Ndau (also called chiNdau, Chindau, Ndzawu, Njao, Sofala, Southeast Shona, Chidanda) is a

Bantu language The Bantu languages (English: , Proto-Bantu: *bantʊ̀) are a large family of languages spoken by the Bantu people of Central, Southern, Eastern africa and Southeast Africa. They form the largest branch of the Southern Bantoid languages. The t ...

spoken by 1,400,000 people in central

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

and southeastern

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

. The major varieties in Mozambique are called Shanga and Danda; that in Zimbabwe is simply called Ndau or Ndaundau. Ndau is part of a continuum with other neighboring varieties of the Shona group (e.g. Manyika, Karanga) and has often been included as a Shona dialect. The 2013 Constitution of Zimbabwe accorded Ndau status as an official language. At least some speakers have a bilabial nasal click where neighboring dialects have /mw/, as in ''mwana'' 'child'.Daniel Jones, 1911. ''The pronunciation and orthography of the Chindau language.

/ref>

Sample text

The mutual intelligibility of Ndau with other Shona varieties is fairly high, but some speakers of other Shona varieties may find it difficult to understand. Differences and similarities can be measured by examining a Ndau version of Lord's Prayer: ''Baba edu ari mudenga, ngariremeredzwe zina renyu. UMambo hwenyu ngahuuye. Kuda kwenyu ngakuitwa munyika kudai ngomudenga. Tipei nege kurya kwedu kwatinotama nyamashi. Tirekererei ndaa dzedu kudai tisu takarekerera avo vane ndaa kwetiri. Usatipinza mukuedzwa, asi tinunure kuno uwo wakashata.'' The equivalent paragraph in Standard Shona (mainly based on Zezuru) is: ''Baba vedu vari kudenga, zita renyu ngarikudzwe. UMambo hwenyu ngahwuuye. Kuda kwenyu ngakuitwe pasi sokudenga. Tipei nhasi kudya kwedu kwakwezuva. Tiregererei zvatinokutadzirai sekuregerera kwatinoita vakatitadzira. Musatipinze mukuedzwa, asi mutinunure mune zvakaipa.''

Alphabet

While the mainstream Shona language excludes L, Q and X from its alphabet, Ndau orthography uses them as shown by the examples below: # Mainstream Shona "''Akatizira'' and the Ndau version ''Akafohla'': 'L' is used in the digraph ''hl'' for the sound . # Mainstream Shona "''kuridza tsamwa'' and the Ndau version ''kuxapa'': 'X' is used for the

click consonant Click consonants, or clicks, are speech sounds that occur as consonants in many languages of Southern Africa and in three languages of East Africa. Examples familiar to English-speakers are the '' tut-tut'' (British spelling) or '' tsk! tsk!'' ...

. # Mainstream Shona "''Kurara'' and the Ndau version ''Kuqambaya'': 'Q' is used for the

. These sounds have been acquired from neighboring

Nguni languages The Nguni languages are a group of closely related Bantu languages spoken in southern Africa by the Nguni peoples. Nguni languages include Xhosa, Zulu, Ndebele (sometimes referred to as "Northern Ndebele"), and Swazi. The appellation "Nguni" d ...

References

Shona languages Click languages {{Bantu-lang-stub