I don't know about you?)
  • Tawuka makola = I am fine. (I woke up well.)
  • muli uli ? = How are you?
  • nili makola. Kwali imwe? = I am fine. How are you?
  • mwatandala uli? = Good afternoon. (How did you spend the day?)
  • natandala makola. Kwali imwe? = Good afternoon. How are you? (I spent the day well. I don't know about you?)
  • mwangele
  • mwangelenumwe
  • monile ?
  • yewo - Thank you.

[edit] Basic Vocabulary

  • Ba nyamata = boys
  • mu nyamata = boy
  • Ba sungwana = girls
  • mu sungwana = girl
  • ba mwali = young ladies
  • ba mama = mother
  • ba dada = dad
  • ba gogo = grandmother
  • ba sekulu = grandfather
  • ba nkazi = paternal aunty
  • ba mama ba choko / kulu = maternal aunty usually your mother's younger/older sister
  • ba sibweni = maternal uncle
  • ba dada ba choko/kulu = paternal uncle usually your father's younger/older brother
  • mu dumbu wane = my brother/ sister ( for addressing sibling of the opposite sex )
  • mu choko wane = my brother/ sister ( for addressing sibling of the same sex)
  • Enya = Yes
  • Yayi = No
  • Yewo = Thank you
  • nkumba chakurya! = I want some food !
  • munga nipako chakurya? = could you give me some food?
  • Ine nkhuyowoya chiTumbuka yayi! = I do not speak chiTumbuka!
  • Yendani makola. = Travel well.


[edit] Verbs

  • Kusebela = to play
  • Kuseka = to laugh
  • Kurya = to eat
  • Kugona = to sleep
  • Kwenda = to walk
  • Kuchimbila = to run
  • Kulemba = to write
  • Kuchapa = to do laundry
  • Kugeza = to bath
  • Kupika = to cook
  • Kulima = to dig / cultivate
  • Kupanda = to plant
  • Kuvina = to dance
  • Kwimba = to sing

[edit] Animals

  • Fulu = Tortoise
  • Kalulu = Hare
  • Chimbwi = hyena
  • njoka = Snake
  • nkhumba = pig
  • n'gombe = cow
  • nchebe = dog
  • chona/pusi = cat
  • mbelele = sheep
  • nkalamu = lion
  • mbuzi = goat

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Wikipedia
Tumbuka language edition of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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