{{Short description|Bantu language spoken in East Africa}} {{split|Matambwe language|date=November 2024}} {{Infobox language | name = Makonde | nativename = {{lang|kde|Chi(ni)makonde}} | states = [[Tanzania]], [[Mozambique]], [[Malawi]], [[Kenya]] | region = | ethnicity = [[Makonde people|Makonde]], [[Ndonde people|Ndonde Hamba]] | speakers = {{sigfig|2.073460|2}} million | date = 1987–2016 | ref = e26 | familycolor = Niger-Congo | fam2 = [[Atlantic–Congo languages|Atlantic–Congo]] | fam3 = [[Volta-Congo]] | fam4 = [[Benue–Congo languages|Benue–Congo]] | fam5 = [[Bantoid]] | fam6 = [[Southern Bantoid languages|Southern Bantoid]] | fam7 = [[Bantu languages|Bantu]] | fam8 = [[Rufiji–Ruvuma languages|Rufiji–Ruvuma]] | fam9 = Ruvuma | fam10 = Makonde languages | dia1 = ? Matembwe–Machinga | dia2 = Mabiha | dia3 = Ndonde Hamba (Mawanda) | script = [[Latin script|Latin]] | lc1 = kde | ld1 = Makonde | lc2 = mvw | ld2 = Machinga | lc3 = njd | ld3 = Ndonde Hamba | lc4 = wtb | ld4 = Matambwe | guthrie = P.23,24,25 | glotto = mako1251 | glottoname = Makonde | glotto2 = mach1265 | glottoname2 = Machinga | glotto3 = mata1313 | glottoname3 = Matambwe }} {{Infobox ethnonym|person = [[Makonde people|Mmakonde]]|people= [[Makonde people|Wamakonde]] |language= Kimakonde|country= Umakonde}}
'''Makonde''' ({{langx|sw|Kimakonde}}, {{langx|pt|Maconde}}) is the language spoken by the [[Makonde people|Makonde]], an ethnic group in southeast [[Tanzania]] and northern [[Mozambique]].<ref>Hammarström (2015) Ethnologue 16/17/18th editions: a comprehensive review: online appendices</ref> Makonde is a central [[Bantu language]] closely related to [[Yao language|Yao]]. The [[Matambwe language|Matambwe]] (Matembwe) and [[Mabiha language|Mabiha]] (Maviha) dialects are divergent, and may not be Makonde.<ref>Nurse 2003</ref>{{full citation needed|date=July 2023}}
A mosquito-borne viral fever first identified on the [[Makonde Plateau]] is named ''[[Chikungunya]]'', which is derived from the Makonde root verb ''kungunyala'' (meaning "that which bends up", "to become contorted," or "to walk bent over").<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Morens DM and Fauci AS|title=Chikungunya at the Door — Déjà Vu All Over Again?|journal=New England Journal of Medicine|doi=10.1056/NEJMp1408509|pmid=25029435|volume=371|issue=10|pages=885–887|year=2014|doi-access=free}}</ref> The derivation of the term is generally falsely attributed to [[Swahili language|Swahili]].<ref>{{cite journal | pmc = 2870928 | pmid=18634716 | doi=10.1017/S0950268807009739 | volume=136 | issue=9 | title=Four cases of acute flaccid paralysis associated with chikungunya virus infection | journal=Epidemiol Infect | pages=1277–80 | last1 = Singh | first1 = SS | last2 = Manimunda | first2 = SP | last3 = Sugunan | first3 = AP | last4 = Sahina | first4 = Vijayachari P| year=2008 }}</ref>
==Phonology== The following are the consonants and vowels of the Makonde language:<ref>{{Cite book|title=A Grammar of Makonde (Chinnima, Tanzania)|last=Kraal|first=Pieter J.|year=2005|pages=16–32|url=https://openaccess.leidenuniv.nl/handle/1887/4271}}</ref>
=== Vowels === {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" ! ![[Front vowel|Front]] ![[Back vowel|Back]] |- ![[High vowel|High]] | {{IPA link|i}} || {{IPA link|u}} |- ![[Mid vowel|Mid]] | {{IPA link|e}} || {{IPA link|o}} |- ![[Low vowel|Low]] | {{IPA link|a}} || |}
There also tends to be a rising final vowel sound /vv́/ within vowel combinations.
=== Consonants === {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" ! colspan="2" | ![[Labial consonant|Labial]] ![[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]] ![[Palatal consonant|Palatal]] ![[Velar consonant|Velar]] ![[Glottal consonant|Glottal]] |- ! rowspan="3" |[[Plosive]] !<small>voiceless</small> |{{IPA link|p}} |{{IPA link|t}} | |{{IPA link|k}} | |- !<small>voiced</small> |{{IPA link|b}} |{{IPA link|d}} | |{{IPA link|ɡ}} | |- !<small>[[Prenasalized consonant|prenasal]]</small> |ᵐb |ⁿd |ᶮɟ |ᵑɡ | |- ! colspan="2" |[[Affricate]] | | |{{IPA link|tʃ}} | | |- ! colspan="2" |[[Fricative]] | |{{IPA link|s}} | | |{{IPA link|h}} |- ! colspan="2" |[[Nasal consonant|Nasal]] |{{IPA link|m}} |{{IPA link|n}} |{{IPA link|ɲ}} |{{IPA link|ŋ}} | |- ! colspan="2" |[[Lateral consonant|Lateral]] | |{{IPA link|l}} | | | |- ! colspan="2" |[[Approximant]] |{{IPA link|ʋ}} | |{{IPA link|j}} |{{IPA link|w}} | |}
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Languages of Tanzania}} {{Languages of Mozambique}} {{Narrow Bantu languages (Zones N–S)}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Rufiji-Ruvuma languages]] [[Category:Makonde people| ]]
{{Bantu-lang-stub}}