|
There are about 170,000 speakers of the Malawi language called Tonga, also called Western Nyasa. The language is called ''chiTonga''. The 'chi' means 'the language of the', like 'ki' in kiSwahili or 'se' in seTswana. The Tonga language of Malawi is described as "similar" to Tumbuka and Turner's dictionary 〔Turner, Rev. Wm. Y., ''Tumbuka–Tonga–English Dictionary''. Hetherwick Press, Blantyre (Malawi), MCMLII.〕 lists only those words which differ from the Tumbuka, with the added comment that "the Tonga folk, being rapid speakers, slur or elide the final syllable of many words, e.g. ''kulira'' becomes ''kuliya'', ''kukura'' becomes ''kukuwa'', ''kutoa'' becomes ''kuto’''." ==Vocabulary== chingana - although; ndi - and; pa rweka - beyond; msuzi - blacksmith (plural: wasuzi, ʋasuzi); matchiwa - breezes; kufya - to burn; chigawu - cassava; fungu - wild damson; wiskekuru - ancestor; kutenga - to bring; gutu - ear (plural: makutu); kuwomba manja - to clap hands; mbweno! - enough!.〔Turner's Dictionary, as above〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「Tonga (Nyasa) language」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|