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Shona (or chiShona) is a Bantu language
Bantu languages

The Bantu languages constitute a grouping belonging to the Niger-Congo languages family. This grouping is deep down in the genealogical tree of the Bantoid grouping, which in turn is deep down in the Niger-Congo tree....
, native to the Shona people
Shona people

Shona is the name collectively given to several groups of people in Zimbabwe and southern Mozambique. Numbering about nine million people, who speak a range of related dialects whose standardized form is also known as Shona language ....
 of Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe , is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the continent of Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo River rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east....
 and southern Zambia
Zambia

The Republic of Zambia is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west....
; the term is also used to identify peoples who speak one of the Shona language dialects, namely Zezuru, Karanga
Karanga

Karanga may mean several things:* Karanga - The calling of visitors onto a marae.* A name for the Ikalanga language.* A Caf?_del_Mar#Volume_11_.28once.29, a song by Rhian Sheehan....
, Manyika
Manyika

The Manyika are a Shona people sub-tribal grouping with their own language variant, the Manyika language. The Manyika predominantly emanate from the Eastern region of Zimbabwe....
, Ndau
Ndau

The Ndau is an ethnic group which inhabits the Zambezi valley, in central Mozambique all the way to the coast, and eastern Zimbabwe, south of Mutare....
 and Korekore. Shona is an official language of Zimbabwe, along with Ndebele and English
English language

English is a West Germanic language that originated in Anglo-Saxon England and has lingua franca status in many parts of the world as a result of the military, economic, scientific, political and cultural influence of the British Empire in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries and that of the United States from the mid 20th century onwa...
. Shona speakers comprise more than 80% of Zimbabwe's population and number about 6,225,000. Shona is also spoken by a substantial number of people in Mozambique
Mozambique

Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique , is a country in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west and Swaziland and South Africa to the southwest....
.






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Shona (or chiShona) is a Bantu language
Bantu languages

The Bantu languages constitute a grouping belonging to the Niger-Congo languages family. This grouping is deep down in the genealogical tree of the Bantoid grouping, which in turn is deep down in the Niger-Congo tree....
, native to the Shona people
Shona people

Shona is the name collectively given to several groups of people in Zimbabwe and southern Mozambique. Numbering about nine million people, who speak a range of related dialects whose standardized form is also known as Shona language ....
 of Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe , is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the continent of Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo River rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east....
 and southern Zambia
Zambia

The Republic of Zambia is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west....
; the term is also used to identify peoples who speak one of the Shona language dialects, namely Zezuru, Karanga
Karanga

Karanga may mean several things:* Karanga - The calling of visitors onto a marae.* A name for the Ikalanga language.* A Caf?_del_Mar#Volume_11_.28once.29, a song by Rhian Sheehan....
, Manyika
Manyika

The Manyika are a Shona people sub-tribal grouping with their own language variant, the Manyika language. The Manyika predominantly emanate from the Eastern region of Zimbabwe....
, Ndau
Ndau

The Ndau is an ethnic group which inhabits the Zambezi valley, in central Mozambique all the way to the coast, and eastern Zimbabwe, south of Mutare....
 and Korekore. Shona is an official language of Zimbabwe, along with Ndebele and English
English language

English is a West Germanic language that originated in Anglo-Saxon England and has lingua franca status in many parts of the world as a result of the military, economic, scientific, political and cultural influence of the British Empire in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries and that of the United States from the mid 20th century onwa...
. Shona speakers comprise more than 80% of Zimbabwe's population and number about 6,225,000. Shona is also spoken by a substantial number of people in Mozambique
Mozambique

Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique , is a country in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west and Swaziland and South Africa to the southwest....
. Other countries that host Shona language speakers are Zambia
Zambia

The Republic of Zambia is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west....
 and Botswana
Botswana

The Republic of Botswana , is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Citizens of Botswana are called "Batswana" , regardless of ethnicity. Formerly a British protectorate of Bechuanaland Protectorate, Botswana adopted its new name after becoming independent within the Commonwealth of Nations on 30 September 1966....
. The total number of Shona speakers is at least 7,000,000.

