Ikalanga: A Grammar Sketch

By Rose M. Letsholo - Version 1.0

1. General Information

Ikalanga is a Bantu language spoken in northern Botswana and in southern and south western parts of Zimbabwe. In Botswana, Ikalanga is spoken in the north eastern and central districts of the country[1]. The dialect described here often referred to as Chililima, is spoken in the central district of Botswana. Ikalanga, which is closely related to Shona, is usually described as one of the dialects in the Shona cluster of languages. Shona is the major language group of Zimbabwe, one of Botswana’s neighbors. In Guthrie (1967, 71 Vol 4) Ikalanga is classified as an S.16 language, an area that includes other southern Bantu languages such as Setswana, Sotho, Zulu, Xhosa, Venda and Tsonga.

2. Grammar

2.1 Phonology

2.1.1 Ikalanga Sound System

According to Mathangwane (1999) Ikalanga comprises of fifty nine consonant sounds (see consonant chart 1) and a simple vowel system with only five members. Secondary articulation plays a significant role in distinguishing phonemic sounds in Ikalanga. The secondary articulatory features that Ikalanga employs include aspiration, prenasalization, labialization, and the breathy voice feature.

(1) Consonants (adapted from Mathangwane, 1999: 45)

	labial	Lab. dental	dental	alveolar	Palato alveolar	palatal	Labio velar	velar	glottal
Stops Plain	p b		d					k g
Aspirated	pH <p^ú>		5tH	tH <t^ú>				kH
Velarized stops	pƒkH bƒg
Fricatives plain		F v		S z	S Z				<ú>
Affricates plain	(pƒs) (bƒz)	tƒs dƒz		ƒtS dƒZ <tƒS^ú>
Aspirated		tƒsH tƒs^ú
Glottal
Nasals	m			n		ø		N
Prenasalized Stops	mb		nd					Ng
Affricate					ndƒZ
Labialized stops				dW				kW gW
Labialized Aspirated				(tHW)				kHW <kW^ú>
Affricates			tƒsHW dƒzW
Nasal								NW
Prenasal