Kamba language

For other uses, see Kamba language (disambiguation).

Kamba/ˈkæmbə/,^[3] or Kikamba, is a Bantu language spoken by millions of Kamba people, primarily in Kenya, as well as thousands of people in Uganda, Tanzania, and elsewhere. In Kenya, Kamba is generally spoken in four counties: Machakos, Kitui, Makueni, and Kwale. The Machakos dialect is considered the standard variety and has been used in translation. The other major dialect is Kitui.^[4]

Kamba
Kikamba
Native to	Kenya, Tanzania
Region	Machakos, Kitui, Makueni, and Shimba Hills
Ethnicity	Akamba
Native speakers	4.6 million (2019 census)[1] 600,000 L2 speakers
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Volta-Congo Benue–Congo Bantoid Southern Bantoid Bantu Northeast Bantu Thagiicu East Thagiicu Kamba
Dialects	Masaku Mumoni North Kitui South Kitui
Language codes
ISO 639-2	kam
ISO 639-3	Either: kam – Kamba dhs – Dhaiso (Thaisu)
Glottolog	kamb1297
Guthrie code	E.55–56[2]
ELP	Dhaiso

Kamba has lexical similarities to other Bantu languages such as Kikuyu, Meru, and Embu, of whom together they form the GEMA community.

Dance song. Male solo. Akamba. Machakos. 1911–12.

Dance song. Machakos. Akamba. 1911-12

The Swedish Museum of World Culture holds field recordings of the Kamba language made by Swedish ethnographer Gerhard Lindblom in 1911–12.^[5] Lindblom used phonograph cylinders to record songs along with other means of documentation in writing and photography. He also gathered objects, and later presented his work in The Akamba in British East Africa (1916).

Phonology

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i iː		u uː
Close-mid	e eː		o oː
Open-mid	ɛ ɛː		ɔ ɔː
Open		a aː

Consonants

		Labial	Dental	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar
Stop		(b)		t   (d)		k   (ɡ)
Affricate					tʃ   (dʒ)
Fricative		β	ð	s   (z)
Nasal		m	n̪	n		ŋ
Lateral				l
Approximant	labial				ɥ	w
	central		(ð̞)	j

• /tʃ/ occurs as a result of palatalization among /k/ before /j/.
• In post-nasal positions, sounds /t, k, s, tʃ/ then become voiced as [d, ɡ, z, dʒ]. The voiced fricative /β/ then becomes a voiced stop [b] in post-nasal position.
• The palatal glide sound /j/ is typically articulated to the front of the mouth, so that is interdental as [ð̞] or alveolo-palatal as [j̟]. When preceding a consonant however, it is always heard as a regular palatal glide [j].^[6]