Ndau language

Ndau (also called chiNdau, Chindau, Ndzawu, Njao, Sofala, Southeast Shona, Chidanda) is a Bantu language dialect spoken in Southern Africa (Mozambique and Zimbabwe). It is spoken by people from the region of Chipinge (Zimbabwe). It is a dialect of the Shona , even though some of its vocabulary is very similar to that of Ndebele and it often can sound very different from basic Shona.

At least some speakers have a bilabial nasal click where neighboring dialects have /mw/, as in mwana 'child'.

The chiNdau language as a member of the shona group of languages shows some similarities with other shona languages being more similar to eastern shona languages. It is partially intelligible with standard shona although speakers of other shona languages may find it difficult to understand. Reading the chiNdau phrase below (Lord's Prayer), differences from the Shona language are relatively minor, but certainly present:

Baba edu ari mudenga, ngariremeredzwe zina renyu. UMambo hwenyu ngahuuye. Kuda kwenyu ngakuitwa munyika kudai ngomudenga. Tipei nege kurya kwedu kwatinotama nyamashi. Tirekererei ndaa dzedu kudai tisu takarekerera avo vane ndaa kwetiri. Usatipinza mukuedzwa, asi tinunure kuno uwo wakashata.

The equivalent paragraph in 'Standard Shona' is:

Baba vedu vari kudenga, zita renyu ngarikudziwe. UMambo hwenyu ngahwuuye. Kuda kwenyu ngakuitwe pasi sokudenga. Tipei nhasi kudya kwedu kwakwezuva. Tiregererei zvatinokutadzirai sekuregerera kwatinoita vakatitadzira. Musatipinze mukuedzwa, asi mutinunure mune zvakaipa.

While the mainstream Shona language excludes L, Q and X from its alphabet, it is not the same with the Ndau language as shown by the examples below:

These sounds have been acquired from neighboring Nguni languages.