Tonga (Nyasa) language

Tonga is a Bantu language spoken by 170,000 people mainly in the Nkhata Bay District of Malawi, on the shores of Lake Malawi facing the islands of Likoma and Chizumulu.^[4]

The language is called chiTonga by its own speakers. The 'chi-' is a prefix used to form language names, the equivalent of 'ki' in kiSwahili or 'se' in seTswana.

The Tonga language of Malawi is described as "similar" to Tumbuka, and Turner's dictionary^[5] 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’." Tonga (Nyasa), i.e. Malawian Tonga, is grouped in the Glottolog classification along with Tumbuka in a single group. It is classified by Guthrie as being in Zone N15, whereas the Zambian Tonga is classified as Zone M64 and can thus be considered a different language.

Example of Tonga

An example of a folktale translated into Tonga, Tumbuka and other languages of Northern Malawi is given in the Language Mapping Survey for Northern Malawi carried out by the Centre for Language Studies of the University of Malawi.^[6] The Chitonga version goes as follows:

FULU NDI KALULU (Chitonga)

Fulu wanguluta kukapempha vakulya ku ŵanthu. Pakupinga thumba lakhe wanguchita kumanga kuchingwi chitali ndi kuvwara mu singo lakhi ndipu pakwenda thumba lazanga kuvuli kwakhi.

Penipo wanguwa mu nthowa, Kalulu wanguza kuvuli kwakhi ndipu wanguti “Ndato, thumba langu!” Fulu wanguti “Awa upusika ndangu yiwi, wona chingwi ichi ndamanga sonu ndiguza pakwenda”. Kalulu wangukana nipe ndipu wanguti “Tikengi ku mphala yikatiweruzi”. Mphala yikadumuwa mlandu ndi kucheketa chingwi cho fulu wangu mangiya thumba. Ŵanguchito thumba liya ndimkumpaska Kalulu. Dazi linyakhi lo Kalulu wayendanga, Fulu wangumusaniya ndipu wanguti, “Ndato mchira wangu!” Kalulu wanguti “Ake! Fulu yiwi m’chira ngwangu.” Fulu wangukana ndipu wanguti, “Ndato ngwangu”. Wanguluta ku mphala kuti yikaweruzgi. Ku mphala kuwa, mlandu wungutowe Fulu. Ŵangudumuwa m’chira wa Kalulu ndi kupaska Fulu.

Tones

The Tonga language is tonal, with underlying tones High and non-High. Unlike Tumbuka, the high tones are not confined to the penultimate syllable of the word, but can be found in different places in different words.^[7]

Most verb roots in Tonga are toneless, although there are a few such as bangulá "shout" or sambirá "learn" which have a tone on the final syllable of the stem. When a tone is final, as in the verb bangulá "shout", it tends to spread backwards to the penultimate syllable, giving the result bangǔlá (where ǔ represents a rising tone).^[7]

Tenses

Some of the Chitonga tenses are formed as follows:^[7]

Present habitual or continuous:

• ndívina – I dance, or I am dancing (root -vin-)

Monosyllabic verbs or verbs starting with a vowel add -t(ú)- in this tense:

• nditúlya – I eat, I am eating (root -ly-)
• nditénda – I walk, I am walking (root -end-)

Past simple:

• ndinguvína – I danced
• ndingǔlya – I ate
• ndingwěnda – I walked

Past habitual:

• ndavínanga – I used to dance

Distant future:

• ndívinenge – I will dance

Vocabulary

• chingana - although;^[8]
• 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!

References