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43-691: The Levubu River or Levuvhu ( Tsonga : Rivubye ; Venda : Luvuvhu ) is located in the northern Limpopo province of South Africa . Some of its tributaries, such as the Mutshindudi River and Mutale River rise in the Soutpansberg Mountains. The Levubu flows for about 200 km through a diverse range of landscapes before it joins the Limpopo River in the Fever Tree Forest area, near Pafuri in

86-787: A tonal language in the Bantu family, with many also speaking chiTsonga and Portuguese as secondary languages. They are related to the Tsonga people of Mozambique and South Africa and their neighbors include the Shangaan ethnic group who live to the west, in the Gaza Province , and who invaded Chopi territory in the 19th century. Historically, some Chopi were made subjects under Portuguese protection and others became migrant laborers in South Africa . The Chopi identify culturally, as

129-716: A few variations. These may be classified as first person (the speaker), second person (the one spoken to), and third person (the one spoken about). They are also classified by grammatical number , i.e., singular and plural. There is no distinction between subject and object. Each pronoun has a corresponding concord or agreement morpheme . The vocabulary of Xitsonga is essentially similar not only to most South African languages but also other Eastern Bantu languages, for example, Kiswahili. Tsonga, like many other African languages, have been influenced by various European colonial languages. Tsonga vocabulary includes words borrowed from English, Afrikaans , and Portuguese . Also, due to

172-449: A high vowel, /i/ or /u/ , and low-mid [ɛ, ɔ] otherwise. Vowels may be realized as murmured [i̤, a̤] when following breathy consonants. Many of these consonants may be preceded by a nasal, but they are not prenasalized consonants: at least in word-initial position, they are nasal–obstruent sequences where the nasals are syllabic. Different consonant sounds may alternate the place of articulation. A number of Tsonga speakers vary

215-576: A ku endliwe misaveni; tani hi loko ku endliwa matilweni; u hi nyika namuntlha vuswa bya hina bya siku rin'wana ni rin'wana; u hi rivalela swidyoho swa hina, tani hi loko na hina hi rivalela lava hi dyohelaka; u nga hi yisi emiringweni kambe u hi ponisa eka Lowo biha, hikuva ku fuma, ni matimba, ni ku twala i swa wena hi masiku ni masiku. Amen. The sintu writing system, Isibheqe Sohlamvu/ Ditema tsa Dinoko , also known technically in Xitsonga as Xiyinhlanharhu xa Mipfawulo ,

258-556: A people, with the elephant . According to oral traditions of the people themselves, the Chopi people are part of the original Bantu people who migrated from Central Africa between 100AD and 200AD and settled in parts of Tanzania, Malawi, Northern Zambia, and Mozambique, and are reputed to be the first of the Bantu tribes to establish contact with the San people of South-East Africa. The name of

301-543: A show and dance that bears much similarity to the dance style of the Tsonga people of South Africa, particularly the Xibelani dance and other footwork dance styles. Most of the Tsonga traditional music features synthesized marimba instruments and this musical tradition appears to have been carried down from the Chopi people. In his book The Life of a South African Tribe: The Psychic Life, Henri-Alexandre Junod identified

344-480: A state of being also use the past tense. Ku karhala – To be tired, Ndzi karhele – I am tired, U karhele – S/He is tired, Va karhele – They are tired. (iii) In many cases merely changing the last a in the verb to an e indicates past action. Ku fika – To arrive, U fike tolo – S/He arrived yesterday, Ndzi fike tolo – I arrived yesterday, Hi tirhe siku hinkwaro – We worked all day, Ndzi nghene (e)ndlwini – I entered

387-500: A written language. However, there are many dialects within the language that may not pronounce words as written. For example, the Tsonga bible uses the word byela (tell), pronounced bwe-la, however a large group of speakers would say "dzvela" instead. The Lord's Prayer as written in the Xitsonga Bible (Bibele) Tata wa hina la nge matilweni, vito ra wena a ri hlawuriwe; a ku te ku fuma ka wena; ku rhandza ka wena

430-460: Is a Bantu language spoken by the Tsonga people of South Africa . It is mutually intelligible with Tswa and Ronga and the name "Tsonga" is often used as a cover term for all three, also sometimes referred to as Tswa-Ronga. The Xitsonga language has been standardised for both academic and home use. Tsonga is an official language of the Republic of South Africa, and under the name "Shangani" it

473-580: Is a derivation of Ronga. Much of the written history about the Tsonga regards the aftermath of the mfecane where the Nguni people overran many of the pre-existing African tribes of South Africa, Eswatini, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe. Tsonga is a Bantu language (Guthrie code S.53), closely related to other members to the Tswa-Ronga group (S.50): Some dialects are subdialects but have been mentioned here for completeness. For example, Valoyi and Luleke comprise

