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Mushunguli is spoken by about 23,000 people from the [[Somali Bantu|Bantu]] minority ethnic of southern Somalia, in [[Jamaame]], [[Kismayo]], [[Mogadishu]], and the [[Juba River]] valley.<ref name="Ethnologue">[http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=xma Ethnologue – Mushungulu]</ref>
Mushunguli is spoken by about 23,000 people from the [[Somali Bantu|Bantu]] minority ethnic of southern Somalia, in [[Jamaame]], [[Kismayo]], [[Mogadishu]], and the [[Juba River]] valley.<ref name="Ethnologue">[http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=xma Ethnologue – Mushungulu]</ref>


It shows affinities with other adjacent Bantu varieties. In particular, Mushunguli shares strong lexical and grammatical similarities with the language of the [[Zigua people]] who inhabit [[Tanzania]], one of the areas in south-eastern Africa where many Bantu in Somalia are known to have been captured from as slaves during the 19th century.<ref name="Refugee Reports">[http://www.refugees.org/data/refugee_reports/archives/2002/nov.pdf Refugee Reports November 2002 Volume 23, Number 8]</ref> [[Ethnologue]] notes that the Mushunguli in Tanzania are the ''[[Zigula people|Wazegua]]''.<ref name="Ethnologue"/>
It shows affinities with other adjacent Bantu varieties. In particular, Mushunguli shares strong lexical and grammatical similarities with the language of the [[Zigua people]] who inhabit [[Tanzania]], one of the areas in south-eastern Africa where many Bantu in Somalia are known to have been captured from as slaves during the 19th century.<ref name="Refugee Reports">[http://www.refugees.org/data/refugee_reports/archives/2002/nov.pdf Refugee Reports November 2002 Volume 23, Number 8] {{wayback|url=http://www.refugees.org/data/refugee_reports/archives/2002/nov.pdf |date=20091111104732 }}</ref> [[Ethnologue]] notes that the Mushunguli in Tanzania are the ''[[Zigula people|Wazegua]]''.<ref name="Ethnologue"/>


Many Mushunguli Bantu men also speak as working languages the [[Afro-Asiatic languages|Afro-Asiatic]] [[Maay language|Maay]] and [[Somali language|Somali]] languages of their [[Somali people|Somali]] neighbors.<ref name="Ethnologue"/>
Many Mushunguli Bantu men also speak as working languages the [[Afro-Asiatic languages|Afro-Asiatic]] [[Maay language|Maay]] and [[Somali language|Somali]] languages of their [[Somali people|Somali]] neighbors.<ref name="Ethnologue"/>

Revision as of 19:37, 20 July 2016

Zigula
Mushunguli
Native toTanzania, Somalia
EthnicityZigula people, Somali Bantu
Native speakers
(380,000 cited 1993–2006)[1]
Dialects
  • Mushunguli
  • Zigula
Language codes
ISO 639-3Either:
ziw – Zigula
xma – Mushunguli
Glottologzigu1244
G.31,311[2]
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.

Zigula (Zigua) is a Bantu language of Tanzania and of Somalia, where it is known as Mushunguli (Mushungulu).[3] It is best known for the Mushunguli dialect.

Mushunguli

Mushunguli is spoken by about 23,000 people from the Bantu minority ethnic of southern Somalia, in Jamaame, Kismayo, Mogadishu, and the Juba River valley.[4]

It shows affinities with other adjacent Bantu varieties. In particular, Mushunguli shares strong lexical and grammatical similarities with the language of the Zigua people who inhabit Tanzania, one of the areas in south-eastern Africa where many Bantu in Somalia are known to have been captured from as slaves during the 19th century.[5] Ethnologue notes that the Mushunguli in Tanzania are the Wazegua.[4]

Many Mushunguli Bantu men also speak as working languages the Afro-Asiatic Maay and Somali languages of their Somali neighbors.[4]

Phonology

There is no official or traditional orthography for Mushunguli. However, spelling practices from related Bantu languages can easily be adopted to render the language with minimal phonetic diacritics.

Vowels

Front Back
High ɪ ʊ
Mid ɛ ɔ
Open a

Consonants

Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar
Nasal m n ɲ ŋ
Stop plain p t t͡ʃ k
Implosive ɓ ɗ ʄ ɠ
Fricative voiceless f θ ~ s ʃ
voiced v ð ~ z ɦ
Approximant w l j
Flap ɾ

The fricatives [z] and [s] freely vary with [ð] and [θ], respectively.

Tone

Vowel length is not distinctive, but phonetic length is especially associated with falling tones as in chîga 'leg'. The tone system is similar to that of Tanzanian Zigua.[6][7]

Notes

  1. ^ Zigula at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
    Mushunguli at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
  3. ^ Declich, Francesca. 1995. "Gendered Narratives," History, and Identity: Two Centuries along the Juba River among the Zigula and Shanbara. History in Africa 22: 93-122.
  4. ^ a b c Ethnologue – Mushungulu
  5. ^ Refugee Reports November 2002 Volume 23, Number 8 Archived 2009-11-11 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ Kenstowicz, Michael. 1989. Tone and accent in Kizigua – a Bantu language. in P.M. Bertinetto & M. Loporcaro (eds). Certamem phonologicum: papers from the 1987 Cortona Phonology Meeting, pp. 177-188. Torino: Rosenberg and Sellier.
  7. ^ Kenstowicz, Michael. & Charles Kisseberth. 1990. Chizigula tonology: the word and beyond. In S. Inkelas & D. Zec(eds) The phonology-syntax connection, pp. 163-194. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
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