Shi language
| Shi | |
|---|---|
| Kishi/Mashi | |
| Native to | Democratic Republic of Congo |
| Region | Sud-Kivu Province |
Native speakers | (660,000 cited 1991)[1] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | shr |
| Glottolog | shii1238 |
JD.53[2] | |
Shi, or Nyabungu, is a Bantu language of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The people who speak Mashi are known as Bashi. They are the largest tribe in South Kivu, whose capital city is Bukavu.
The Bashi occupy a vast region known as Bushi. Like Ngweshe, Kabare, Katana, Luhuinja, Burhinyi, Kaziba, Nyengezi, and Idjui where live the Bahavu who are also part of this group; Idjui is a large island in Kivu lake between DRC and Rwanda.
Phonology
[edit]Consonants
[edit]| Labial | Dental/ Alveolar |
Post-alv./ Palatal |
Velar | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | |||
| Plosive/ Affricate |
voiceless | p | t | t͡ʃ | k | |
| voiced | b | d | d͡ʒ | ɡ | ||
| Fricative | voiceless | f | s | ʃ | h | |
| voiced | v | z | ||||
| Rhotic | voiceless | r̥ | ||||
| voiced | r | |||||
| Lateral | l | |||||
| Approximant | w | j | ||||
- Sounds /t, d, n/ are commonly heard as dental [t̪, d̪, n̪].
- /d͡ʒ/ may also be heard as a fricative [ʒ].[3]
Vowels
[edit]| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i iː | u uː | |
| Close-mid | e eː | o oː | |
| Open | a aː |
References
[edit]- ^ Shi at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
- ^ Bashi Murhi-Orhakube, Constantin (2012). Grammaire du mashi: phonologie, morphologie, mots grammaticaux et lexicaux. Paris: L'Harmattan.
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