Zemba language

Not to be confused with Zimba language.
Zemba
Dhimba
Native to Angola, Namibia
Ethnicity Herero, Tjimba
Native speakers
 30,000 (2009–2011)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3 dhm
Glottolog zemb1238[2]
R.311[3]

Zemba (Dhimba) is a Bantu language spoken mainly in Angola where the language has about 18,000 speakers, and also in Namibia with some 4,000.[4] It is closely related to Herero, and is often considered a dialect of that language, especially as the Zemba are ethnically Herero.

There are various spellings and pronunciations of the name: Zimba, Dhimba, Tjimba, Chimba, etc. However, when spelled Tjimba or Chimba in English, it generally refers to the Tjimba people, non-Herero hunter-gatherers who speak Zemba. The spelling Himba should be distinguished from the Himba people and their dialect of Herero.

Ethnologue separates Zemba as a distinct language from Himba, which according to the language map of Namibia it retains under Herero proper.[5] Maho (2009), however, sets up a Northwest Herero language, which includes Zemba; from the map, it would appear to include Himba and Hakaona as well.[3]

References

  1. ↑ Zemba at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
  2. ↑ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin; Bank, Sebastian, eds. (2016). "Zemba". Glottolog 2.7. Jena: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  3. 1 2 Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
  4. ↑ Zemba language at Ethnologue (16th ed., 2009)
  5. ↑ Zemba at Ethnologue (16th ed., 2009)


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 1/10/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.