Machame language
Encyclopedia
The Machame language, Kimashame, is a Bantu
language of Tanzania
, spoken by approximately 300,000 Chaga people. It is spoken in the Chaga area of the Kilimanjaro region, and forms a dialect continuum
with other Chaga languages.
Bantu languages
The Bantu languages constitute a traditional sub-branch of the Niger–Congo languages. There are about 250 Bantu languages by the criterion of mutual intelligibility, though the distinction between language and dialect is often unclear, and Ethnologue counts 535 languages...
language of Tanzania
Tanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
, spoken by approximately 300,000 Chaga people. It is spoken in the Chaga area of the Kilimanjaro region, and forms a dialect continuum
Dialect continuum
A dialect continuum, or dialect area, was defined by Leonard Bloomfield as a range of dialects spoken across some geographical area that differ only slightly between neighboring areas, but as one travels in any direction, these differences accumulate such that speakers from opposite ends of the...
with other Chaga languages.