Comorian language
| Comorian | |
|---|---|
| shikomori | |
| Native to | Comoros and Mayotte |
| Region | Throughout Comoros and Mayotte; also in Madagascar and Réunion |
Native speakers | 700,000 (1993–2004)[1] |
|
Arabic Latin | |
| Official status | |
Official language in | Comoros |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 |
Variously:zdj – Ngazidja dialectwni – Ndzwani (Anjouani) dialectswb – Maore dialectwlc – Mwali dialect |
| Glottolog |
como1260[2] |
G.44[3] | |
Comorian (Shikomori or Shimasiwa, the "language of islands") is an official language in the Comoros (an independent country of islands in the Indian Ocean, off Mozambique and Madagascar) and widely spoken on the French overseas territory of Mayotte.[4] It is a set of Sabaki languages. Each island has a different dialect and the four are conventionally divided into two groups: the eastern group is composed of Shindzuani (spoken on Anjouan) and Shimaore (Mayotte), while the western group is composed of Shimwali (Mohéli) and Shingazija (Grande Comore). Although the two groups share about 80% of their lexicon, they are not usually mutually intelligible, thus suggesting that they should be considered two language groups rather than four dialects.[5]
Historically, the language was written in the Arabic script. The French colonial administration introduced the Latin script, of which a modified version was officially decreed in 2009;[6] the Arabic script remains widely used and literacy in the Arabic script is higher than in the Latin script.
It is the language of Udzima wa ya Masiwa, the national anthem.
References
- ↑ Ngazidja dialect at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
Ndzwani (Anjouani) dialect at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
Maore dialect at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
Mwali dialect at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) - ↑ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin; Bank, Sebastian, eds. (2016). "Comorian Bantu". Glottolog 2.7. Jena: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
- ↑ Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
- ↑ Comoros
- ↑ Breslar, 1981; Ahmed-Chamanga, 2010
- ↑ Ahmed-Chamanga, 2010
Further reading
- Ahmed-Chamanga, Mohamed. (1992) Lexique Comorien (shindzuani) – Français. Paris: L'Harmattan.
- Ahmed-Chamanga, Mohamed. (1997) Dictionnaire français-comorien (dialecte Shindzuani). Paris: L'Harmattan.
- Ahmed-Chamanga, Mohamed. (2010) Introduction à la grammaire structurale du comorien. Moroni: Komedit. 2 vols.
- Breslar, Jon. (1981) An Ethnography of the Mahorais (Mayotte, Comoro Islands). Thesis presented at University of Pittsburgh.
- Johansen, Aimee. A History of Comorian Linguistics. in John M. Mugane (ed.), Linguistic Typology and Representation of African Languages. Africa World Press. Trenton, New Jersey.
External links
| Official languages | |
|---|---|
| Non-official languages | |
