Native to Tanzania Ethnicity 32,000 (1987) Language family mixed Cushitic–Pare | Region Usambara Mountains Native speakers 7,000 (1997) ISO 639-3 mhd | |
Mbugu, or Ma’a, is a mixed language of Tanzania.
The Mbugu speak two divergent registers, which have been treated as separate languages by some authorities (e.g. Tucker and Bryan): "Mbugu" or "Normal Mbugu" (autonym kiMbbugu) is purely Bantu, with vocabulary closely related to Pare, while "Ma'a" or "Inner Mbugu" (autonym kiMa'a) consists of an inherited Cushitic vocabulary with Bantu morphology similar to that of Shambala and Pare. They share a grammar, to the point that their syntax is identical and a passage in one can be translated to the other simply by changing the content words.
The Cushitic element was identified as South Cushitic by Ehret. However, Kießling (2001) notes a large East Cushitic admixture, and Mous presents the Cushitic element as a register of a Bantu language, and identifies it as largely East Cushitic rather than Southern.