Central Kilimanjaro language

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

Central Kilimanjaro
Central Chaga
Native to	Tanzania
Region	Kilimanjaro
Ethnicity	Chaga
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Volta-Congo Benue–Congo Bantoid Southern Bantoid Bantu Northeast Bantu Chaga–Taita Chaga Central Kilimanjaro
Dialects	Mochi Uru Mbokomu Wuunjo
Language codes
ISO 639-3	Either: vun – Wunjo old – Mochi
Glottolog	vunj1238  Vunjo moch1256  Mochi
Guthrie code	E.622 (ex-E.62a,62b)[1]

There are several dialects:^[1]

• Moshi (Old Moshi, Mochi, Kimochi)
• Uru
• Mbokomu
• Wuunjo (Wunjo, Vunjo, Kivunjo), including Kiruwa, Kilema, Mamba, Moramu (Marangu), Mwika

Moshi is the language of the Chaga cultural capital, Moshi, and the prestige dialect of the Chaga languages.^{[citation needed]}

Phonology

Vowels

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

Consonants

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

		Labial	Alveolar	Post- alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal		m	n		ɲ	ŋ
Stop	voiceless	p	t			k
	voiced	b	d
	prenasal	ᵐb	ⁿd			ᵑɡ
Affricate	voiceless	p̪f	ts	tʃ
	prenasal	ᶬb̪v	ⁿdz	ᶮdʒ
Fricative	voiceless	f	s	ʃ			h
	voiced	(β)
Rhotic	trill		r
	tap		ɾ
Lateral			l
Approximant		w		ɻ	j

• Sounds /k, ᵑɡ, l/ become palatalized as [kʲ, ᵑɡʲ, lʲ] when occurring before front vowels /i, e/.
• /w/ is heard as a fricative [β] when before front vowels /i, e/.

Consonants in the Vunjo dialect^[4]

		Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal		m	n	ɲ	ŋ
Stop	voiceless	p	t		k
	voiced	b	d		ɡ
	prenasal	ᵐb	ⁿd		ᵑɡ
Affricate	voiceless	p̪f	ts	tʃ
	prenasal	ᶬb̪v	ⁿdz	ᶮdʒ
Fricative	voiceless	f	s	ʃ		h
	voiced	(β)			ɣ
Rhotic	trill		r
	tap		ɾ
Lateral			l	(ʎ)
Approximant		w	ɹ	j

• Sounds /k, ᵑɡ, ɣ, l/ become palatalized as [kʲ, ᵑɡʲ, ɣʲ, lʲ] when occurring before front vowels /i, e/.
• /l/ when palatalized as [lʲ] can also have a palatal lateral allophone [ʎ] in the Vunjo dialect.
• /w/ is heard as a fricative [β] when before front vowels /i, e/.^[4][3]

Bibliography

• Dalgish, Gerard M. (1978) 'The syntax and semantics of the morpheme ni in kiVunjo (Chaga)', Kiswahili, 48, 1, 42–56.
• Philippson, Gérard (1984) '"Gens des bananeraies" (Tanzanie): contribution linguistique à l'histoire culturelle des Chaga du Kilimanjaro' (Cahier no. 16.) Paris: Editions Recherche sur les civilisations.