Kibajuni tidbits
Overview
Kibajuni, also called Bajuni, Tikulu, and Tikuu, is a Niger-Congo Bantu language often classified as a dialect of Kiswahili. It is spoken in the Banuji Islands, in coastal Kenya, and some parts of southern Somalia. It has about 15,000 to 20,000 speakers.
This is just the bare bones of information on Kibajuni, acting more as a minimal appendix than as a true overview of the language.
Wikipedia report
Like many other languages with under 1 million speakers (or even under 50,000), there isn't much data available on Kibajuni's Wikipedia page. As of 17.30 GMT 20 February 2014, the information on Kibajuni is as follows:
Bajuni (Kibajuni), also known as Tikulu (Tikuu), is a variety of Swahili spoken by the Bajuni people who inhabit the tiny Bajuni Islands and coastal Kenya, in addition to parts of southern Somalia, where they constitute a minority ethnic group. Maho (2009) considers it a distinct language.
It was last updated in August 2013, but is in need of updating for information on the phonology, orthography, and grammar. I've put information such as its phonology, orthography notes, and a few example words; however, there is much more information available with which to update the Wikipedia page.
Linguistic classification
Niger-Congo >>Atlantic-Congo >>Benue-Congo >>Bantoid >>Bantu >>Northeast Coast Bantu >>Sabaki >>Swahili
Phonology
p, pʰ, b, m, w, ᵐb, v, f t, tʰ, d, θ, ð, n, nd s, l, r, ndr tʃ, tʃʰ, dʒ, ʃ, j, ɲ, ndʒ~ɲɟ k, kʰ, g, x, ɣ, ŋ, ŋɡ
Orthography notes
dh=ð th=θ ch=tʃ j=dʒ~ʄ y=j ny=ɲ nj=ndʒ~ɲɟ kh=x gh=ɣ ng’=ŋ ng=ŋɡ
Plus: [g] may be /ɠ/ rather than /g/. [k] is frequently palatalized (perhaps before front vowels). [ch] is also palatalized to /ʃ/. Only voiceless plosives distinguish between aspirated and unaspirated, and the aspiration can change the meaning (e.g., paa 'roof' vs. pʰaa 'gazelle'); hence transcription of aspiration is important.
Word examples
ade - aunt (Som. eedo) babe - father (Kiswa. baba) binti - girl (Kiswa. binti) undu - crest (Kiswa. upanga) magurumo - thunder (Kiswa. ngurumo, Som. onkod) mbuni - ostrich (Kiswa. mbuni) tʰete - spark (Kiswa. cheche) ndrevu - beard (Kiswa. ndevu)