Mijikenda | |
---|---|
Native to | Kenya, Tanzania |
Region | Mombasa and Kwale districts in Kenya; Muheza and Tanga districts in Tanzania |
Ethnicity | Mijikenda, Chonyi |
Native speakers
|
1.9 million (2009 census) |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | Variously: – Chonyi – Digo – Duruma – Giryama – Segeju |
Glottolog | miji1238 |
E.72,73,731,732 |
Mijikenda is a Bantu dialect cluster spoken mostly in Kenya, with about 100,000 speakers in Tanzania.
Maho (2009) lists four varieties as distinct languages:
Clicks have been reported in ideophones from two dialects of Mijikenda, Digo and Duruma. (It is not known if they occur in the others.) These are tsya! /ʇ̃ǎ/ 'scram!' and /ʇ̃akule/ 'minute'. It is not known if these have any connection with the neighbouring Dahalo language.