A Grammatical Sketch of Chindamba

A Bantu Language (G52) of Tanzania

Author: Peter Edelsten, Chiku Lijongwa. Series edited by: Bernd Heine, Wilhelm J.G. Möhlig †.

Series: EALD East African Languages and Dialects Volume 21

2010
174 pp.
1 map, numerous tables and charts, appendix: wordlist Chindamba-English / English-Chindamba, index
Text language(s): English
Format: 160 x 240 mm
320 g
Paperback
€ 39.80

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This book is a summary of the grammar of Chindamba, the language of the Ndamba people. Chindamba is a Bantu language spoken in the Kilombero valley, south of Ifakara, in Morogoro region, Tanzania. It is classified as G.52 by Guthrie (1967–71). Chindamba is spoken by approx. 55,000 people.

Chiku Lijongwa is a native speaker of Chindamba and interested in preserving the language and its traditions. Peter Edelsten has studied Swahili at the renowned School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) at the University of London and became interested in the idea of extending the study to Chindamba. However, no previous documentation on Chindamba grammar has been found by the authors. Therefore, they decided to collaborate to document the grammar with additional inputs from other respondents in Tanzania. The fact that the language is in danger of disappearing due to the dominance of Swahili was an additional motivation for this work.

The book comprises seven chapters on phonological processes, nominal and verbal morphology, predicate argument and clause structure as well as short texts collected in the field followed by a word list which was compiled as the study progressed.

CONTENTS

Ch. 1: Introduction

Ch. 2: Phonology

Ch. 3: Nominal morphology

Ch. 4: Verb morphology

Ch. 5: Predicate argument structure

Ch. 6: Syntax

Ch. 7: Texts

Word list part I: Chindamba–English

Word list part II: English–Chindamba

References

Index

 

Under these links you will find further descriptions of smaller or partly endangered Bantu languages of Tanzania:

Cross-reference:

• A Grammatical Sketch of Mbugwe (Bantu F.34, Tanzania) (ISBN 978-3-89645-048-7)
• Erzählte Kultur und Erzählkultur bei den Mwera in Südost-Tansania (ISBN 978-3-89645-268-9)
• Luhala lwa Wavidunda – Vidunda Wisdom (G.38) (ISBN 978-3-89645-741-7)
• Mpoto Fables and Folktales (N.14, Tanzania) (ISBN 978-3-89645-738-7)
• Mwera–Swahili Dictionary (P.22) / Kamusi ya Kimwera–Kiswahili (ISBN 978-3-89645-711-0)
• The Ha Language of Tanzania (ISBN 978-3-89645-027-2)
• The Kagulu Language of Tanzania (G.12) (ISBN 978-3-89645-704-2)

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