Shona is a written standard language with an orthography
Orthography

The orthography of a language specifies the correct way of using a specific writing system to write the language. Orthography is derived from Greek language ????? orth?s and ???fe?? gr?phein ....
 and grammar
Grammar

Grammar is the field of linguistics that covers the conventions governing the use of any given natural language. It includes morphology and syntax, often complemented by phonetics, phonology, semantics, and pragmatics....
 that was codified during the early 20th century and fixed in the 1950s. The first novel
Novel

File:2009 stapelweise Neuerscheinungen im Buchladen.JPGA novel is today a long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern Romance and in the tradition of the novella....
 in Shona, Solomon Mutswairo
Solomon Mutswairo

Solomon Mangwiro Mutswairo is a Zimbabwean novelist and poet. A member of the Zezuru people of central Zimbabwe, Mutswairo wrote the first novel in the Shona language, Feso....
's Feso, was published in 1957. Shona is taught in the school
School

File:Primary Student of Pakistan.JPGA school , is an institution designed to allow and encourage students to education, under the supervision of teachers....
s but is not the general medium of instruction in other subjects. It has a literature and is described through monolingual and bilingual dictionaries
Dictionary

A dictionary is a book of Alphabetical order listed words in a specific language, with definitions, etymologies, pronunciations, and other information; or a book of alphabetically listed words in one language with their equivalents in another, also known as a lexicon....
 (chiefly Shona - English). Modern Shona is based on the dialect spoken by the Karanga
Karanga

Karanga may mean several things:* Karanga - The calling of visitors onto a marae.* A name for the Ikalanga language.* A Caf?_del_Mar#Volume_11_.28once.29, a song by Rhian Sheehan....
 people of Masvingo Province, the region around Great Zimbabwe
Great Zimbabwe

The Great Zimbabwe, or "stone buildings", is the name given to stone ruins spread out over a 722 ha area within the modern-day country of Zimbabwe, which itself is named after the ruins....
, and Zezuru people of central and northern Zimbabwe. However, all Shona dialects are officially considered to be of equal significance and are taught in local schools.

Shona is a member of the great family of Bantu languages
Bantu languages

The Bantu languages constitute a grouping belonging to the Niger-Congo languages family. This grouping is deep down in the genealogical tree of the Bantoid grouping, which in turn is deep down in the Niger-Congo tree....
. In Guthrie's
Malcolm Guthrie

Malcolm Guthrie , professor of Bantu languages, is known primarily for his classification of Bantu languages . The classification, although certainly not undisputed, and probably somewhat outdated, is still the most widely used....
 zonal classification of Bantu languages, zone S10 designates a dialect continuum
Dialect continuum

A dialect continuum is a range of dialects spoken across a large geographical area, differing only slightly between areas that are geographically close, and gradually decreasing in mutual intelligibility as the distances become greater....
 of closely related varieties, including Shona proper, Manyika
Manyika language

The Manyika language is a broad dialect of the Shona language.Largely spoken by the Manyika people in the eastern part of Zimbabwe and across the border in Mozambique it encompasses ChiBocha, ChiNdau, ChiUngwe and ChiManyika from which the broad Manyika Language gets its name from....
, Nambya, and Ndau
Ndau language

Ndau is one of the Shona language dialects. It is spoken by people from the region of Chipinge. Some of its words are very similar to that of Sindebele language and often this dialect can sound very different from that of basic Shona....
, spoken in Zimbabwe and central Mozambique; Tawara and Tewe, found in Mozambique; and Ikalanga
Ikalanga language

Ikalanga or Kalanga is a Bantu languages language spoken in Botswana by 150,000 people and in Zimbabwe by 700,000 people who are called the BaKalanga....
 of Botswana.

Shona speakers most likely moved into present day Zimbabwe during the great Bantu expansion.

Shona has five vowel
Vowel

In phonetics, a vowel is a sound in spoken language, such as English ah! or oh! , pronounced with an open vocal tract so that there is no build-up of air pressure at any point above the glottis....
s — a, e, i, o, u — and a variety of consonant
Consonant

In articulatory phonetics, a consonant is a speech sound that is articulated with complete or partial closure of the upper vocal tract, the upper vocal tract being defined as that part of the vocal tract that lies above the larynx....
s, including the peculiar "whistling sounds" transcribed as "zv" (possibly the most frequent; e.g. zvakanaka, "very well"), "dzv", "sv" and "tsv" . It is a tonal language
Tonal language

A tonal language is a language that uses tone to distinguish words. Tone is a Phonology common to many languages around the world . Various Chinese language languages such as Mandarin, Min Nan/Taiwanese Minnan and Cantonese are perhaps the most well-known of such languages....
, though tone is not represented in spelling.

