Native to Mozambique, Tanzania ISO 639-3 ymk Guthrie code G.402 | Native speakers 32,000 (2003) Glottolog makw1236 | |
Language family Niger–Congo
Atlantic–Congo
Benue–Congo
Bantoid
Bantu
Northeast Coast Bantu
Sabaki
Swahili
Makwe | ||
The Makwe (Macue) language, Kimakwe, is a close relative of Swahili spoken on the coast of the Cabo Delgado Province of Mozambique, and across the border in Tanzania. Although it shares high lexical similarity (60%) with Swahili, it is not intelligible with it, nor with its cousin Mwani. Arends et al. suggest it might turn out to be a Makonde–Swahili mixed language.
A grammar of the Makwe language by Maud Devos was published in 2008.
References
Makwe language Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA