#kalanga

[folkfashion]

Kalanga woman, Botswana, by Nancy Mogocha

[gwendolynlerman]

Languages of the world

Kalanga (TjiKalanga/Ikalanga)

Basic facts

Number of native speakers: 338,000

Official language: Zimbabwe

Language of diaspora: Botswana, South Africa

Script: Latin, 35 letters

Grammatical cases: 0

Linguistic typology: agglutinative, SVO

Language family: Niger-Congo, Atlantic-Congo, Benue-Congo, Southern, Bantu, Shona

Number of dialects: 2 main varieties

History

<15th century - Kalanga was a dominant language

1980s - beginning of efforts to reverse marginalization of the language

Writing system and pronunciation

These are the letters that make up the alphabet: a b c ch d e f g gw h i j k kw l m mb mw n ng ngw nj ny o p r s sh t tj u v w y z.

Kalanga has two tones: high and low. All syllables end with a vowel.

Grammar

Nouns have twenty classes, two numbers (singular and plural), and no cases. Each class has a prefix, but not all of them have different prefix variants.

There is a diminutive suffix, but class prefixes can also be used for the diminutive function.

Verbs are conjugated for tense and mood (imperative and indicative). They also have a subject marker related to the noun class of the subject, an object marker, and negation and modality affixes.

Dialects

There are two major varieties: TjiKalanga and Ikalanga. TjiKalanga can be further subdivided into Nyai and Kalanga of the Plumtree. Ikalanga includes the Lilima dialect.

The two varieties have slightly different orthographies.

[soliloquyinthedark]

Ruins of the ancient city of Khami in Matabeleland North, Zimbabwe

Khami was founded by the Kalanga people sometime around 1450 and served as the capital of their Kingdom of Butua. The city was destroyed by 1683 when they were conquered by the Rozvi Empire.

[folkfashion]

Kalanga woman, Zimbabwe

[benjavibee]

[Old Audio] AICT Kalangalala – Majumba AICT Kalangalala - Majumba Download Audio

[gwendolynlerman]

Discovering the World

Zimbabwe 🇿🇼

Basic facts

Official name: Dziko la Zimbabwe/Republic of Zimbabwe/Riphabhulikhi yeZimbabwe/Rudhende rwe Zimbabwe/Nyika yeZimbabwe/Ilizwe laseZimbabwe/Riphabliki ya Zimbabwe/Nyika yeZimbabwe/Rephabliki ea Zimbabwe/Riphabliki ya Zimbabwe/Tiko ra Zimbabwe/Lefatshe la Zimbabwe/Riphabliki yeZimbabwi/Riphabuḽiki ya Zimbabwe/IRiphabhulikhi yaseZimbabwe (Chewa/English/Kalanga/Nambya/Ndau/Northern Ndebele/Sena/Shona/Southern Sotho/Tonga/Tsonga/Tswana/Tjwao/Venda/Xhosa)

Capital city: Harare

Population: 16.8 million (2024)

Demonym: Zimbabwean

Type of government: unitary presidential republic

Head of state and government: Emmerson Mnangagwa (President)

Gross domestic product (purchasing power parity): $93.8 billion (2025)

Gini coefficient of wealth inequality: 50.3% (high) (2019)

Human Development Index: 0.598 (medium) (2023)

Currency: Zimbabwe Gold (ZWG)

Fun fact: People in Zimbabwe believe that mermaids exist.

Etymology

There are two theories about the country’s name. One holds that it comes from the Karanga dialect of Shona dzimba-dza-mabwe, meaning “houses of stones”. The other claims that it is a contracted form of dzimba-hwe, which means “venerated houses” in the Zezuru dialect of Shona.

Geography

Zimbabwe is located in Southern Africa and borders Zambia to the north, Mozambique to the east, South Africa to the south, and Botswana to the southwest.

There are five main climates: dry-winter tropical savanna in parts of the north, monsoon-influenced humid subtropical and subtropical highland in the center and east, hot desert in parts of the south, and hot steppe in the rest. Temperatures range from 4.5 °C (40.1 °F) in winter to 32.1 °C (89.8 °F) in summer. The average annual temperature is 18.6 °C (65.4 °F).

The country is divided into eight provinces and two cities. The largest cities in Zimbabwe are Harare, Bulawayo, Chitungwiza, Mutare, and Gweru.

