{{Short description|Bantu language spoken in Mozambique}} {{Infobox language | name = Mwani | nativename = ''Kimwani'' | states = [[Mozambique]]<ref>[http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=wmw Ethnologue list of countries where Kimwani is spoken]<br /></ref> | speakers = [[first language|L1]]: {{sigfig|147,150|2}} | date = 2017 | ref = e26 | speakers2 = [[second language|L2]]: 20,000 (no date)<ref name=e26/> | speakers_label = speakers | dia1 = Kiwibo | dia2 = Kisanga | dia3 = Kinkojo | dia4 = Kinsimbwa | familycolor = Niger-Congo | fam2 = [[Atlantic–Congo languages|Atlantic–Congo]] | fam3 = [[Volta–Congo languages|Volta–Congo]] | fam4 = [[Benue–Congo languages|Benue–Congo]] | fam5 = [[Bantoid languages|Bantoid]] | fam6 = [[Southern Bantoid languages|Southern]] | fam7 = [[Bantu languages|Bantu]] | fam8 = [[Northeast Bantu languages|Northeast]] | fam9 = [[Northeast Coast Bantu languages|Northeast Coast Bantu]] | fam10 = [[Sabaki languages|Sabaki]] | script = [[Latin script|Latin]] | iso3 = wmw | glotto = mwan1247 | glottorefname = Mwani | guthrie = G.403 | map = | mapcaption = The area where Kimwani is spoken is in gray. | notice = IPA | ethnicity = [[Mwani people|Mwani]] }} The '''Mwani language''', also known by its native name '''Kimwani''', ({{lang|wmw|Kimwani}} {{IPA|sw|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 language|Swahili]], it is not intelligible with it. It is spoken by around 167,150 people (including 147,150 who speak it as a first language and 20,000 who use it as their second language). Speakers also use [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] (the official language of [[Mozambique]]), [[Swahili language|Swahili]] and [[Makhuwa language|Makhuwa]] language. ''Kiwibo'', the dialect of the Island of [[Ibo, Mozambique|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<ref>{{cite book| last1 = Smith| first1 = Norval| last2 = Veenstra| first2 = Tonjes| title = Creolization and Contact| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=yjzoVTRvyXQC&pg=PA94| year = 2001| publisher = John Benjamins Publishing| isbn = 90-272-5245-9| page = 94 }}</ref> Kimwani of northern [[Mozambique]] appears to be the result of imperfect shift towards [[Swahili language|Swahili]] several centuries ago by speakers of [[Makonde language|Makonde]], and Arends et al. suggest it might turn out to be a Makonde–Swahili [[mixed language]].<ref>Arends, Muysken, & Smith (1995), ''Pidgins and Creoles: An Introduction''</ref>
== 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 language|Swahili]]) is unusual among sub-Saharan languages in having lost the feature of [[Tone (linguistics)|lexical tone]] (with the exception of some verbal paradigms where its use is optional). It does not have the penultimate stress typical of [[Swahili language|Swahili]]; it has movable [[pitch accent]]. [[Labialization]] of consonants (indicated by a [w] following the consonant) and [[Palatalization (phonetics)|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 [[phoneme]]s: {{IPA|/a/}}, {{IPA|/e/}}, {{IPA|/i/}}, {{IPA|/o/}}, and {{IPA|/u/}}, that is: its vowels are close to those of [[Spanish language|Spanish]] and [[Hawaiian language|Hawaiian]]. It does not have a distinction of [[close-mid vowel|closed]] and [[open-mid vowel|open]] [[mid vowel]]s typical of [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] or [[French language|French]] and found in some other [[Bantu languages]] like [[Lingala]], [[Fang language|Fang]], and perhaps [[Sukuma language|Sukuma]].
The pronunciation of the phoneme /i/ stands between [[International Phonetic Alphabet]] [i] and [e]. Vowels are never [[vowel reduction|reduced]], regardless of [[stress (linguistics)|stress]]. The vowels are pronounced as follows:
* {{IPA|/a/}} is pronounced like the "a" in Arabic ''hajj'' * {{IPA|/e/}} is pronounced like the "e" in ''beat'' * {{IPA|/i/}} is pronounced like the "y" in ''yam'' * {{IPA|/o/}} is pronounced like the "o" in ''or'' * {{IPA|/u/}} is pronounced like the "u" in ''Sue''.
Kimwani has no [[diphthong]]s; in vowel combinations, each vowel is pronounced separately.
