# Kamba language
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> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Kamba_language.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamba_language
> Source revision: 1336020213
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)
{{Short description|Bantu language spoken in Kenya}}
{{otheruses}}
{{Infobox language
| name = Kamba
| nativename = Kikamba
| states = [Kenya](/source/Kenya), [Tanzania](/source/Tanzania)
| region = [Machakos](/source/Machakos_County), [Kitui](/source/Kitui_County), [Makueni](/source/Makueni_County), and [Shimba Hills](/source/Shimba_Hills)
| ethnicity = [Akamba](/source/Kamba_people)
| speakers = 4.6 million
| date = 2019 census
| ref = e28
| speakers2 = 600,000 [L2](/source/Second_language) speakers
| familycolor = Niger-Congo
| fam2 = [Atlantic–Congo](/source/Atlantic%E2%80%93Congo)
| fam3 = [Volta-Congo](/source/Volta-Congo_languages)
| fam4 = [Benue–Congo](/source/Benue%E2%80%93Congo)
| fam5 = [Bantoid](/source/Bantoid_languages)
| fam6 = [Southern Bantoid](/source/Southern_Bantoid)
| fam7 = [Bantu](/source/Bantu_languages)
| fam8 = [Northeast Bantu](/source/Northeast_Bantu)
| fam9 = [Upland Bantu](/source/Upland_Bantu_languages)
| fam10 = [Thagiicu](/source/Thagiicu_languages)
| fam11 = East Thagiicu
| fam12 = Kamba-Dhaiso
| dia1 = Masaku
| dia2 = Mumoni
| dia3 = North Kitui
| dia4 = South Kitui
| iso2 = kam
| lc1 = kam
| ld1 = Kamba
| lc2 = dhs
| ld2 = Dhaiso
| glotto = kamb1297
| glottorefname = Kamba (Kenya)
| guthrie = E.55–56
| ELP = 4079
| ELPname = Dhaiso
}}
'''Kamba'''{{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|æ|m|b|ə}},[Laurie Bauer, 2007, ''The Linguistics Student’s Handbook'', Edinburgh] or '''Kikamba''', is a [Bantu language](/source/Bantu_language) spoken by millions of [Kamba people](/source/Kamba_people), primarily in [Kenya](/source/Kenya), as well as thousands of people in [Uganda](/source/Uganda), [Tanzania](/source/Tanzania), and elsewhere. In Kenya, Kamba is generally spoken in four [counties](/source/counties_of_Kenya): [Machakos](/source/Machakos_County), [Kitui](/source/Kitui_County), [Makueni](/source/Makueni_County), and [Kwale](/source/Kwale_County). The Machakos dialect is considered the [standard variety](/source/standard_variety) and has been used in translation. The other major dialect is Kitui.[{{cite journal |author=Yasutoshi Yukawa |date=1984-08-25 |title=On the Nature of the Accent of Kamba Nouns |url=https://minpaku.repo.nii.ac.jp/?action=repository_action_common_download&item_id=3327&item_no=1&attribute_id=18&file_no=1 |journal=Senri Ethnological Studies |volume=15 |issue= |pages=131 |doi= }}]
Kamba has lexical similarities to other Bantu languages such as [Kikuyu](/source/Kikuyu_language), [Meru](/source/Meru_language), and [Embu](/source/Embu_language), of whom together they form the GEMA community.
thumb|Dance song. Male solo. Akamba. Machakos. 1911–12.
thumb|Dance song. Machakos. Akamba. 1911-12
The Swedish [Museum of World Culture](/source/Museum_of_World_Culture) holds field recordings of the Kamba language made by Swedish ethnographer [Gerhard Lindblom](/source/Gerhard_Lindblom) in 1911–12.[{{Cite web|url=http://samlingar.varldskulturmuseerna.se/100-year-old-recordings-bring-african-song-and-dance-to-life/|title=Historier från samlingarna {{!}} Newly digitized 100-year-old recordings bring African song and dance to life|website=samlingar.varldskulturmuseerna.se|language=en-US|access-date=2018-06-13|archive-date=2022-10-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221006135848/http://samlingar.varldskulturmuseerna.se/100-year-old-recordings-bring-african-song-and-dance-to-life/|url-status=dead}}] Lindblom used phonograph cylinders to record songs along with other means of documentation in writing and photography. He also gathered objects, and later presented his work in ''The Akamba in British East Africa'' (1916)''.''
== Phonology ==
=== Vowels ===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
!
|- align="center"
|i iː
|
|u uː
|- align="center"
|e eː
|
|o oː
|-
|ɛ ɛː
|
|ɔ ɔː
|- align="center"
|
|a aː
|
|}
=== Consonants ===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
! colspan="2" |
|-
! colspan="2" |[Stop](/source/Stop_consonant)
|(b)
|
|t{{spaces|3}}(d)
|
|k{{spaces|3}}(ɡ)
|-
! colspan="2" |[Affricate](/source/Affricate_consonant)
|
|
|
|tʃ{{spaces|3}}(dʒ)
|
|-
! colspan="2" |[Fricative](/source/Fricative_consonant)
|β
|ð
|s{{spaces|3}}(z)
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" |[Nasal](/source/Nasal_consonant)
|m
|n̪
|n
|
|ŋ
|-
! colspan="2" |[Lateral](/source/Lateral_consonant)
|
|
|l
|
|
|-
! rowspan="2" |[Approximant](/source/Approximant_consonant)
!labial
|
|
|
|ɥ
|w
|-
!central
|
|(ð̞)
| colspan="2" |j
|
|}
* /tʃ/ occurs as a result of palatalization among /k/ before /j/.
* In post-nasal positions, sounds /t, k, s, tʃ/ then become voiced as [d, ɡ, z, dʒ]. The voiced fricative /β/ then becomes a voiced stop [b] in post-nasal position.
* The palatal glide sound /j/ is typically articulated to the front of the mouth, so that is interdental as [ð̞] or alveolo-palatal as [j̟]. When preceding a consonant however, it is always heard as a regular palatal glide [j].[{{Cite book|last=Roberts-Kohno|first=Rosalind R.|title=Kikamba Phonology and Morphology|publisher=Ann Arbor: UMI|year=2000}}]
==References==
{{reflist}}
==Sources==
* Mwau, John Harun (2006). ''Kikamba Dictionary: Kikamba-English, Kikamba-Kikamba, English-Kikamba''. {{ISBN|9966-773-09-6}}.
==External links==
*[http://www.bisharat.net/wikidoc/pmwiki.php/PanAfrLoc/Kamba PanAfriL10n page on Kamba]
*[http://mammana.org/bcp/kamba1963/ Ĩvuku ya Mboya kwa andũ Onthe] Portions of the Book of Common Prayer in Kamba, digitized by Richard Mammana
{{Languages of Kenya}}
{{Narrow Bantu languages (Zones E–H)}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Kamba
Category:Northeast Bantu languages
Category:Languages of Kenya
{{Kenya-stub}}
{{Bantu-lang-stub}}
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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Kamba language](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamba_language) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamba_language?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.