A Grammatical Sketch of Mbugwe

Bantu F34, Tanzania

Author: Maarten Mous. Series edited by: Wilhelm J.G. Möhlig †, Bernd Heine.

Series: GA Grammatical Analyses of African Languages Volume 23

2004
8 pp. Roman, 70 pp.
12 tables, vocabulary Mbugwe-English, English-Mbugwe
Text language(s): English
Format: 160 x 240 mm
170 g
Paperback
€ 34.80

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The Mbugwe form a small ethnic group that live in Tanzania, Arusha province, Babati district, around the town of Magugu, in the villages Mwada and Mdori, and others. The Mbugwe numbered about 10,000 in 1910 according to Dempwolff (1915/16:1) but only 5,000 in 1967, and at that time this number was on the decline. For 1999 SIL estimates 24,000 speakers, and so it is still an endangered language. According to some oral traditions the Mbugwe are originally Rangi people that moved northwards in search of salt and then settled there.

The neighbours of the Mbugwe are all non-Bantu (Nilotic Datooga, Cushitic Iraqw). However, the present situation shows a different type of language contact: as a consequence of recent settlement of people from various parts of Tanzania in this rice-growing region the Mbugwe language is increasingly under pressure from Swahili. The present study is based on a short period of fieldwork in 1993. The poor state of documentation of this interesting language justifies the publication of this grammatical sketch which allows a short view on the richness of the Mbugwe.

The book offers an outline of the phonological and grammatical features of this small and understudied language. In addition to the grammatical sketch, three texts with interlinear glossing and free translation are included, as well as a Mbugwe-English lexicon with an English index added. This study is written to stimulate others to study Mbugwe and to undertake the task of writing a fuller grammar of this interesting language.

As for the documentation of the neighbouring ethnic groups you will find further language descriptions and contributions to paper collections in our programme:

Accompanying material:

• Alagwa – a South Cushitic Language of Tanzania (ISBN 978-3-89645-492-8)
• Eine Grammatik des Burunge (ISBN 978-3-89645-291-7)
• Iraqw-English Dictionary (ISBN 978-3-89645-065-4)
• Motion in Datooga (ISBN 978-3-89645-668-7)

Cross-reference:

• Advances in Nilo-Saharan Linguistics (ISBN 978-3-89645-140-8)
• Current Research in Nilo-Saharan (ISBN 978-3-89645-669-4)
• Omotic and Cushitic Language Studies (ISBN 978-3-89645-482-9)
• The Lexical Reconstruction of West-Rift Southern Cushitic (ISBN 978-3-89645-068-5)

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