Samiksha Jaiswal (Editor)

Ronga language

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Region
  
South of Maputo

ISO 639-3
  
rng

Native speakers
  
720,000 (2006)

Glottolog
  
rong1268

Native to
  
Language family
  
Niger–CongoAtlantic–CongoBenue–CongoSouthern BantoidBantuSouthern BantuTswa–Ronga?Ronga

Ronga (XiRonga; sometimes ShiRonga or GiRonga) is a south-eastern Bantu language in the Tswa–Ronga family 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.

Contents

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

Writing

Its alphabet is based on that of Tsonga as provided by Methodist missionaries and Portuguese settlers.

Grammar

Ronga is grammatically so close to Tsonga in many ways that census officials often consider 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).

References

Ronga language Wikipedia


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