- Also spoken in
- Zambia, Zimbabwe
- Script
- Latin
Where it's spoken
The national analytical report on Zambia's census of population and housing says that Bemba was the most widely used language of communication in the country, followed by Nyanja, with Tonga third. It says that Tonga was widely spoken in Southern Province. In its table the share of Tonga is higher in rural areas than in urban areas.
The same report says that seven languages or language clusters besides English, Tonga among them, are used in Zambia for official purposes such as broadcasting, literacy campaigns and the official dissemination of information.
The Constitution of Zambia says that the official language of Zambia is English, and that a language other than English may be used as a medium of instruction in educational institutions or for legislative, administrative or judicial purposes, as prescribed.
Glottolog lists Zambia and Zimbabwe among the countries for Tonga (Zambia).
The Peace Corps dictionary and phrasebook compiled by Aaron Cass Harris, which calls the language Citonga, says that it lists words specific to one of three main Citonga dialects, and its contents list names the Ila, Lenge and Mukuni dialects. Its introduction says that some colloquial phrases and words have different meanings in various regional dialects, and that some words in the dictionary may not be known by younger generations.
Sources
- Central Statistical Office, Zambia (2012). 2010 Census of Population and Housing: National Analytical Report. Lusaka (Wayback Machine copy of the zamstats.gov.zm file) — Chapter 10 (10.0 Summary, 10.1, Table 10.1)
- Constitution of Zambia 1991 (rev. 2016), Article 258, Constitute Project — Article 258
- Glottolog 5.3, Tonga (Zambia), glottocode tong1318 — Countries
- Harris, A. C. (2013). Tonga-English / English-Tonga Dictionary and Phrasebook: To aide those learning Citonga. Peace Corps, Southern Province — Cover, Introduction, Table of Contents (Ila, Lenge and Mukuni dialects)
Script & pronunciation
Tonga is written with Latin letters. The pronunciation list in the Peace Corps dictionary and phrasebook treats a doubled vowel letter as a long vowel: AA, and likewise EE, II, OO and UU, stands for the vowel held twice as long. The same list distinguishes B from BB and K from KK: it calls B a soft sound and BB a plosive that is close to English B, and it describes K as sounding like an English G and KK as the hard K heard in "kite". It also gives NG as in "finger" and NG' as in "singer", and writes NG' with an apostrophe.
This app's Tonga cards write the same patterns: ee in the card for "This (thing)", Eeci; bb in the card for "Hospital / clinic", Cibbadela; kk in the card for "Ten people", Bantu bali kkumi; and ng' with a straight apostrophe in the card for "House", Ng'anda, whose note gives mung'anda and kung'anda as forms with a place prefix.
The app's Tonga cards have no romanization line: the text is shown only in the Tonga spelling, and it carries no tone marks.
Sources
Grammar essentials
The Peace Corps dictionary and phrasebook says that every Tonga verb has an infinitive made of ku plus the root, and that the dictionary leaves out the initial ku. The app's cards show the infinitive after Ndiyanda: kuula in the card for "I want to buy ___.", Ndiyanda kuula ___., and kubbadela in the card for "I want to pay.", Ndiyanda kubbadela.
Its verb chart gives the negative with Ta in most tenses and with Ti in the recent past. The app's card for "I don't want it.", Tandiyandi., begins with Ta.
Its chart of demonstratives gives different forms for different noun classes; for the near "this" it lists eeci for class 7, eezi for class 8 and ooyu for class 1. The app's card for "This (thing)" is Eeci.
Sources
- Harris, A. C. (2013). Tonga-English / English-Tonga Dictionary and Phrasebook: To aide those learning Citonga. Peace Corps, Southern Province — Using this Guide (Other notes), Verbs chart, Demonstratives chart
Politeness & etiquette
The verb chart in the Peace Corps dictionary and phrasebook lists three kinds of command: a strong one, which is the root; a weak one, Pp + Root + e; and a polite one, A + Pp + Root + e.
In the app, the card for "Please give me drinking water.", Amundipe maanzi aakunywa., and the card for "Sorry, please say it again.", Amundijatile, amwambe alimwi., both begin with Amu. The note of the card for "Excuse me", Amundijatile, describes it as a polite request form and gives mu as the polite "you".
The same book's survival phrases list a morning greeting, Mwabuka buti, and an evening greeting, Kwasiya buti, and its dictionary gives Mwalibizya buti as the afternoon greeting. The app has all three as cards, glosses the second as "Good day", marks them formal, and has Muli buti? for "How are you?". The book also lists Muli buti followed by bamaama or bataata for asking "Mother, how are you?" and "Father, how are you?".
Sources
- Harris, A. C. (2013). Tonga-English / English-Tonga Dictionary and Phrasebook: To aide those learning Citonga. Peace Corps, Southern Province — Verbs chart (Imperative/Horative), Survival Guide, dictionary