West Kilimanjaro language

West Kilimanjaro, or West Chaga, is a Bantu language of Tanzania spoken by the Chaga people.

West Kilimanjaro
West Chaga
Native to	Tanzania
Region	Machame, Kilimanjaro Region
Ethnicity	Chaga
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Benue–Congo Bantoid Southern Bantoid Bantu Northeast Bantu Chaga–Taita Chaga West Kilimanjaro
Language codes
ISO 639-3	Either: jmc – Machame rwk – Rwa
Glottolog	west2852
Guthrie code	E.621 (ex-E.61,62a)[1]

There are several dialects:^[1]

• Rwa (Rwo, Meru, Kirwo), or Meru, from Mount Meru
• Mashami (Kimashame), or "Hai" (Kihai)
• Siha
• Kiwoso (Kibosho including Kindi, Kombo, Mweka)
• Masama
• Ng’uni

Phonology

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
High	i iː		u uː
Mid	e eː		o oː
Low		a aː

Consonants

Consonants in the Mashame dialect^[2][3]

		Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal		m	n	ɲ	ŋ
Stop	voiceless	p	t		k
	voiced	b	d	(ɟ)
	prenasal	ᵐb	ⁿd		ᵑɡ
Fricative	voiceless	f	s	ʃ		(h)
	voiced	β			ɣ
Rhotic			r
Lateral	glide		l
	fricative		ɮ
Approximant		w		j

• /ɣ/ may also be heard as uvular [ʁ] in free variation.
• /β/ can also be realized as [ʋ] or [w] among some speakers.
• [ɟ] is found in loanwords.^[3]
• /h/ only rarely occurs.^[2]

References

1. Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
2. Rugemalira, Josephat Muhozi (2008). Kimashami: Kamusi ya Kimashami-Kiingereza-Kiswahili. Dar es Salaam: Dept. of Foreign Languages and Linguistics, University of Dar es Salaam.
3. Rugemalira, Josephat M.; Phanuel, Benedictor (2012). A grammatical sketch of Kimashami. University of Dar es Salaam.