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516-637: Is for in one of three ways, depending on the word. (i) Generally, one drops the a from the verb and adds the prefix -ile Ndzi nghenile ndlwini – I entered the house, Hi tirhile siku hinkwaro – We worked all day, U hembile – You lied, U hembile – S/He lied, Va hembile – They lied. (ii) With verbs that end with -ala , the past tense changes to -ele or -ale . ku rivala – to forget, Ndzi rivele – I forgot, U rivele – you forgot, Va rivele – they forgot, Ku nyamalala – To disappear, U nyamalarile – S/He – disappeared, Words used to describe

559-491: Is generally typical of Bantu languages with a subject–verb–object order. The structure changes to subject—object—verb when addressing another person: Almost all infinitives have the prefix ku - and end with - a . The main exception to this is the verb ku ri – "to say" It corresponds to "ti" in many other Bantu languages. Examples of its usage include: u ri yini? – What do you say? (What are you saying?) ndzi ri ka n'wina – I say to you all. In many instances

602-461: Is one of the Tsonga languages. The physical evidence of most Tsonga people residing along the eastern coast of Africa in the south, extending inland in a westward direction, makes this explanation especially inviting. However Junod had initially used the Ronga appellation but had also realized that the northern clans did not frequently use the name 'Ronga' as their identity name, but most certainly Tsonga

645-635: Is recognised as an official language in the Constitution of Zimbabwe. All Tswa-Ronga languages are recognised in Mozambique. It is not official in Eswatini (formerly Swaziland). The Xi-tsonga language was studied in great detail by the Swiss missionary, Henri-Alexandre Junod between the years 1890 and 1920, who made the conclusion that the Xitsonga language (which he called the "Thonga language" at

688-439: Is the letter "x" taken from Portuguese orthography, which is pronounced /ʃ/ . Therefore, the following words, [ʃuʃa], [ʃikolo], [ʃilo], are written in Tsonga as -xuxa, xikolo, and xilo . Other spelling differences include the letter "c", which is pronounced /t͡ʃ/ . However, where the emphasis of a word is on the following vowel the letter is hardened by adding "h" this the Tsonga word -chava (fear) A sound equivalent to

731-414: Is used for all Xitsonga varieties. The class 7/8 noun pairs above are represented as follows: E. Dora Earthy, a missionary in Mozambique, published a selection of Tsonga folktales (Lenge dialect) with facing-text English translations in the 1937 volume of the journal Folklore : Part 1 contains 3 stories and Part 2 contains an additional 7 stories. Chopi people The Chopi speak Chichopi ,

774-541: The ri is often omitted and thus ku on its own can also mean "say". Va ri ndza penga – They say I'm crazy. Va ri yini? – What do they say? (What are they saying?) Present tense The present tense is formed by simply using the personal pronoun along with the verb. Ndzi lava mali – I want money, Hi tirha siku hinkwaro – We work all day, Mi(u) lava mani? – Who are you looking for? U kota ku famba – S/He knows how to walk. Present progressive Generally, to indicate ongoing actions in

817-809: The Kruger National Park . A Zambezi shark ( Carcharhinus leucas ) was caught at the confluence of the Limpopo and Luvuvhu Rivers in July 1950. Zambezi sharks tolerate fresh water and can travel far up rivers like the Limpopo. The river's crocodile population extends to its upper reaches at Thohoyandou . This article related to a river in South Africa is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Tsonga language Tsonga ( / ˈ ( t ) s ɒ ŋ ɡ ə / (T)SONG -gə ) or, natively, Xitsonga , as an endonym ,

860-644: The Limpopo River and attempted to subjugate them in 1888, a war ensued between the Chopi people and the Gaza forces that effectively lasted from 1889 and ended in 1895 when Nghunghunyana was defeated by the Portuguese and Chopi soldiers. The Chopi people have managed to sustain their senior traditional leadership from invasion and it exists today in Inhambane, Bileni, and even as far as the Limpopo River at

903-507: The Mapai territory . The Chopi people are famous for their traditional music, the most famous of their instruments being the mbila (plural: timbila ), a xylophone played in large groups. This music was proclaimed a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2005. [1] The music and dance of the timbila is performed in a large orchestra and the dancers put on

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946-571: The 1820s the Chopi people were invaded by Nguni warlords who left South African territory from the Natal region. Nguni tribes were embroiled in wars between themselves from around 1815 where many tribes were slain at the hands of dominant war lords such as Shaka Zulu and the tribes led by Zwide . The impact of the Nguni wars Mfecane reached the Chopi territory where Manukosi Soshangane and others from Zwide's kingdom overran various parts of Mozambique with

