Gweno language
| Gweno | |
|---|---|
| Kigweno | |
| Native to | Tanzania |
| Region | North Pare Mountains, Kilimanjaro Region |
| Ethnicity | 2,200 (2006)[1] |
Native speakers | (older adults)[1] |
Niger–Congo?
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | gwe |
| Glottolog | gwen1239 |
E.65[2] | |
| ELP | Gweno |
Gweno is a Bantu language spoken in the North Pare Mountains in the Kilimanjaro Region of Tanzania. The people known as the Gweno (or more properly Asu[3]) are a Chaga ethnic and linguistic group. Since the Chaga people are Bantu speakers, the adopted language contains dialects similar to that of the Kenyan language Kamba[4]. Gweno shares about 54% to 56% of its vocabulary with other Chaga dialects and 46% with Taita dialects. However, a large percentage of its vocabulary is not seen in the other dialects.[5] Also at the start of the 11th century, the Chaga people descended and migrated from the Bantu group in which they migrated to the foothills of mount Kilimanjaro[6]. The Gweno language is today spoken mostly by older adults, with younger generations having shifted to Asu and Swahili.[1] Ethnologue considers Gweno to be moribund;[1] the language is not being passed down because children have not been exposed to Gweno since the 1970s.[7] The generational shift from Gweno to either Asu or Swahili has certainly created shifts in dialect, however Gweno speakers do not see this as a threat. [8]
References
- ^ a b c d Gweno language at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
- ^ Phillipson, Gerard; Nurse, Derek. "Gweno, a little known Bantu language of Northern Tanzania" (PDF). CNWS Publications.
- ^ "Chaga people". Wikipedia. 2016-11-17.
- ^ "Gweno: UNESCO-CI". portal.unesco.org. Retrieved 2017-02-10.
- ^ "Chaga people". Wikipedia. 2016-11-17.
- ^ "Gweno: UNESCO-CI". portal.unesco.org. Retrieved 2017-02-09.
- ^ "Gweno, a little Bantu language of Northern Tanzania" (PDF).
Further reading
- Sewangi, Seleman S. (2008). Kigweno: Msamiati wa Kigweno–Kiswahili–Kiingereza / Gweno–Swahili–English Lexicon. ISBN 9987-691-16-1.
External links
- Gweno Language at The Endangered Languages Project
- Numeral Systems found at LingWeb
- Gweno, a little known Bantu language of Northern Tanzania