Ha, also known with the Bantu language prefix as Giha, Igiha, or Kiha, is a Bantu language spoken by the Ha people of the Kigoma Region of Tanzania, spoken on the eastern side of Lake Tanganyika up to the headwaters of the Mikonga. It is closely related to the languages of Rwanda and Burundi; neighboring dialects are reported to be mutually intelligible with Kirundi.[3]
| Ha | |
|---|---|
| Igiha | |
| Native to | Tanzania |
| Ethnicity | Abaha |
Native speakers | 990,000 (2001)[1] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | haq |
| Glottolog | haaa1252 |
JD.66[2] | |
Phonology
editConsonants
edit| Bilabial | Labio- dental |
Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ||||
| Plosive | voiceless | p | t | k | |||
| voiced | b | d | ɟ | ɡ | |||
| Affricate | p͡f | t͡s | t͡ʃ | ||||
| Fricative | voiceless | f | s | ʃ | h | ||
| voiced | (β) | v | z | ||||
| Tap | ɾ | ||||||
| Approximant | (l) | j | w | ||||
- /ɾ/ is heard as [l] among different dialects in free variation.
- /b/ can be heard as either [b] or [β] in complementary distribution.[4]
Vowels
edit| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | i iː | u uː | |
| Mid | e eː | o oː | |
| Low | a aː |
Further reading
edit- Bichwa, Saul S. 2018. "The Role of Prosodic Units in the Study of Giha." Arusha Working Papers in African Linguistics, 1(1): 81-90.
References
edit- ^ Ha at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
- ^ Article by Spiridion Shyirambere in: Le Français hors de France sous la direction de A. Valdman, Editions Honoré Champion, 7 quai Mallasquai, Paris, 1979. The "zone of intercomprehension" is also reported to include KinyaRwanda, Hima and Luganda, and several other local languages.
- ^ Harjula, Lotta (2006). Designing orthography for the Ha language. In Studia Orientalia Electronica, 103: Helsinki: Finnish Oriental Soc. pp. 173–184.
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External links
edit
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