Kimatuumbi language

language
name=Matumbi
nativename=Kimatuumbi
states=Tanzania
region=Kilwa district
speakers=70,000
familycolor=Niger-Congo
fam2=Atlantic Congo
fam3=Volta-Congo
fam4=Benue-Congo
fam5=Bantoid
fam6=Southern
fam7=Narrow Bantu
fam8=Central
fam9=P
iso2=bnt|iso3=mgw

Kimatuumbi, also known as Matumbi, is a language spoken in Tanzania in the Kipatimu region of the Kilwa district, south of the Rufiji river. It is a Bantu language, P13 in Guthrie's classification. Kimatuumbi is closely related to the Ngindo, Mbunga, Rufiji and Ndengereko languages. It is spoken by about 70 000 people, according to the Ethnologue.

"Matuumbi" is the Kimatuumbi word for 'hills' (singular form: "tuumbi", class 5/6). "Ki-" is a Bantu noun class prefix attached to nouns of the class that includes languages (cf. Kiswahili, Kikongo).

References

* Odden, David (1996) "The Phonology and Morphology of Kimatuumbi". (The Phonology of the World's Languages). Oxford: Clarendon Press.
* Krumm, B. (1912) "Grundriss einer Grammatik des Kimatuumbi." Mitteilungen des Seminars für Orientalischen Sprachen, III.