Ronga language explained

Ronga
States:Mozambique, South Africa
Date:2006
Ref:e18
Familycolor:Niger-Congo
Fam2:Atlantic–Congo
Fam3:Volta-Congo
Fam4:Benue–Congo
Fam5:Bantoid
Fam6:Southern Bantoid
Fam7:Bantu
Fam8:Southern Bantu
Fam9:Tswa–Ronga
Iso3:rng
Glotto:rong1268
Glottorefname:Ronga
Guthrie:S.54
Lingua:99-AUT-dd
incl. varieties
99-AUT-dda...-dde
Notice:IPA

Ronga (XiRonga; sometimes ShiRonga or GiRonga) is a Bantu language of the Tswa–Ronga branch spoken just south of Maputo in Mozambique. It extends a little into South Africa. It has about 650,000 speakers in Mozambique and a further 90,000 in South Africa, with dialects including Konde, Putru and Kalanga.

The Swiss philologist Henri-Alexandre Junod seems to have been the first linguist to have studied it, in the late 19th century.

Phonology[1]

FrontCentralBack
Closepronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/
Midpronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/
Openpronounced as /ink/
Labio-(dental)AlveolarLateralPost-alveolarRetroflexVelar/Glottal
plainlab.plainlab.plainlab.plainlab.plainlab.plainlab.
Nasalvoicedpronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/
breathypronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/
Stopvoicelesspronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/
aspiratedpronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/
voicedpronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /dˡʷ/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/
breathypronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/
non-pulmonicpronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/
Affricatevoicelesspronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/
aspiratedpronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/
voicedpronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/
breathypronounced as /ink/
Fricativevoicelesspronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/
voicedpronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/
breathypronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/
Sonorantvoicedpronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/
breathypronounced as /ink/

Alphabet

Its alphabet is similar to that of Tsonga as provided by Methodist missionaries and Portuguese settlers.

Methodist alphabet
LetterA B C D E G H I J K L M N O P R S Ŝ T U V W X Y Z
Valuepronounced as /a/ pronounced as /b/~pronounced as /β/ pronounced as /tʃ/ pronounced as /d/ pronounced as /e/~pronounced as /ɛ/ pronounced as /ɡ/ pronounced as /h/ pronounced as /i/ pronounced as /dʒ/ pronounced as /k/ pronounced as /l/ pronounced as /m/ pronounced as /n/ pronounced as /ŋ/ pronounced as /ɔ/~pronounced as /o/ pronounced as /p/ pronounced as /r/ pronounced as /s/ pronounced as /ʂ/ pronounced as /t/ pronounced as /u/ pronounced as /v/ pronounced as /w/ pronounced as /ʃ/ pronounced as /j/ pronounced as /z/ pronounced as /ʐ/
1989 alphabet[2]
LetterA B By Ch D E G H Hl I J K L Lh M N O P Ps R S Sv Sw T U V Vh W X Xj Y Z Zv Zw
Valuepronounced as /a/ pronounced as /b/~pronounced as /β/ pronounced as /b͡ʐ/ pronounced as /tʃ/ pronounced as /d/ pronounced as /e/~pronounced as /ɛ/ pronounced as /ɡ/ pronounced as /h/ pronounced as /ɸ/ pronounced as /i/ pronounced as /dʒ/ pronounced as /k/ pronounced as /l/ pronounced as /ʎ/ pronounced as /m/ pronounced as /n/ pronounced as /ŋ/ pronounced as /ɔ/~pronounced as /o/ pronounced as /p/ pronounced as /p͡ʂ/ pronounced as /r/ pronounced as /s/ pronounced as /ʂ/ pronounced as /sʷ/ pronounced as /t/ pronounced as /u/ pronounced as /ʋ/ pronounced as /v/ pronounced as /w/ pronounced as /ʃ/ pronounced as /ʒ/ pronounced as /j/ pronounced as /z/ pronounced as /ʐ/ pronounced as /zʷ/

Grammar

Ronga is grammatically so close to Tsonga in many ways that census officials have often considered it a dialect; its noun class system is very similar and its verbal forms are almost identical. Its most immediately noticeable difference is a much greater influence from Portuguese, due to being centred near the capital Maputo (formerly Lourenço Marques).

Literature

The first book to be published in Ronga was the Gospel of John translated mainly by Henri Berthoud from the . It was published by the British and Foreign Bible Society in 1896. Further translation was done by Pierre Loze from Mission Romande (Swiss Romande Mission) and H.L. Bishop (Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society), assisted by Jeremia Caetano and Efraim Hely. The New Testament was published in 1903, and the whole Bible was published by the British and Foreign Bible Society in 1923.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: PHOIBLE 2.0 - . 2022-06-10 . phoible.org.
  2. Web site: Table from 'I Seminario sobre a Padronizacão da Ortografia de Línguas Moçambicanas' . www.bisharat.net.