Kalanga

About

Mthulisi Ncube, Nathaniel Ncube, and Pax Nkomo produced the content found in the initial version of the Kalanga Living Dictionary. In March 2014, representatives from Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages held a workshop for the languages of Zimbabwe at ALRI, the African Languages Research Institute at the University of Zimbabwe in Harare, under the direction of Professor Dr. Emmanuel Chabata. Language activists and linguists from seven language communities in Zimbabwe attended the workshop, during which participants built multi-media Talking Dictionaries and acquired various digital literacy and language documentation skills. They are all included as Zimbabwe Fellows on our Living Tongues Fellows page. In March 2021, after a Zoom Presentation by Living Tongues for Endangered Languages representatives, Tshidzanani T. Malaba and Mthulisi Ncube took up the challenge to continue with the Kalanga Living Dictionary and they will also be doing the field research.

Grammar

KALANGA ORTHOGRAPHY Compiled by Tshidzanani T. Malaba The Kalanga Alphabet {a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, n’, o, p, r, s, t, u, v, w, y, z} Vowels { a, e, i, o, u } a pala (scrap), -tala (draw line), bhika (cook) e pela (be finished), leba (say it), zose (all) i pila (worship) dila (pour), mbizi (zebra) o pola (cool down), tola (take), u pula (thrush), tula (put load down), nhu (person) Long vowels aa etjiyaa, woyaa ee yewee, ee ii tii, oo yetjoo, uu mhuu, duu Single Consonants. b banga (wound), behha (wood curving), busi (smoke) c cansi (grass mat), nzece (), nca (raca) d dula (silo), ludo (love), dama (word) f fala (absentminded), fodlo (tobacco), fa (die) g gala (sit), -go (wasp), -gudo (baboon) h hanga (guinea fowl) hama (relative), hali (pot), helo (there you are), h hama (open your mouth), hema (hate), homu (amarula nuts) haba (red), mahewu (sweet beer), he (chief), This italicised separation /h and h/ is meant for appreciation that the letter /h/ is currently used for two different phonetics. Separation of these phonetics using other letters of the alphabet or consonant combinations must be considered in future with a transition period. j jita (climb-down), jatja (temporal shelter), njiba (dove) 2 KALANGA ORTHOGRAPHY AND GLOSSARY OF TERMS FOR 2020 – KLCDA – TTM PROPOSAL MAY 2020 k kanyi (home), nkaka (milk), kupa (teak), l ludo (love), - linga (look), -loba (hit), lala(sleep) m mma (stand), -mona (twist), muka (wakeup) n naka (beauty), nonoka (slow), nhuwa (smell) n’ n’ombe (cattle), n’anga (traditional healer), n’an’aba (a facial expression of one who is about to cry) p pisa(burn), pala (scratch), paladza/palaja (destroy) r tjirara (cone shaped havest storage), bhaphiro (wing), bhururuka (fly) s siya (leave behind), senga(carry), sunga(tie), soba () t tola (take) tate (father), tebula (pour out), tuma(send) v vanga (mix), vula (water), vima(hunt) w wana (find), -wayenda (he went), wila (fall in) y yangu (mine), yemula (admire), yedu (ours) z…