Dialects


There are many dialect differences in Shona, but a standardized dialect is recognized. According to information from Ethnologue:

  • Toko dialect


  • Hwesa dialect


  • Karanga dialect (Chikaranga). Spoken in southern Zimbabwe, near Masvingo
    Masvingo

    Masvingo is a town in south-eastern Zimbabwe and the capital of Masvingo Province. It the town close to Great Zimbabwe the national monument from which the country takes its name....
    .
Subdialects Duma, Jena, Mhari (Mari), Ngova, Venda [not the Venda language
Venda language

Venda, also known as Tshiven?a, or Luven?a, is a Bantu languages language. The majority of Venda speakers live in South Africa , but there are also speakers in Zimbabwe....
), Nyubi, Govera.

  • Zezuru dialect (Chizezuru, Bazezuru, Bazuzura, Mazizuru, Vazezuru, Wazezuru). Spoken in Mashonaland
    Mashonaland

    Mashonaland is a region in northern Zimbabwe. It is the home of the Shona people.Currently, Mashonaland is divided into three provinces, with a total population of about 3 million:...
     and central Zimbabwe, near Harare
    Harare

    Harare is the Capital of Zimbabwe. It has an estimated population of 1,600,000, with 2,800,000 in its metropolitan area . Administratively, Harare is an independent city equivalent to a province....
    . The standard language.
Subdialects Shawasha, Gova, Mbire, Tsunga, Kachikwakwa, Harava, Nohwe, Njanja, Nobvu, Kwazwimba (Zimba).

  • Korekore dialect (Northern Shona, Goba, Gova, Shangwe). Spoken in northern Zimbabwe, near Mvurwi.
Subdialects: Budya, Gova, Tande, Tavara, Nyongwe, Pfunde, Shan Gwe.

Languages with partial intelligibility with Shona, of which the speakers are considered to be ethnically Shona, are the Ndau language
Ndau language

Ndau is one of the Shona language dialects. It is spoken by people from the region of Chipinge. Some of its words are very similar to that of Sindebele language and often this dialect can sound very different from that of basic Shona....
, spoken in Mozambique and Zimbabwe, and the Manyika language
Manyika language

The Manyika language is a broad dialect of the Shona language.Largely spoken by the Manyika people in the eastern part of Zimbabwe and across the border in Mozambique it encompasses ChiBocha, ChiNdau, ChiUngwe and ChiManyika from which the broad Manyika Language gets its name from....
, spoken in eastern Zimbabwe, near Mutare. Ndau literacy material has been introduced into primary schools.

Alphabet and pronunciation

Shona's five vowels (a, e, i, o, u) are pronounced as in Spanish: . Each vowel is pronounced separately even if they fall in succession. For example, "Unoenda kupi?" (Where do you go?) is pronounced [u.no.e.nda ku.pi].

The letters of the alphabet are,

LetterIPA
a
b
bh
ch
d
dh
dy
dzv
e
f
g
h
i
j
k
m
mh
n’
n
o
p
r
sh
sv
svw
sw
t
tsv
ty
u
v
vh
w
y
z
zh
zv
zvw
zw


The digraphs ps and bz are pronounced and , and mbw is .

Whistled sibilants

Shona and other languages of Southern and Eastern Africa include whistling sounds, unlike most other languages where whistling signals a speech disorder. (This should not be confused with whistled speech.)

Shona's whistled sibilants are the fricatives "sv" and "zv" and the affricates "tsv" and "dzv".

