Gogo is a Bantu language spoken by the Gogo people of Dodoma Region in Tanzania. The language is spoken throughout Dodoma Region and into the neighbouring district of Manyoni.
| Gogo | |
|---|---|
| Cigogo | |
| Region | Dodoma Region and Manyoni (Singida Region), Tanzania |
Native speakers | 1.4 million (2019)[1] |
| Latin (Gogo alphabet) | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | gog |
| Glottolog | gogo1263 |
G.11[2] | |
The language is considered to have three dialects: Nyambwa (Cinyambwa or West Gogo), spoken to the west of Dodoma and in Manyoni; Nyaugogo (Cinyaugogo or Central Gogo), spoken in the environs of Dodoma; and Tumba (Citumba or East Gogo), spoken to the east. The Gogo group is grouped with Kagulu, which has a 56% lexical similarity with Gogo proper. Gogo has about 50% lexical similarity with Hehe and Sangu (both Bena–Kinga languages (G.60), 48% with Kimbu and 45% with Nilamba. These last two are both in Guthrie's Zone F.
Gogo is spoken by both Christians and Muslims and is a major language of the Anglican Church of Tanzania.
Phonology
editConsonants
edit| Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | ||
| Plosive | voiceless | p | t | c | k | |
| voiced | b | d | ɟ | ɡ | ||
| Fricative | voiceless | f | s | h | ||
| voiced | v | z | ||||
| Approximant | l | j | w | |||
- /k, ɡ/ are heard as palatal consonant sounds when preceding /i, e/; [c, ɟ].
- /z/ can also be heard as an affricate [dz].
- Nasal consonants when preceding voiceless stops are devoiced; [m̥ n̥ ɳ̊ ŋ̊].
- Voiceless consonants are mostly aspirated occurring after nasals; [pʰ tʰ cʰ kʰ].
Vowels
edit| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | i iː | u uː | |
| Mid | e eː | o oː | |
| Low | a aː |
External links
editReferences
edit- ^ Gogo at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
- Rugemalira, Josephat M. (2009). Cigogo, Kamusi ya Kigogo-Kiswahili-Kiingereza / Kiingereza-Kigogo, na Kiswahili-Kigogo / Gogo-Swahili-English, English-Gogo, and Swahili-Gogo Dictionary. ISBN 9987-691-25-0.
- Nurse, Derek and S. M. Mazengo. 1979. Gogo. African languages/Langues africaines 5. 70–76, 101–104.
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