989-583: The Chopi people stating that "in the Province of Mozambique the Ba-Chopi are certainly the best musicians" - referring to the Chopi people's mastery of marimbas, xylophones and other native instruments. He further adds that "many timbila are often played together by musicians who form an orchestra. This is rarely the case amongst Thonga but frequently amongst the Ba-Chopi, who are the true "masters" of this instrument (Junod 1913, p. 254). Other instruments used by

1032-575: The Hlanganu dialects. The Xitsonga vocabulary and phonetic permutations are also largely based on these dialects (cf. Junod 1912, p. 470–473) For "language of", the various languages and dialects employ one or more of the following prefixes: Bi-, Chi-, Ci-, Gi-, Ici-, Ki-, Ma-, Shee-, Shi-, Txi-, Va-, Wa-, and Xi-. For "people of", they use either "Ba-" or "Va-". Tsonga has a distinction between modal and breathy voiced consonants: /bʱ, bvʱ, vʱ, dʱ, ɖʐʱ, dʒʱ, ɡʱ/ vs /b, bv, v, d, ɖʐ, dʒ, ɡ/ among

1075-435: The N'walungu dialect. There is no Gwamba dialect as Gwamba is another name for Xitsonga itself. Formally Xitsonga has been called Gwamba. Tswa-Ronga dialects not considered part of the family include Pulana (Xipulana, Sepulane). What is commonly referred to as "Shangana/Changana" is not a recognized language in South Africa and is not a dialect that falls within the Xitsonga language group, as its distinctiveness stems mainly from

1118-583: The Portuguese army as time passed. Breakaway groups migrated away from these parts in the 1640s to settle in South Africa where they founded new kingdoms (such as the N'wanati Kingdom of the Chopi king Gunyule). The Chopi people were well-known craft-makers in Mozambique and in the 1700s traded with the kingdoms of Zimbabwe, which gave rise to great empires such as the Rozwi-Kalanga empire. Chopi tribes included names such as Mondlane, Chivambu, Mbande, Mavila, Masingisa, Chirinda, Makwakwa, and many others. In

1161-620: The Welsh "ll" ( /ɬ/ ) is written "hl" in Tsonga, e.g. -hlangana (meet), -hlasela (attack), -hleka (laugh) A whistling sound common in the language is written "sw" or "sv" in Zimbabwean ChiShona. This sound actually belongs to the "x-sw" class within the language. E.g.: Another whistling sound is spelled "dy" but has no English equivalent, the closest being the "dr" sound in the English word "drive" Xitsonga has been standardised as

1204-558: The Xitsonga language as a result made it possible for the Tsonga people to develop a common way of speaking and writing. The name "Tsonga" is the root of Xitsonga (culture, language or ways of the Tsonga) Mutsonga (a Tsonga person), Vatsonga (Tsonga people), etc. In the language of the Vatsonga themselves, the root never appears by itself. It is Tsonga for the ease and accessibility of the wider international community. As for

1247-729: The affricates from alveolar [ts], [tsʰ], [dz], [dzʱ], [dzʷʱ] to retroflex [tʂ], [tʂʰ], [dʐ], [dʐʱ], [dʐʷʱ] ; the latter are weakly whistled in Tsonga proper and in Changana dialect. Labiodental [ɱ] and dental [n̪] appear in homorganic consonant clusters. Unlike some of the Nguni languages , Tsonga has very few words with click consonants , and these vary in place between dental [ᵏǀ], [ᵏǀʰ], [ᵏǀʷʰ], [ᶢǀ], [ᶢǀʷ] and postalveolar [ᵏ!], [ᵏ!ʰ], [ᵏ!ʷʰ], [ᶢ!], [ᶢ!ʷ] . Examples are: ngqondo (mind), gqoka (wear/dress), guqa (kneel), riqingo (phone), qiqi (earring), qamba (compose), Mugqivela (Saturday). The grammar

1290-475: The art of manufacturing using wood, iron, and clay from a very early stage. They made wooden instruments, smelted iron, and hunted elephants and other animals. Portuguese sailors, who were the first Europeans to arrive in Africa, encountered the Chopi people on the coast of Mozambique in the 1400s. The Portuguese people established trade operations on Chopi territory and many of the Chopi people were conscripted into

1333-599: The assimilation of the Shangaan nation, it has taken some words from Nguni languages. Words borrowed from English Words borrowed from Afrikaans Words borrowed from other Nguni languages: Xitsonga uses the Latin alphabet . However, certain sounds are spelled using a combination of letters, which either do not exist in Indo-European languages , or may be meant to distinguish the language somewhat. An example of this

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1376-679: The first to arrive at the Delagoa Bay and around the Natal Bay, transitioned the Rhonga "Rh" into the Zulu form of "Th". An example is rhuma (Tsonga word for "send") becomes thuma (Zulu word for the same action). The third and most accepted is that it is another pronunciation for "Rhonga", the root for the word "vurhonga" for east or the direction where the sun rises. Vurhonga also means dawn in Xitsonga. Rhonga (commonly and wrongly spelt as Ronga)

