| Shi | |
|---|---|
| Kishi/Mashi | |
| Native to | Democratic Republic of Congo |
| Region | Sud-Kivu Province |
Native speakers | (660,000 cited 1991)[1] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | Either:shr – Shinyg – Nyindu |
| Glottolog | shii1238 Shinyin1248 Nyindu |
JD.53,501[2] | |
Shi, orNyabungu, is aBantu language of theDemocratic Republic of the Congo.
The Nyindu variety is heavily influenced byLega, and speakers consider it a dialect of Lega rather than Shi, as Shi speakers see it. Maho (2009) leaves it unclassified as JD.501.[2]
The people who speak Mashi are known as Bashi. They are the largest tribe inSouth Kivu, whose capital city isBukavu.
The Bashi occupy a vast region known as Bushi. Like Ngweshe, Kabare, Katana, Luhuinja, Burhinyi, Kaziba, Nyengezi, and Idjui where live the Bahavu who are also part of this group; Idjui is a large island in Kivu lake between DRC and Rwanda.
| Labial | Dental/ Alveolar | Post-alv./ Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | |||
| Plosive/ Affricate | voiceless | p | t | t͡ʃ | k | |
| voiced | b | d | d͡ʒ | ɡ | ||
| Fricative | voiceless | f | s | ʃ | h | |
| voiced | v | z | ||||
| Rhotic | voiceless | r̥ | ||||
| voiced | r | |||||
| Lateral | l | |||||
| Approximant | w | j | ||||
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | iiː | uuː | |
| Close-mid | eeː | ooː | |
| Open | aaː |
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