History

300: Bantu migration

1220-1300: Kingdom of Mapungubwe

1300-17th century: Kingdom of Great Zimbabwe

15th century-1888: Kingdom of Mutapa

1425-1683: Kingdom of Butua

1660-1873: Rozvi Empire

1840-1893: Mthwakazi

1890-1923: Rhodesia

1893-1894: First Matabele War

1896-1897: Second Matabele War

1923-1953, 1963-1965: Southern Rhodesia

1953-1963: Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland

1964-1979: Rhodesian Bush War

1965-1970: Rhodesia

1970-1979: Republic of Rhodesia

1979-1980: Zimbabwe Rhodesia

1980-present: Republic of Zimbabwe

2016: protests

Economy

Zimbabwe mainly imports from South Africa, China, and Singapore and exports to South Africa, the United Arab Emirates, and China. Its top exports are platinum and cotton.

It has diamonds, gold, and platinum. Services represent 65.8% of the GDP, followed by industry (22.2%) and agriculture (12%).

Zimbabwe is a member of the African Union, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, and the Southern African Development Community.

Demographics

The Shona represent 82% of the population, while the Ndebele make up 14%. The main religion is Christianity, practiced by 84.1% of the population, 69.2% of which are Protestant.

It has a negative net migration rate and a fertility rate of 3.8 children per woman. 32.5% of the population lives in urban areas. Life expectancy is 63.3 years and the median age is 19 years. The literacy rate is 83.5%.

Languages

The official languages of the country are Chewa, English, Kalanga, Nambya, Ndau, Northern Ndebele, Sena, Shona, Southern Sotho, Tonga, Tsonga, Tswana, Tjwao, Venda, Xhosa, and Zimbabwean Sign Language. Shona is spoken by 78% of the population, and Ndebele by 20%.

Culture

Traditional crafts include symmetrically patterned woven baskets and stools carved out of a single piece of wood.

Men wear a patterned shirt and pants. Women wear a dress and beaded and golden jewelry.

Architecture

Traditional houses in Zimbabwe have painted mud brick walls and conical, thatched grass roofs.

Cuisine

The Zimbabwean diet is based on corn, meat, and vegetables. Typical dishes include chimodho (sponge cake), gango (meat with vegetables), mupunga une dovi (peanut butter rice), mutakura (mixed cow peas and groundnuts), and nhopi (pumpkin soup).

Holidays and festivals

Like other Christian countries, Zimbabwe celebrates Good Friday, Holy Saturday, Easter Monday, Christmas Day, and Boxing Day. It also commemorates New Year’s Day and Labor Day.

Specific Zimbabwean holidays include National Youth Day on February 21, Independence Day on April 18, Africa Day on May 25, Heroes’ Day on the second Monday in August, Defense Forces’ Day on the second Tuesday in August, Munhumutapa Day on September 15, National Unity Day on December 22.

Independence Day

Other celebrations include the Jikinya Traditional Dance Festival, the Kariba Tiger Fishing Tournament, and the Mbira Festival, which celebrates Shona music.

Jikinya Traditional Dance Festival

Landmarks

There are five UNESCO World Heritage Sites: Great Zimbabwe National Monument; Khami Ruins National Monument; Mana Pools National Park, Sapi and Chewore Safari Areas; Matobo Hills; Victoria Falls.

Matobo Hills

Other landmarks include the Catholic Cathedral, the Chimanimani National Park, the Gonarezhou National Park, the Nesbitt Castle, and the Ziwa National Monument.

Nesbitt Castle

Famous people

Anderson Mukomberanwa - sculptor

Andy Flower - cricket player

Charles Mungoshi - writer

Charmaine Mujeri - actress

Kirsty Coventry - swimmer

Langton Tinago - boxer

Locardia Ndandarika - sculptor

Stella Chiweshe - singer

Thomas Mapfumo - singer

Tsitsi Dangarembga - filmmaker and writer

Charmaine Mujeri

You can find out more about life in Zimbabwe in this article and this video.

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KALANGA: Bible NT Galatians (Bagalatiya) 5:22-23 22 Koga zwizwalo zwe Meya ludo ne shatho ne mbakiso ne moyonlefu ne butho ne kululwama ne kugagwabgwe 23 ne bunyolo ne kuzwiibhata. Akuna nlayo unonyanyayidzana ne zwithu izwezwi.

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