| Mbugu | |
|---|---|
| Kimbugu | |
| Native to | Tanzania |
| Region | Usambara Mountains |
| Ethnicity | 32,000Mbugu[1] |
Native speakers | (7,000 cited 1997)[1] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | mhd |
| Glottolog | mbug1240 |
G.221[2] | |
| Maʼa | |
|---|---|
| Kimaʼa | |
| Native to | Tanzania |
| Region | Usambara Mountains |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | None (mis) |
| Glottolog | None |
G.20A[2] | |
| ELP | Mbugu |
Maʼa is aBantu language of Tanzania.
TheMbugu people speak two divergentregisters, which have been treated as separate languages by some authorities (e.g. Tucker and Bryan):Mbugu or "Normal Mbugu" (autonymkiMbugu) is purely Bantu, with vocabulary closely related toPare, whileMaʼa or "Inner Mbugu" (autonymkiMaʼa) consists of an inheritedCushitic vocabulary withBantu morphology similar to that ofShambala and Pare. They share a grammar, to the point that their syntax is identical and a passage in one can be translated to the other simply by changing thecontent words.[3]
The Cushitic element was identified asSouth Cushitic by Ehret. However, Kießling (2001) notes a largeEast Cushitic admixture.[4] Mous presents the Cushitic element as a register of a Bantu language, and identifies it as largely East Cushitic rather than South Cushitic.[5]
Normal Mbugu distinguishes 29 consonants. Inner Mbugu distinguishes an additional four: /ʔ ɬ xŋ̊x/, for a total of 33. The table below displays the consonants of Mbugu in IPA format, along with Mous' (1995) practical orthography in angle brackets where it differs from IPA.
| Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| central | lateral | ||||||
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ⟨ny⟩ | ŋ | |||
| Plosive | voiceless | p | t | c⟨ch⟩ | k | ʔ⟨'⟩[a] | |
| implosive | b | d | ɟ⟨j⟩ | g | |||
| Prenasalized plosive | voiceless | ᵐ̥p⟨mhp⟩ | ⁿ̥t⟨nht⟩ | ᵑ̊k⟨nhk⟩ | |||
| voiced | ᵐb⟨mb⟩ | ⁿd⟨nd⟩ | ᵑɡ⟨ng⟩ | ||||
| Fricative | voiceless | f | s | ɬ⟨hl⟩[a] | ç⟨sh⟩ | x[a] | h |
| voiced | v | z | ɣ⟨gh⟩ | ||||
| prenasalized | ᵑ̊x⟨nhx⟩[a] | ||||||
| Sonorant | r | l | j⟨y⟩ | w | |||
Both registers of Mbugu distinguish five vowels.
| Front | Back | |
|---|---|---|
| High | i | u |
| Mid | e | o |
| Low | a | |
Three tones are distinguished in Mbugu: high, low, and falling. Low tone is default (unmarked). High tone is represented with an acute accent⟨á⟩, while falling tone is represented with the sequence⟨áa⟩.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
