Sumbwa (or Sisumbwa/Lusumbwa) is an Eastern
Bantu
Bantu may refer to:
*Bantu languages, constitute the largest sub-branch of the Niger–Congo languages
*Bantu peoples, over 400 peoples of Africa speaking a Bantu language
* Bantu knots, a type of African hairstyle
*Black Association for National ...
language, classified as F.23 by Malcolm Guthrie (1948). According to this classification, the language is assumed to be related to Kinyamwezi, Kisukuma, Kinilamba, Kirimi and other languages of Zone F (Guthrie 1948; 1967-71, although Nurse and Philippson 1980 and Maselle (2001) suggested that the language has had much influence from neighbouring languages. Quick inspection of the vocabulary shows that Sisumbwa appears to be closer to Nyamwezi than to any other language in the group (Nurse and Philippson 1980). In terms of contacts, Sisumbwa speakers say that for a long time they have been in contact with speakers of Kisubi (Biharamulo), Kirongo and Kizinza (Geita and Sengerema) and Kiha (Biharamulo and Bukombe/Kahama), in addition to Kinyamwezi and Kisukuma.
The language is mainly spoken in
Bukombe,
Mbogwe and
Geita
Geita is a town and regional capital of Geita Region in northwestern Tanzania. The town is known for its gold trade. Geita, with a population of 99,795 (2012 census). It is located in the centre of a gold mining area. In March 2012 it became th ...
districts (
Geita Region
Geita Region (''Mkoa wa Geita'' 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 Slovenia. for Slovenia at Geita Regio ...
); Kahama district (
Shinyanga Region
__NOTOC__
Shinyanga Region (''Mkoa wa Shinyanga'' in Swahili) is one of Tanzania's 31 administrative regions. The regional capital is the municipality of Shinyanga.
The region is bordered to the north by the Mwanza, Mara, and Kagera Reg ...
); Biharamulo district (
Kagera Region
Kagera Region (''Mkoa wa Kagera'' 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 Netherlands. Kagera Region is border ...
) and Urambo district (Uyowa) –
Tabora Region
Tabora Region (''Mkoa wa Tabora'' in Swahili) is one of Tanzania's 31 administrative regions. The regional capital is the municipality of Tabora. The region is located in mid-western part of Tanzania. Tabora is bordered by Shinyanga to the no ...
. Given the 2002 Census figures and population increases since then, the number of Sisumbwa speakers may be estimated as follows: Bukombe: 137,115; Kahama: 100,377; Geita: 79,490; Biharamulo: 4,306; Ilemela: 85; Kishapu: 110; Kwimba: 152; Misungwi: 103; Nzega: 358; Shinyanga (R): 2,260; Urambo: 36,755; This estimation gives 361,111 Sisumbwa speakers. These are the figures recorded in the Tanzania Language Atlas (2009:3), and this puts the language at no. 25 out of the 150 Tanzanian languages identified.
Sumbwa is still largely undescribed as there is an old grammar (Capus 1898), a trilingual dictionary (Kahigi 2008a) and description of some components of the morphology (Kahigi 2005; Kahigi 2008b).
References
Sources
* Capus, A. 1898. Grammaire de Shisumbwa. In: Zeitschrift fϋr Africanische und Oceanische Sprachen, IV, Berlin, pp. 1-123.
* Guthrie, M. 1948. The Classification of Bantu Languages. London: International African Institute.
* Kahigi, K. K. 2005. The Sisumbwa Noun: Its Classes and Derivation. In: Occasional Papers in Linguistics, 1. LOT, Univ. of Dar es Salaam. Pp. 117-154.
* Kahigi, K. K. 2008a. Sumbwa-English-Swahili/ English-Sumbwa-Swahili Dictionary. published by Language of Tanzania Project (LOT), UDSM.
* Kahigi, K. K. 2008b. Derivation in Sisumbwa. In: Occasional Papers in Linguistics, 3. LOT, Univ. of Dar es Salaam, pp. 53-81.
* Masele, Balla 2001. The Linguistic History of Sisumbwa, Kisukuma and Kinyamweezi in Bantu Zone F. Ph.D. Dissertation. St. John: Memorial University of Newfoundland.
{{Authority control
Great Lakes Bantu languages
Languages of Tanzania