The Fwe language, also known as Chifwe, is a Bantu language spoken by the Fwe people (Mafwe or Bafwe) in Namibia and Zambia. It is closely related to the Subia language, Chisubia, and is one of several Bantu languages that feature click consonants.
| Fwe | |
|---|---|
| Chifwe | |
| Region | Zambezi region, Namibia and Western Province, Zambia |
Native speakers | 15,000[1] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | fwe |
| Glottolog | fwee1238 |
K.402[2] | |
| Person | Mufwe |
|---|---|
| People | Mafwe or Bafwe |
Silozi is used as the formal language in official, educational, and media contexts.[3][4]
Regional variation
editMain phonological differences between Zambian and Namibian Fwe, as noted by both the speakers and seen in the data:[5]
| Zambian Fwe | Namibian Fwe |
|---|---|
| loss of clicks | maintenance of clicks |
| overgeneralization of /l/ | [l] only as conditioned allophone of /r/ |
| epenthetic [h] frequently used | epenthetic [h] rarely used |
Morphological differences between Zambian and Namibian Fwe:
| Zambian Fwe | Namibian Fwe | |
|---|---|---|
| past | na- | a- |
| reflexive | kí- | rí- |
| remote past | na- | ni- |
| remote future | na- | (á)rá- |
| inceptive | sha- | shi- |
| connective | PP - o | PP - a |
| persistive | shí- | shí-/-sí- |
| negative imperative | ásha- | ásha-/-ása- |
| negative infinitive | shá- | shá-/-sá- |
| negative subjunctive | sha | sha-/-sa- |
| near future | mbo-/mba- | mbo |
Phonology
editFwe syllables consist, at most, of a consonant, a glide, and a vowel.
Consonants
editConsonant inventory of Fwe[6] Bilabial Dental/
LabiodentalAlveolar Postalveolar/
PalatalVelar Glottal Click plain ᵏǀ ᶢǀ prenasalized ⁿ̥ǀ ⁿǀ Nasal m n ɲ ŋ Stop voiceless p t k voiced b d ɡ prenasalized ᵐp ᵐb ⁿt ⁿd ᵑk ᵑɡ Fricative voiceless f s ʃ h voiced β v z ʒ prenasalized ᶬf ᶬv ⁿs ⁿz ⁿʃ Affricate plain tʃ prenasalized ⁿtʃ ⁿdʒ Tap ɾ Glide j w
- The plosives /p b d g/ are considered peripheral phonemes, as they are relatively infrequent in the lexicon. They are not reflexes of *p, *b, *d and *g as reconstructed for Proto-Bantu, but mainly appear in loanwords.[7]
- Though there are numerous cases where /h/ contrasts with zero, i.e. where /h/ can-not be omitted, [h] is also often used as an epenthetic consonant, in which case it freely commutes with [w], [j] and zero. Phonemic /h/, on the other hand, cannot commute with a glide nor can it be dropped.[8]
Vowels
editFwe has five contrastive vowel phonemes: /ɪ ʊ ɛ ɔ a/. Vowels contrast in length, as seen in the minimal pairs below:[9]
|
ku-kúr-a INF-grow-FV to grow |
ku-kúːr-a INF-shift-FV to shift, move house
|
Tone
editFwe has two underlying tones, high and low. At the surface level, these tones may be articulated as high, low, falling, or downstepped high tone.[10]
References
edit- ^ "The Mafwe People Group In All Countries". Joshua Project. Joshua Project. Retrieved 2 August 2024.
- ^ Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
- ^ Gunnink 2018, p. 4.
- ^ Gunnink 2018, p. 5.
- ^ Gunnink 2018, p. 5, 6.
- ^ Gunnink 2018, p. 11, 12.
- ^ Gunnink 2018, p. 13.
- ^ Gunnink 2018, p. 19.
- ^ Gunnink 2022, p. 32.
- ^ Gunnink 2022, p. 74.
- Gunnink, Hilde (2018). A grammar of Fwe: a Bantu language of Zambia and Namibia (PDF) (PhD thesis). Ghent University. hdl:1854/LU-8553074. Archived from the original (PDF) on Feb 17, 2022.
- Gunnink, Hilde (2022). A grammar of Fwe (PDF). Berlin: Language Science Press. doi:10.5281/zenodo.6669944. ISBN 9783961103881. Archived from the original on July 7, 2022.