| 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, whileMaʼa or "Inner Mbugu" (autonymkiMaʼa) consists ofCushitic 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 as a unique branch ofSouth 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:/ʔɬxŋ̊x/, for a total of 33. The table below displays the consonants of Mbugu in IPA format, along with Mous' (1995)[citation needed] 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] | |
| voiced | ɓ~b⟨b⟩ | d~ɗ⟨d⟩ | ɟ~ʄ⟨j⟩ | ɡ~ɠ⟨g⟩ | |||
| Prenasalized plosive | voiceless | ᵐ̥p⟨mhp⟩ | ⁿ̥t⟨nht⟩ | ᵑ̊k⟨nhk⟩ | |||
| voiced | ᵐb⟨mb⟩ | ⁿd⟨nd⟩ | ᵑɡ⟨ng⟩ | ||||
| Fricative | voiceless | f | s | ɬ⟨hl⟩[a] | ʃ⟨sh⟩ | x[a] | h |
| voiced | v | z | ɣ⟨gh⟩ | ||||
| prenasalized | ᵑ̊x⟨nhx⟩[a] | ||||||
| Sonorant | r | l | j⟨y⟩ | w | |||
The voiced stop series can be realized as either explosives[b],[d],[ɟ],[ɡ] or implosives[ɓ],[ɗ],[ʄ],[ɠ]. According to Mous especially the bilabial is most often an implosive.[6] Ehret describes the series as comprising three implosives/ɓ/,/ɗ/,/ʄ/), but an explosive/ɡ/ at the velar position.[7]
Ehret describes also a prenasalized palatal⟨nj⟩, and transcribes⟨č⟩ in place of⟨ch⟩, standing inAfrasianist phonetic notation for apostalveolar/tʃ/. He notes the consonant/v/ to occur only in the Bantu component of the vocabulary and assumesconsonant clusters in stead of voiceless prenasalized consonants.[8]
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⟩.
Mbugu is noted above all for its lexicon, which as noted is split in two distinctregisters: the Bantu-derived Normal Mbugu and the largely Cushitic-derived Inner Mbugu, in earlier descriptions treated as a distinct language in its entirety. Mbugu has thus at least twosynonyms for almost every basic concept: a Normal Mbugu word and a semantically exact equivalent Inner Mbugu word. Unlike typicalloanword layers, Inner Mbugu has thorough coverage ofbasic vocabulary and ofverbroots. This has given Mbugu notoriety as a case example of amixed language, especially in the earlier conception where Ma'a would be a distinct language from Normal Mbugu, thus comprising Bantu grammar but little to no Bantu vocabulary.
Several sources are recognized for the divergent Inner Mbugu lexicon. Approximately 60% derive from various branches of Cushitic, including theWest Rift languages; an unidentifiedEastern Cushitic source similar toOromo;Dahalo; and possibly alsoYaaku and the extinct and unrecordedTaita Cushitic. Many of these can be identified by the appearance of the Cushitic-derived phonemes/ɬ/,/x/ and/ʔ/. Other parts of the Inner Mbugu lexicon are derived also from other languages in the area, such asMaasai (possibly specifically theParakuyo dialect) andZigua. Speculative proposals on yet further sources have appeared, such asCarl Meinhof having suggested a West African source similar toEwe.[9] Directly neighboring Bantu languages such asShambala (Shambaa) have also contributed recent loanwords to Mbugu, but these are not restricted to Inner Mbugu and might appear in both registers.[10] A number of word derivation means also exist for converting Normal Mbugu words into Inner Mbugu versions. An affix-é is common, and also e.g. conversion of the lateral approximant/l/ into the lateral fricative/ɬ/ has been noted.
The lexicon of Normal Mbugu is, by contrast, typical Bantu and closely akin toPare, though it too contains recent loanwords e.g. fromSwahili.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