=== Consonants === {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" |+Consonants of Kimwani<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20041207234533/http://www.african.gu.se/aa/pdfs/aa02088.pdf A sketch of Kimwani by Petzell, Malin]</ref> ! colspan="2" | ! [[Labial consonant|Labial]] ! [[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]] ! [[Palatal consonant|Palatal]] ! [[Velar consonant|Velar]] ! [[Glottal consonant|Glottal]] |- ! colspan="2" | [[Nasal consonant|Nasal]] | {{IPA link|m}} | {{IPA link|n}} | {{IPA link|ɲ}} | {{IPA link|ŋ}} | |- ! rowspan="2" | [[Plosive]] &<br />[[affricate]] ! {{small|voiceless}} | {{IPA link|p}} | {{IPA link|t}} | {{IPA link|tʃ}} | {{IPA link|k}} | |- ! {{small|[[Voice (phonetics)|voiced]]}} | {{IPA link|b}} | {{IPA link|d}} | {{IPA link|dʒ}} | {{IPA link|g}} | |- ! rowspan="2" | [[Fricative]] ! {{small|voiceless}} | {{IPA link|f}} | {{IPA link|s}} | {{IPA link|ʃ}} | | {{IPA link|h}} |- ! {{small|[[Voice (phonetics)|voiced]]}} | {{IPA link|v}} | {{IPA link|z}} | | | |- ! colspan="2" | [[Trill consonant|Trill]] | | {{IPA link|r}} | | | |- ! colspan="2" | [[Approximant]] | {{IPA link|w}} | {{IPA link|l}} | {{IPA link|j}} | | |}
== Orthography == ''Kimwani'' can be spelled in three ways: using orthography similar to [[Swahili language|Swahili]], using a slightly modified spelling system used in Mozambique schools or using a [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]]-based spelling. Here are the differences:
{| class="wikitable" |+'''Kimwani spelling systems differences''' ! ! Swahili language spelling ! Modified spelling ! Portuguese spelling ! Translation |- !{align="center"|{{IPA|/tʃ/}} | align="center"| '''ch'''ala | align="center"| '''c'''ala | align="center"| '''tch'''ala | align="center"| finger |- !{align="center"|{{IPA|/dʒ/}} | align="center"| '''j'''uwa | align="center"| '''j'''uwa | align="center"| '''dj'''ua | align="center"| Sun |- !{align="center"|{{IPA|/k/}} | align="center"| '''k'''itabu | align="center"| '''k'''itabu | align="center"| '''qu'''itabo | align="center"| book |- !{align="center"|{{IPA|/ŋ/}} | align="center"| '''ng''''ombe | align="center"| '''ng''''ombe | align="center"| '''ng'''ombe | align="center"| cow |- !{align="center"|{{IPA|/ɲ/}} | align="center"| '''ny'''oka | align="center"| '''ny'''oka | align="center"| '''nh'''oca | align="center"| snake |- !{align="center"|{{IPA|/s/}} | align="center"| fi'''s'''i | align="center"| fi'''s'''i | align="center"| fi'''ss'''i | align="center"| hyena |- !{align="center"|{{IPA|/z/}} | align="center"| me'''z'''a | align="center"| me'''z'''a | align="center"| me'''s'''a | align="center"| table |- !{align="center"|{{IPA|/ʃ/}} | align="center"| ku'''sh'''anga | align="center"| ku'''sh'''anga | align="center"| cu'''x'''anga | align="center"| to admire |- !{align="center"|{{IPA|/w/}} | align="center"| '''w'''akati | align="center"| '''w'''akati | align="center"| '''u'''acate | align="center"| time |- !{align="center"|{{IPA|/j/}} | align="center"| kip'''y'''a | align="center"| kip'''y'''a | align="center"| quíp'''i'''a | align="center"| new |- !{align="center"|{{IPA|/i/}} | align="center"| sukil'''i''' | align="center"| sukil'''i''' | align="center"| suquil'''e''' | align="center"| sugar |- !{align="center"|{{IPA|/u/}} | align="center"| uf'''u''' | align="center"| uf'''u''' | align="center"| uf'''o''' | align="center"| flour |- |}
== Numbers == {| class="wikitable"
!Mwani !English |- |moja |one |- |mbili |two |- |natu |three
|- |n’né |four
|- |tano |five
|- |sita |six
|- |saba |seven
|- |nane |eight
|- |kenda |nine
|- |kumi |ten
|- |kumi na moja |eleven
|- |kumi na mbili |twelve
|- |ishirini |twenty
|- |thelathini |thirty
|- |arubaini |fourty
|- |hamsini |fifty
|- |sitini |sixty
|- |sabini |seventy
|- |themanini |eighty
|- |tisini |ninety
|- |mia |one hundred
|- |mia mbili |two hundred
|- |elfu |one thousand
|- |elfu mbili |two thousand |}
== References == {{reflist|30em}}
* 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. * {{cite book| last = Gerdes| first = Paulus|author-link=Paulus Gerdes| title = A Numeração Em Moçambique| year = 2008| publisher = Lulu.com| isbn = 978-1-4357-2634-5 }}{{self-published source|date=February 2020}}
{{Languages of Mozambique}} {{Narrow Bantu languages (Zones E–H)}}
[[Category:Languages of Mozambique]] [[Category:Swahili language]]