Language quiz 5 March 2017 By Simon Here’s a recording in a mystery language. Can you identify the language, and do you know where it’s spoken?
Hmmm, retroflexion in a Bantu language. Could be just allophonic… or… is it Mushungulu (Somali Bantu Kizigua)? Reply
The language is Makonde (Chinimakonde), a Bantu language spoken mainly in southeast Tanzania and northern Mozambique. The recording comes from the GRN. Reply
Interesting! Do you know if the words that are identical to Swahili words are cognates or if the language borrows significantly from Swahili? Reply
To start the ball rolling I guess it’s a Bantu language spoken in East Africa.
Swahili!
It is a Bantu language, but isn’t Swahili.
Hmmm, retroflexion in a Bantu language. Could be just allophonic… or… is it Mushungulu (Somali Bantu Kizigua)?
It isn’t Mushungulu.
The language is Makonde (Chinimakonde), a Bantu language spoken mainly in southeast Tanzania and northern Mozambique.
The recording comes from the GRN.
Interesting! Do you know if the words that are identical to Swahili words are cognates or if the language borrows significantly from Swahili?
I don’t know.