Shona language
Shona is a Bantu language spoken by the Shona people of Zimbabwe and Mozambique. The term is variously used to collectively describe all the Central Shonic varieties or specifically Standard Shona, a variety codified in the mid-20th century. By the broader definition, the language is spoken by over 14 million people.
The larger group of historically related languages—called Shona or Shonic languages by linguists—also includes Ndau and Kalanga. In Guthrie's classification of Bantu languages, zone S.10 designates the Shonic group.
Similar languages
Shona is closely related to Ndau, Kalanga and is related to Tonga, Chewa, Tumbuka, Tsonga and Venda.Ndau and Kalanga are former dialects of Shona but became independent languages in 2013 because their grammar is very slightly less similar to those of Korekore, Zezuru and Manyika.
Shona is also similar to Swahili and Tswana.
Instruction
Shona is a written standard language with an orthography and grammar that was codified during the early 20th century and fixed in the 1950s. In the 1920s, the Rhodesian administration was faced with the challenge of preparing schoolbooks and other materials in the various languages and dialects and requested the recommendation of South African linguist Clement Doke. The language is now described through monolingual and bilingual dictionaries.The first novel in Shona, Solomon Mutswairo's Feso, was published in 1957. Subsequently, hundreds of novels, short story collections and poetry volumes in Shona have appeared. Shona is taught in the schools, but after the first few grades it is not the general medium of instruction for subjects other than Shona grammar and literature.
Varieties
The last systematic study of varieties and sub-varieties of the Central Shona dialect continuum was that done by Clement Doke in 1930, so many sub-varieties are no longer functional and should be treated with caution.According to information from Ethnologue:
- S14 Karanga. Spoken in southern Zimbabwe, near Masvingo. It is also mostly spoken in the Midlands province, most notably in Gutu, Masvingo, Mberengwa and Zvishavane districts. Some people refer it as Vhitori.
- S12 Zezuru. Spoken in Mashonaland east and central Zimbabwe, near Harare. The standard language. Standard Shona is based on Zezuru, and this has led to the decline and possible extinciton of other related languages now referred to as "Shona dialects".
- S11 Korekore. Spoken in northern Zimbabwe, Mvurwi, Bindura, Mt Darwin, Guruve, Chiweshe, Centenary.
Maho recognizes Korekore, Zezuru, Manyika, Karanga, and Ndau as distinct languages within the Shona cluster.
Phonology
Shona allows only open syllables. Consonants belong to the next syllable. For example, mangwanani is syllabified as ; Zimbabwe is. Shona is written with a phonemic orthography, with only slightly different pronunciation or grammatical differences according to variety. Shona has two tones, a high and a low tone, but these tones are not indicated in the standard writing system.Vowels
Shona has a simple 5-vowels system:. This inventory is quite common cross-linguistically, with similar systems occurring in Greek, Spanish, Tagalog, Swahili and Japanese. Each vowel is pronounced separately even if they fall in succession. For example, Unoenda kupi? is pronounced.Consonants
The consonant sounds of Shona are:Whistled sibilants
Shona and other languages of Southern and Eastern Africa include whistling sounds,.Shona's whistled sibilants are the fricatives "sv" and "zv" and the affricates "tsv" and "dzv".
| Sound | example | translation | notes |
| sv | masvosvobwa | "shooting stars" | "sv" can be represented by, from the Extensions to the International Phonetic Alphabet |
| sv | masvosve | "ants" | "sv" can be represented by, from the Extensions to the International Phonetic Alphabet |
| tsv | tsvaira | "sweep" | |
| svw | masvavembasvwi | "schemer" | |
| zv | zvizvuvhutswa' | "gold nuggets" | |
| dzv | akadzva | "he/she was unsuccessful" | |
| zvw | huzvweverere | "emotions" | |
| nzv | nzvenga | "to dodge" | |
| zvc | muzvcazi | "the Milky Way" | Dental clicks. Only found in Ngova, Karanga dialect. |
| svc | chisvcamba | "tortoise" | Dental clicks. Only found in Ngova, Karanga dialect. |
Whistled sibilants stirred interest among the Western public and media in 2006, due to questions about how to pronounce the name of Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of the Movement for Democratic Change – Tsvangirai in Zimbabwe. The BBC Pronunciation Unit recommended the pronunciation "chang-girr-ayi".
Special characters
- ' - the apostrophe can be used after the character "n" to create a sound similar to the "-ng" from the English word "ping". An example word is n'anga, which is the word for a traditional healer.
Alphabet
- A - a -
- B - ba -
- Bh - bha -
- Ch - cha -
- D - da -
- Dh - dha -
- E - e -
- F - fa -
- G - ga -
- H - ha -
- I - i -
- J - ja -
- K - ka -
- M - ma -
- N - na -
- Nh - nha -
- O - o -
- P - pa -
- R - ra -
- S - sa -
- Sh - sha -
- T - ta -
- U - u -
- V - va -
- Vh - vha -
- W - wa -
- Y - ya -
- Z - za -
- Zh - zha -
Letter combinations
- bv -
- dz -
- dzv -
- dy -
- mb -
- mbw -
- mh -
- mv -
- nd -
- ng -
- nj -
- ny -
- nz -
- nzv -
- pf -
- sv -
- sw -
- ts -
- tsv -
- ty -
- zv -
Old alphabet
In 1955, these were replaced by letters or digraphs from the basic Latin alphabet. For example, today is used for and is used for.
Grammar
Noun classesShona nouns are grouped by noun class based on:
- Meanings e.g. words found in class 1 and 2 describe a person: munhu is in mupanda 1 and musikana is in mupanda 2.
- Prefix e.g. words in class 1 have prefix mu-, class 8 zvi-, class 10 dzi-, class 11 ru-, etc. Empty prefix units refer to words that do not require a prefix
- Singular and plural forms e.g. words found in class 8 are plurals of class 7: zvikoro in class 8 is the plural form of chikoro in class 7.
- Agreement e.g. words in class 5 have accordance of the marker -ri- with pronouns and modifiers: garwe iri, dombo iri, gudo iri ; iri means 'this'.
Sample text in Shona
Translation
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
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