Makua language
Encyclopedia
The Makhuwa language is a Bantu
language spoken by 3 million Makua people, who live north of the Zambezi River in Mozambique
, particularly in the province of Nampula. It is the largest indigenous language
of Mozambique.
Makhuwa is closely related to Lomwe
as well as Chewa.
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 spoken by 3 million Makua people, who live north of the Zambezi River in Mozambique
Mozambique
Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique , is a country in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west and Swaziland and South Africa to the southwest...
, particularly in the province of Nampula. It is the largest indigenous language
Indigenous language
An indigenous language or autochthonous language is a language that is native to a region and spoken by indigenous peoples but has been reduced to the status of a minority language. This language would be from a linguistically distinct community that has been settled in the area for many generations...
of Mozambique.
Makhuwa is closely related to Lomwe
Lomwe language
Lomwe is a mixed language spoken in southeastern Malawi.-Background:The Mozambique Lomwe are one of the four largest ethnic groups living in Malawi and have history of migration to the Mozambique–Malawi border zone. Many Lomwe moved into Malawi, where they mixed with the Nyanja, in the 1930s due to...
as well as Chewa.
External links
- Ethnologue: Language Family Trees
- Ethnologue: Makhuwa language
- Oliver Kröger (2005), Report on a Survey of Coastal Makua Dialects (SIL International)