1419-563: The house. Future tense This is formed by the adding ta in between the personal pronoun and the verb. Ndzi ta nghena (e)ndlwini – I will enter the house, Hi ta tirha siku hinkwaro – We will work all day, Va ta tirha siku hinkwaro – They will work all day, Mi ta tirha siku hinkwaro – You (plural) will work all day. Tsonga has several classes, much like other Bantu languages, which are learned through memorisation mostly. These are: Personal pronouns in Tsonga are very similar to those of many other Bantu languages, with

1462-439: The intent of subjugating as many tribes as possible and to control the land's vast resources for gold, iron, ivory, and taxation. The Chopi people at the time were still under Portuguese rule and the Shangaan invaders feared attacking the Chopi people as they were armed with rifles from the Portuguese soldiers and many of them also used bows and poisoned arrows. When the new ruler of Gaza (Nghunghunyana) invaded their territory near

1505-458: The language in order to have a standard way of writing and reading. "Shigwamba" was a term used by the missionaries in order to group the language under a unified identity, however the name was unfamiliar to many of the Tsonga people and had to be replaced with "Thonga/Tsonga". Harries makes reference to this: As the term Gwamba was unknown outside the Spelonken, Henri Berthoud recommended that

1548-426: The language to the missionaries since none of the missionaries were familiar with it and had to dedicate much of their time to learn it. The language of the Tsonga people and the dialects were put into print and the first books were published. The language was later on finally registered as "Xitsonga" within the Constitution of South Africa (Act 108 of 1996) and it was declared an official language. The standardization of

1591-460: The mission abandon the term and replace it with the widely accepted genericism, Tonga/Thonga. Swiss missionaries worked with the Tsonga people, assisting in the translation of the Bible from English and Sesotho into Tsonga. Paul Berthoud published the first book in 1883, thanks to assistance from translations by Mpapele (Mbizana) and Mandlati (Zambia). The two men were active in teaching and translating

1634-475: The obstruents (the one exception being /ɮ/ ), and /m̤, n̤, ŋ̈, r̤, ȷ̈, w̤/ vs /m, n, ŋ, r, j, w/ among the sonorants (the one exception being /ɲ/ ). The segmental inventory is as follows: Long vowels are written double. Nasalized vowels are not distinguished in writing; [ĩ, ẽ, ə̃] are only found in words for 'yes' and 'no', while [ã] is found in a few mimetic words. Mid vowels can vary from close-mid to open-mid; they are generally close-mid [e, o] before

1677-535: The origins of the name, there are three theories. The first states that Tsonga is another pronunciation for Dzonga, which means "South" and also the name of one of the dialects of Xitsonga. The second theory is that it is an alternate spelling of the old ancestral name of the Chopi and Tembe groups, Tonga/Thonga. The other Zulu explanation for the alternative spelling of "Thonga" is that the Tembe and Rhonga people, who were

1720-681: The people is properly spelled as "Bacopi" or "Vacopi" in the Chopi language which is remarkably similar to the Xitsonga language . The name of the Chopi people comes from their use of bows and arrows, which they adopted from the San people as they were the first to interact with the early San bushmen from the area between Tanzania and Mozambique. The Chopi people in reality are part of the first Thonga (Tonga) people who went on to form various colonies in southern Africa in countries such as Zimbabwe, Malawi, Zambia, Mozambique, and South Africa. The people mastered

1763-432: The present one takes the personal pronoun, drops the i and adds a . Ndzi nghena (e)ndlwini – I am entering the house, Ha tirha sweswi – We are working right now, Ma hemba – You (plural) are lying, Wa hemba – You (singular) are lying, Wa hemba – S/He is lying, With the plural va (they) there is no difference. Thus va hemba = "they lie" and "they are lying". Past tense This

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1806-564: The time) began to develop in Mozambique even before the 1400s. In his own words, Junod states the following: My conclusion is then that the Thonga language was already-spoken by the primitive occupants of the country more than 500 years ago and that, together with a certain number of customs, it formed the great bond which bound the Thonga clans together in past centuries. Further studies were carried out by Junod and other Swiss missionaries such as Henri Berthoud and Ernest Creux, who began to unify

1849-400: The use of the Nguni language and grammar. Only six Thonga/Tsonga dialects exist and these were identified by the dawn of the 1900s. These are namely xiRonga, xiHlanganu, xiBila, xiDjonga, xiN'walungu, and xiHlengwe. All other variations within South Africa are sub-dialects of the aforementioned. The dialects most spoken in the rural communities of Limpopo are the N'walungu, Bila, Hlengwe, and

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