| Nyamwezi | |
| Region: | Tanzania |
| Ethnicity: | Nyamwezi |
| Speakers: | 1.5 million |
| Date: | 1987–2016 |
| Ref: | e22 |
| Familycolor: | Niger-Congo |
| Fam2: | Atlantic–Congo |
| Fam3: | Volta-Congo |
| Fam4: | Benue–Congo |
| Fam5: | Bantoid |
| Fam6: | Southern Bantoid |
| Fam7: | Bantu |
| Fam8: | Northeast Bantu |
| Fam9: | Sukuma-Nyamwezi |
| Fam10: | Nyamwezic |
| Iso2: | nym |
| Iso3: | nym |
| Guthrie: | F.22 |
| Glotto: | nyam1276 |
| Glottorefname: | Nyamwezi |
Nyamwezi is a major Bantu language of central Tanzania. It forms a dialect continuum with Sukuma, but is more distinct from it.
Konongo and Ruwila are sometimes considered dialects.
| Bilabial | Labio- dental | Alveolar | Post- alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive | plain | p b | t d | ɟ | k ɡ | ||||
| prenasal | ᵐb | ⁿd | ᶮɟ | ᵑɡ | |||||
| Affricate | plain | c͡ʃ | |||||||
| prenasal | ᶮc͡ʃ | ||||||||
| Fricative | plain | β | f v | s z | ʃ | h | |||
| prenasal | ᶬf ᶬv | ⁿs ⁿz | ᶮʃ | ||||||
| Nasal | m̥ m | n̥ n | ɲ̊ ɲ | ŋ̊ ŋ | |||||
| Approximant | l | j | w | ||||||
| Front | Central | Back | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| High | i iː | u uː | ||
| ɪ ɪː | ʊ ʊː | |||
| Mid | ɛ ɛː | ɔ ɔː | ||
| Low | a aː |
Tones present in Nyamwezi are high /v́/, low /v̀/, and rising /v̌/.[1]
Banhu bose bubyalagwa biyagalulile, n'ikujo haki zilenganelile. Banhu bose bina masala na wiganiki, hu kuyomba ihayilwe bitogwe giti bana ba mbyazi bumo.
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.[2]