Sambaa or Shambaa or Shambala is a
Bantu language
The Bantu languages (English: , Proto-Bantu language, Proto-Bantu: *bantʊ̀), or Ntu languages are a language family of about 600 languages of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern, East Africa, Eastern and Southeast Africa, South ...
of
Tanzania
Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...
.
Overview
Sambaa, also Kisambaa, (ki)Shambaa, (ki)Shambala is spoken by the
Shambaa in the
Usambara mountains in the
Lushoto District and
Muheza District,
Tanga Region
Tanga Region () is one of Tanzania's 31 administrative regions of Tanzania, 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 municipalit ...
, of northern
Tanzania
Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...
. Some dialectal variation exists between the language as spoken in the area around
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