Sound example translation notes
svmasvosvobwa"shooting stars"
masvosve"ants"
tsvtsvaira"sweep" (Standard Shona)
svwmasvavembasvwi"schemer" (Shangwe, Korekore dialect)
zvzvizvuvhutswa"gold nuggets" (Tsunga, Zezuru dialect)
dzvakadzva"he/she was unsuccessful"
zvwhuzvweverere"emotions" (Gova, Korekore dialect)
nzvnzvenga"to dodge" (Standard Shona)
zvc muzvcazi"the Milky Way
Milky Way

The Milky Way, sometimes called simply the Galaxy, is the galaxy in which the Solar System is located. It is a barred spiral galaxy that is part of the Local Group of galaxies....
"		Dental click
Dental click

The dental clicks are a family of click consonants found, as constituents of words, only in Africa and in the Damin ritual jargon of Australia....
s. Only found in Ngova, Karanga dialect, which has
substantial Ndebele influences, including the dental click ("c").
svcchisvcamba"tortoise"
Whistled sibilants stirred interest among the Western public and media in 2006, due to questions about how to pronounce the name of Morgan Tsvangirai
Morgan Tsvangirai

Morgan Richard Tsvangirai is the Prime Minister of Zimbabwe. He is the President of the Movement for Democratic Change - Tsvangirai and a key figure in the opposition to President Robert Mugabe....
, the leader of the Movement for Democratic Change – Tsvangirai
Movement for Democratic Change – Tsvangirai

The Movement for Democratic Change — Tsvangirai is a Zimbabwean political party and the largest party in the House of Assembly of Zimbabwe....
 in Zimbabwe. The BBC Pronunciation Unit recommended the pronunciation "chang-girr-ayi".

In foreign popular culture

Mangwanani, the Shona word for "good morning" is the title of a song by the band "Z-trolleee" written to raise money for the charity Comic Relief. The band, based in Leicester, United Kingdom, released the single for Comic Relief Week 2007. The band pronounces the word incorrectly throughout the song.

The band Dispatch
Dispatch

A dispatch or dispatches can refer to:* Dispatch , a procedure in logistics* Dispatch , an American jam band* Dispatches , a documentary show on Channel 4 in the UK...
 uses Shona in its song Elias.

The first single from the Noisettes debut album, What's The Time Mr. Wolf?, is called Iwe
IWE

For other uses, see IWE ."'IWE'" was the first single from What's the Time Mr. Wolf? by the UK indie rock band Noisettes. Released on Transgressive Records in CD and vinyl format on....
, which is Shona for "you".

Orthography

All syllable
Syllable

A syllable is a unit of organization for a sequence of Speech communication sounds. For example, the word water is composed of two syllables: wa and ter....
s in Shona end in a vowel. Consonants always belong to the next syllable. For example, mangwanani ("morning") is separated like this: ma/ngwa/na/ni; Zimbabwe is Zi/mba/bwe.

All verb
Verb

In syntax, a verb is a word that usually denotes an action , an occurrence , or a state of being . Depending on the language, a verb may vary in form according to many factors, possibly including its grammatical tense, grammatical aspect, grammatical mood and grammatical voice....
s end in -a:
  • kuda - "to like, love, want"
  • kuenda - "to go"
  • kusvika - "to arrive"
  • kudya - "to eat"
  • kutamba - "to dance or play"
  • kurara - "to sleep" (kuvata)
  • kudzoka - "to come back"
  • kuseka - "to laugh"
  • kuchema - "to cry"


Bibliography

  • Biehler, E. (1950) A Shona dictionary with an outline Shona grammar (revised edition). The Jesuit Fathers.
  • Brauner, Sigmund (1995) A grammatical sketch of Shona : including historical notes. Köln: Rüdiger Koppe.
  • Carter, Hazel (1986) Kuverenga Chishóna: an introductory Shona reader with grammatical sketch (2nd edition). London: SOAS.
  • Doke, Clement M. (1931) Report on the unification of the Shona dialects. Stephen Austin Sons.
  • Mutasa, David (1996) The problems of standardizing spoken dialects: the Shona experience, Language Matters, 27, 79
  • Lafon, Michel (1995), Le shona et les shonas du Zimbabwe, Harmattan éd., Paris


External links

  • report on Shona
  • , Lyrikline.org
    Lyrikline.org

    lyrikline.org hosts contemporary international poetry as audio and text , plus bibliographies and biographies for each poet.lyrikline.org was started in November 1999 as a German-language site....
     page on poet Chirikure Chirikure, with audio and translations into English.