Tongwe is a Bantu language spoken by about 15,000 people on the eastern shore of Lake Tanganika in northwestern Tanzania. Tongwe speakers can mainly be found in the Buhingu Division of the Kigoma Distict in the Kigoma Region.
The Tongwe people originally lived in isolated groups in the Mahale mountains. However, the Tanzanian government began to encourage them and other groups to move to large settlements, such as Kashagulu on the eastern shore of Lake Tanganyika, in the 1960s, and such moves became compulsory in the 1970s. When the Mahale Mountains Wildlife Research Center was set up in 1979, and the Mahale Mountains National Park opened in 1985, people were evicted from the area as no human settlement was permitted within the park. While many Tongwe did move, some stayed in the mountains, and more recently, some have started moving back there.
Tongwe is known as Sitongwe by those who speak it, and they call themselves Batongwe. It is closely related to Bende (Sibhende), and the two languages are classified as dialects of one language in some sources. Tongwe can be written with the Latin script, though rarely is.
Download an alphabet chart for Tongwe (Excel)
Details of the Tongwe alphabet (PDF) provided by Wolfram Siegel
A is nasal [ã] before nasal consonants (m, n, ng and ny).
Information about Tongwe
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tongwe_language
https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Тонгве
http://olac.ldc.upenn.edu/language/tny
https://www.sil.org/resources/search/language/tny
https://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/tong1320
Aka, Aushi, Bafaw-Balong, Bangi, Bangubangu, Basaa, Bemba, Bembe, Bena, Benga, Bhaca, Bila, Bube, Budu, Bujeba, Bukusu, Bulu, Bushong, Central Kilimanjaro, Central Teke, Chichewa, Chokwe, Chopi, Chuwabu, Comorian, Dciriku, Digo, Duala, Eton, Ewondo, Fang, Fuliiru, Fwe, Ganda/Luganda, Giryama, Gogo, Gungu, Gusii, Gwere, Gyele, Haya, Hehe, Herero, Ibinda, Idaxo-Isuxa-Tiriki, Ikizu, Ikoma, Jita, Kabwa, Kako, Kalanga, Kamba, Kanyok, Kiga, Kikuyu, Kimbundu, Kinyarwanda, Kirundi, Kisi, Kobo, Kogo, Komo, Kongo, Konjo, Koti, Kuhane, Kukuya, Kunda, Kuria, Kwambi, Kwangali, Kwasio, Lambya, Lega, Lengola, Lingala, Loma, Lomwe, Lozi, Luba-Katanga, Luchazi, Lunda, Luvale, Luyana, Makaa, Makonde, Makhuwa, Mandekan, Maore, Masaaba, Mbama, Mbere, Mbosi, Mbugu, Mbukushu, Mbunda, Mbuun, Mende, Mongo, Mpiemo, Mushungulu, Mwani, Myene, Nambya, Nande, Ngoni, Ngwii, Njebi, Nkore, North Teke, Northern Ndebele (South Africa), Northern Ndebele (Zimbabwe), Northern Sotho, Nyamwezi, Nyakyusa, Nyemba, Nyole, Nyoro, Nyungwe, Nzadi, Oroko, OshiWambo, Pagibete, Pare, Punu, Rangi, Ronga, Safwa, Seki, Sena, Sengele, Shambala, Shona, Soga, Songe, Southern Ndebele, Southern Sotho, Suba, Sukuma, Swahili, Swati, Taita, Talinga, Tanga, Tembo, Tetela, Tonga, Tongwe, Tooro, Tshiluba, Tsonga, Tswa, Tswana, Tumbuka, Turu, Umbundu, Venda, Vili, Vwanji, Wanzi, West Teke, Xhosa, Yakam, Yansi, Yao, Yasa, Yeyi, Zigula, Zinza, Zulu
Languages written with the Latin alphabet
Page created: 18.09.25. Last modified: 18.09.25
[top]
You can support this site by Buying Me A Coffee, and if you like what you see on this page, you can use the buttons below to share it with people you know.
If you like this site and find it useful, you can support it by making a donation via PayPal or Patreon, or by contributing in other ways. Omniglot is how I make my living.
Note: all links on this site to Amazon.com
[top]
