Iramba language

Iramba

Nilamba

Spoken in Tanzania

Ethnicity Nilamba, Iambi

Native speakers 450,000 (2006)

Language family

Niger–Congo

Atlantic–Congo
- Benue–Congo
  - Bantoid
    - Bantu
      - Northeast Bantu
        
        Takama
        
        Iramba

Language codes

ISO 639-3 nim

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Iramba, also known as Nilamba (there is no distinction between /r/ and /l/) is a Bantu language of spoken by the Nilamba and Iambi people of the Shinyanga Region of Tanzania.

Forms of the name occur with and without the prefix ni- or i-, as well as iki- (Swahili ki-) as the noun-class prefix for 'language', and variation of r ~ l ~ ly in the root. This results in a large number of superficial variants, including Nilamba, Niramba, Nilyamba, Nyilamba, Ikinilamba, Ikiniramba, Ilamba, Iramba, Kinilamba, Kiniramba; there is also Nilambari.

The 50,000 Iambi speak a slightly divergent dialect, sometimes listed as a distinct language.