Shambala or Shambaa 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 ...

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...

Overview

Shambala, also Kishambala, (ki)Sambaa, (ki)Shambaa is spoken by the Shambaa in the

Usambara The Usambara Mountains of northeastern Tanzania in tropical East Africa, comprise the easternmost ranges of the Eastern Arc Mountains. The ranges of approximately long and about half that wide, are situated in the Lushoto District of the Tang ...

mountains in the

Lushoto District Lushoto is one of the eleven districts of Tanga Region in Tanzania. It is bordered to the northeast by Kenya, to the east by the Muheza District, to the northwest by the Kilimanjaro Region, west by Korogwe District and to the south by the Bumbuli ...

and

Muheza District Muheza is one of eleven administrative districts of Tanga Region in Tanzania. The District covers an area of . It is bordered to the north by Mkinga District, to the east by Tanga and the Indian Ocean, to the south by the Pangani District and ...

Tanga Region Tanga Region (''Mkoa wa Tanga'' in Swahili) is one of Tanzania's 31 administrative regions. The region covers an area of . The region is comparable in size to the combined land area of the nation state of Burundi. The regional capital is the mun ...

, of northern

. Some dialectal variation exists between the language as spoken in the area around

Lushoto Lushoto is a town in the Usambara Mountains of Tanzania. It is the capital of Lushoto District, Tanga Region. The 2012 national census estimated the population of Lushoto ward at 28,190. The Irente School for the Blind Girls is located in Lushoto ...

and the areas around Mlalo and Mtae, possibly also between the Shambaa of the Western Usambara Mountains and the Eastern Usambara Mountains.

Phonology

Vowels

Five vowels are noted as , ɛ, a, ɔ, u

Consonants

The diacritics within prenasal voiceless plosives are devoiced as ��̥ ⁿ̥ ᵑ̊

References

External links

Shambaa Information
Languages of Tanzania Northeast Coast Bantu languages {{Bantu-lang-stub