Nyamwezi (Kinyamwezi)

Nyamwezi is a member of the Bantu branch of the Niger-Congo language family. It is spoken by about 1.47 million people in the Kigoma, Rukwa and Tabora regions of Tanzania between Lake Victoria and Lake Rukwa.

Nyamwezi is also known as KiNyamweezi, Kinyamuesi, Kinyamwesi, Manjamuesi, Mwezi, Namwezi, Nyamwesi or Nyawezi. The name Nyamwezi means "people of the moon". Dialects include: Nyanyembe, Takama, Mweri, Galaganza, Nangwila, Ilwana, Uyui, Rambo, Ndaala and Nyambiu.

Nyamwezi alphabet and pronunciation

Nyamwezi alphabet and pronunciation

Download an alphabet chart for Nyamwezi (Excel)

Sample text in Nyamwezi

Banhu bose bubyalagwa biyagalulile, n'ikujo haki zilenganelile. Banhu bose bina masala na wiganiki, hu kuyomba ihayilwe bitogwe giti bana ba mbyazi bumo.

Translation

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
(Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)

Videos in Nyamwezi

Links

Information about the Nyamwezi language
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nyamwezi_language
https://www.ethnologue.com/language/nym
https://languagehat.com/nyamwezi/
https://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/nyam1276
https://archive.org/details/grammatikdeskin01veltgoog/page/n13/mode/2up

Bantu languages

Bangi, Basaa, Bemba, Bena, Benga, Bhaca, Bukusu, Bulu, Central Teke, Chichewa, Chokwe, Chuwabu, Comorian, Digo, Duala, Eton, Ewondo, Fang, Ganda/Luganda, Gogo, Gusii, Gwere, Haya, Hehe, Herero, Ibinda, Ikizu, Ikoma, Jita, Kamba, Kiga, Kikuyu, Kimbundu, Kinyarwanda, Kirundi, Kisi, Kongo, Konjo, Koti, Kukuya, Kunda, Kuria, Lambya, Lingala, Loma, Lozi, Luba-Katanga, Luchazi, Lunda, Luvale, Makaa, Makonde, Makhuwa, Mandekan, Maore, Masaaba, Mbukushu, Mbunda, Mende, Mongo, Mushungulu, Mwani, Nambya, Nande, Ngoni, Nkore, North Teke, Northern Ndebele (South Africa), Northern Ndebele (Zimbabwe), Northern Sotho, Nyamwezi, Nyakyusa, Nyemba, Nyole, Nyungwe, Nzadi, Oroko, OshiWambo, Pagibete, Punu, Ronga, Safwa, Sena, Sengele, Shona, Soga, Songe, Southern Ndebele, Southern Sotho, Sukuma, Swahili, Swati, Tanga, Tembo, Tonga, Tshiluba, Tsonga, Tswa, Tswana, Tumbuka, Umbundu, Venda, Vwanji, Xhosa, Yao, Yasa, Zigula, Zinza, Zulu

Languages written with the Latin alphabet

Page created: 08.03.22. Last modified: 07.08.24

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