The Lomwe (Lowe) language, Elomwe, also known as Western Makua, is the fourth-largest language in Mozambique. It belongs with Makua in the group of distinctive Bantu languages in the northern part of the country: The Makhuwa-using area proper (Nampula, etc.) is separated by a large Lomwe-speaking area from the related eChuwabo, although eMakhuwa neighbours eChuwabo in a more coastal zone. To the south, the rather more distantly related Sena (ChiSena) should be assigned to a group with Nyanja and Chewa, while the distinct group which includes Yao, Makonde and Mwera is found to the north.[3] Apart from the regional variations found within eMakhuwa proper, eLomwe uses ch where tt appears in eMakhuwa orthography: for instance eMakhuwa mirette ("remedy") corresponds to eLomwe mirecce, eMakhuwa murrutthu ("dead body") to eLomwe miruchu, eMakhuwa otthapa ("joy") to eLomwe ochapa.
| Lomwe | |
|---|---|
| Western Makhuwa | |
| Elomwe | |
| Native to | Malawi, Mozambique |
Native speakers | 2,520,000 (2017)[1] |
| Dialects |
|
| Official status | |
Recognised minority language in | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | ngl |
| Glottolog | lomw1241 |
P.32–33[2] | |
Unusual among Bantu languages is the infinitive of the verb with o- instead of the typically Bantu ku- prefix: omala (eMakhuwa) is "to finish", omeeela (also an eMakhuwa form) is "to share out".[3]
A mutually unintelligible form containing elements of Chewa, Malawian Lomwe, is spoken in Malawi. Maho (2009) separates out Ngulu (Mihavane) as a separate language, close to Malawi Lomwe.[2]
Phonology
editConsonants
edit| Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| plain | lab. | ||||||
| Plosive/ Affricate |
voiceless | p | t | tʃ | k | kʷ | |
| aspirated | pʰ | tʰ | tʃʰ | kʰ | kʷʰ | ||
| Fricative | voiceless | f | s | ʃ | h | ||
| voiced | v | z | |||||
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | |||
| Trill | r | ||||||
| Lateral | l | ʎ | |||||
| Approximant | j | w | |||||
Vowels
edit| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i iː | u uː | |
| Mid | e eː | o oː | |
| Open | a aː |
References
edit- ^ Lomwe at Ethnologue (26th ed., 2023)
- ^ a b Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
- ^ a b c Relatório do I Seminário sobre a Padronização da Ortografia de Línguas Moçambicanas (in Portuguese). Maputo: NELIMO. 1989. OCLC 25676262.
- ^ Bonalumi, João (1965). Língua lomwe-português: conversaséo, gramática, dicionário. Bergamo.
External links
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