Safwa (Kisafwa)

Safwa is a member of the Bantu branch of the Niger-Congo language family. It is spoken by about 160,000 people in the Mbeya, Chunya and Mbozi districts of the Mbeya Region in the southwest of Tanzania. Most Safwa people also speak Swahili, however use of Safwa remains strong within Safwa communities.

Safwa is also known as Kisafwa, Cisafwa or Ishisafwa. Dialects include Guruka, Mbwila, Poroto and Songwe. It is written with the Latin script, and there are some children books, translations of parts of the Bible and other literature in the language.

Safwa alphabet (Herufi za Kisafwa)

Safwa alphabet (Herufi za Kisafwa)

Download an alphabet chart for Safwa (Excel)

Sample text

Ɨmandɨ hwahali nɨ Nsyeleeku ɨmvwɨmi. Isiku limo yahavwɨmɨle ʉsanya gwonti, saga yahakhɨɨte nka hamo. Lwa hwila yahagwajile ʉmuswa, yahanda alye. Yahaliiye na ngute. Lwa yaalya ʉmuswa guula, yahalola ɨnyoota. Yahabhala hwi sooho amwele amɨnzɨ.

Source: https://www.safwalanguage.com/en/literature

Sample video

Links

Information about Safwa
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safwa_language
https://www.safwalanguage.com/en/how-read-safwa-1
http://olac.ldc.upenn.edu/language/sbk
https://www.sil.org/resources/search/language/sbk
https://tanzaniascripture.com/languages/safwa/

Bantu languages

Bangi, Basaa, Bemba, Bena, Benga, Bhaca, Bukusu, Bulu, Central Teke, Chichewa, Chokwe, Chuwabu, Comorian, Digo, Duala, Eton, Ewondo, Fang, Ganda/Luganda, Gogo, Gusii, Gwere, Haya, Hehe, Herero, Ibinda, Ikizu, Jita, Kamba, Kiga, Kikuyu, Kimbundu, Kinyarwanda, Kirundi, Kisi, Kongo, Konjo, Koti, Kukuya, Kunda, Kuria, Lambya, Lingala, Loma, Lozi, Luba-Katanga, Luchazi, Lunda, Luvale, Makaa, Makonde, Makhuwa, Mandekan, Maore, Masaaba, Mbukushu, Mbunda, Mende, Mongo, Mushungulu, Mwani, Nambya, Nande, Nkore, North Teke, Northern Ndebele (South Africa), Northern Ndebele (Zimbabwe), Northern Sotho, Nyamwezi, Nyakyusa, Nyemba, Nyole, Nyungwe, Nzadi, Oroko, OshiWambo, Pagibete, Punu, Ronga, Safwa, Sena, Sengele, Shona, Soga, Songe, Southern Ndebele, Southern Sotho, Sukuma, Swahili, Swati, Tanga, Tembo, Tonga, Tshiluba, Tsonga, Tswa, Tswana, Tumbuka, Umbundu, Venda, Vwanji, Xhosa, Yao, Yasa, Zigula, Zinza, Zulu

Languages written with the Latin alphabet

Page created: 20.08.24. Last modified: 19.08.24

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