Mwani language

The Mwani language, also known by its native name Kimwani, (Kimwani [kiˈmwani]) is a Bantu language spoken on the coast of the Cabo Delgado Province of Mozambique, including the Quirimbas Islands. Although it shares high lexical similarity (60%) with Swahili, it is not intelligible with it. It is spoken by around 167,150 people (including 147,150 who speeak it as a first language and 20,000 who use it as their second language). Speakers also use Portuguese (the official language of Mozambique), Swahili and Makhuwa language. Kiwibo, the dialect of the Island of Ibo is the prestige dialect. Kimwani (sometimes spelled as Quimuane) is also called Mwani (sometimes spelled as: Mwane, Muane) and Ibo. According to Anthony P. Grant[4] Kimwani of northern Mozambique appears to be the result of imperfect shift towards Swahili several centuries ago by speakers of Makonde, and Arends et al. suggest it might turn out to be a Makonde–Swahili mixed language.[5]

Mwani
Kimwani
Native toMozambique[1]
EthnicityMwani
Native speakers
L1: 150,000 (2017)[2]
L2: 20,000
Dialects
  • Kiwibo
  • Kisanga
  • Kinkojo
  • Kinsimbwa
Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-3wmw
Glottologmwan1247
G.403[3]

Name

The name of the language comes from the word "Mwani", meaning "beach". The prefix "Ki" means the language of, so "Kimwani" literally means "language of the beach".

Sounds

Kimwani (similar to Swahili) is unusual among sub-Saharan languages in having lost the feature of lexical tone (with the exception of some verbal paradigms where its use is optional). It does not have the penultimate stress typical of Swahili; it has movable pitch accent. Labialization of consonants (indicated by a [w] following the consonant) and palatalization of r (ry; [rj]) are frequent. Nasalization of vowels occurs only before a nasal consonant n followed by a consonant.

Vowels

Kimwani has five vowel phonemes: /a/, /e/, /i/, /o/, and /u/, that is: its vowels are close to those of Spanish and Hawaiian. It does not have a distinction of closed and open mid vowels typical of Portuguese or French and found in some other Bantu languages like Lingala, Fang, and perhaps Sukuma.

The pronunciation of the phoneme /i/ stands between International Phonetic Alphabet [i] and [e]. Vowels are never reduced, regardless of stress. The vowels are pronounced as follows:

  • /a/ is pronounced like the "a" in Arabic hajj
  • /e/ is pronounced like the "e" in beat
  • /i/ is pronounced like the "y" in yam
  • /o/ is pronounced like the "o" in or
  • /u/ is pronounced like the "u" in Sue.

Kimwani has no diphthongs; in vowel combinations, each vowel is pronounced separately.

Consonants
Consonants of Kimwani[6]
Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal m n ɲ ŋ
Plosive &
affricate		 voiceless p t tʃ k
voiced b d dʒ g
Fricative voiceless f s ʃ h
voiced v z
Trill r
Approximant w l j

Orthography

Kimwani can be spelled in three ways: using orthography similar to Swahili, using a slightly modified spelling system used in Mozambique schools or using a Portuguese-based spelling. Here are the differences:

Kimwani spelling systems differences
Swahili language spelling Modified spelling Portuguese spelling Translation
/tʃ/ chala cala tchala finger
/dʒ/ juwa juwa djua Sun
/k/ kitabu kitabu quitabo book
/ŋ/ ng'ombe ng'ombe ngombe cow
/ɲ/ nyoka nyoka nhoca snake
/s/ fisi fisi fissi hyena
/z/ meza meza mesa table
/ʃ/ kushanga kushanga cuxanga to admire
/w/ wakati wakati uacate time
/j/ kipya kipya quípia new
/i/ sukili sukili suquile sugar
/u/ ufu ufu ufo flour

Numbers

moja (1), mbili (2), natu (3), n’né (4), tano (5)

sita (6), saba (7), nane (8), kenda (9)

kumi (10), kumi na moja (11),kumi na mbili (12)

Ishirini (20), thelathini (30), arubaini (40), hamsini (50)

sitini (60), sabini (70), themanini (80), tisini (90)

mia (100), mia mbili (200)

Elfu (1000) elfu mbili (2000)

References
  1. Ethnologue list of countries where Kimwani is spoken
  2. Mwani at Ethnologue (26th ed., 2023) closed access
  3. Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
  4. Smith, Norval; Veenstra, Tonjes (2001). Creolization and Contact. John Benjamins Publishing. p. 94. ISBN 90-272-5245-9.
  5. Arends, Muysken, & Smith (1995), Pidgins and Creoles: An Introduction
  6. A sketch of Kimwani by Petzell, Malin
  • Petzell, Malin. A sketch of Kimwani (a minority language of Mozambique); Africa & Asia, #2, pp.  88–110, Göteborg University. 2002. ISSN 1650-2019
  • Namuna ya kufifunda kufyoma na kwandika (Manual de transição, língua Kimwani); SIL & JUWA; Pemba, Cabo Delgado, Mozambique. 2002.
  • Gerdes, Paulus (2008). A Numeração Em Moçambique. Lulu.com. ISBN 978-1-4357-2634-5.
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