ChiYao

chiYao
Native to	Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania
Native speakers	(undated figure of 3.1 million)
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Volta-Congo Benue–Congo Bantoid Southern Bantoid Bantu Rufiji–Ruvuma Ruvuma Yao–Mwera chiYao
Writing system	Latin
Official status
Recognised minority language in	Malawi
Language codes
ISO 639-2	yao
ISO 639-3	yao
Glottolog	yaoo1241
Guthrie code	P.21

Person	'Myao
People	WaYao
Language	chiYao
Country	Uyao

chiYao ichi chikuyowoyeka na ŵanthu pafupifupi 2 miliyoni mu Malaŵi, kweniso ŵanthu pafupifupi 500,000 mu Tanzania na Mozambique. Ŵanyake ŵakuyowoya ciyowoyero ici mu Zambia. Mu Malaŵi, chiyowoyero chikuru ni Mangochi, ndipo ŵanthu ŵanandi ŵakuyowoya mu chigaŵa cha Nyanja ya Malawi. Ku Mozambique, ŵanthu ŵanandi ŵakuyowoya viyowoyero vya Makale na Massaninga. Chiyowoyero ichi chili na mazina ghanandi mu Chingelezi, nga ni chiYao panji ciYao (mu chiyowoyero icho chili na vigaŵa), Achawa, Adsawa, Adsoa, Ajawa, Ayawa, Ayo, Ayao, Djao, Haiao, Hiao, Hyao, Jao, Veiao, na waJao.

Ku Malawi, ŵanthu ŵanandi awo ŵakuyowoya Chiyao ŵakukhala ku Southern Region kufupi na mphepete kumwera kwa Nyanja ya Malawi. Ku Mozambique ŵanthu ŵanandi awo ŵakuyowoya chiyowoyero ichi ŵakukhala mu chigaŵa cha Niassa kufuma ku chigaŵa cha kumafumiro gha dazi kwa Nyanja ya Malawi (Lago Niassa) m'paka ku Mlonga wa Lugenda m'paka apo wakukumana na Mlonga wa Rovuma. Ku Tanzania ŵanthu ŵanandi awo ŵakuyowoya chiyowoyero ichi ŵakukhala kumwera kwa chigaŵa cha Mtwara, chigaŵa cha Masasi na mu chigaŵa cha Ruvuma, chigaŵa cha Tunduru, kumafumiro gha dazi kwa Nyanja ya Malawi kufupi na mphaka ya Mozambique.

Nga umo vikuŵira na viyowoyero vinandi mu Africa, chiyowoyero ichi chikumanyikwa na boma yayi, ndipo mabuku ghanyake mu chigaŵa ichi ghakulembeka mu viyowoyero nga ni Chiarabic, Chingelezi, Chijeremani, na Ciphwitikizi.

Phonology

Consonants

		Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar
Plosive/ Affricate	voiceless	p	t	t͡ʃ	k
	voiced	b	d	d͡ʒ	ɡ
Fricative			s
Nasal		m	n	ɲ	ŋ
Approximant		ʋ	l	j	w

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i iː		u uː
Mid	e eː		o oː
Open		a aː

Nga umo vikuŵira na viyowoyero vinandi vya ŵanthu ŵa mtundu wa Bantu, mazgu gha ŵanthu ŵa mtundu wa Yao ghakovwira chomene pa nkhani ya mazgu. Wonani Mtenje (1990) pa nkhani ya mazgu gha ChiMalawi Yao. Wonani Ngunga (1997) kuti mumanye makora umo chiyowoyero cha Yao cha ku Mozambique chikuzunulikira.

Kulemba

Nga umo vikuŵira mu Cingelezi, mazgu ghambura kuwoneka makora ghakuchemeka aspirated. Kanandi pakuŵa waka mavowelo ghankhondi 'ghakutowa,' nga ni a, e, i, o, na u, kweni mavowelo ghanyake ghakupambana. Chiyowoyero cha Yao chili na mazgu ghachokoghachoko, nga umo viliri na viyowoyero vinyake vya ku Bantu.

Mu vyaru vikuruvikuru vitatu ivyo ŵanthu ŵakuyowoya Ciyao, kalembero ka mazgu kakupambana comene, ndipo ŵanthu awo ŵakumanya kuŵazga na kulemba mbacoko comene. Ku Tanzania, kalembero ka mazgu agha kakukolerana na ka Chiswahili, apo ku Malawi kakukolerana na ka Chewa. Chiyowoyero cha ku Malawi chili na vilembo ivi:

Letter:

A

B

Ch

D

E

G

I

J/Dy

K

L

Ly

M

N

Ng'

Ny

O

P

S

T

U

W

Ŵ

Y

Value:

a

b

tʃ

d

e~ɛ

ɡ

i

dʒ

k

l

ʎ

m

n

ŋ

ɲ

ɔ~o

p

ʂ

tʰ

u

w

ʋ

j

Macron ghangagwiliskirika nchito kuti paleke kuŵa kukayika cifukwa ca kuleka kulongora utali wa vwayelo. </ref>

Grammar

Chiyowoyero cha Yao ni chiyowoyero cha ŵanthu awo ŵakuyowoya chiyowoyero ichi. Nga umo vikuŵira na viyowoyero vyose vya ŵanthu ŵa ku Bantu, chiyowoyero cha Yao nacho chili na mazgu ghakupambanapambana. Chigaŵa chilichose chili na chimanyikwiro icho chikovwira kupanga mazina gha viŵaro na viŵaro vyakukolerana.

Masukulu gha mazina

Class	Prefix	Class characteristic	Used for
1	m-, mu-, mw-	ju	persons singular
2	ŵa-, a-, acha-, achi-	ŵa	persons plural
3	m-, mu-, mw-	u	living things singular
4	mi-	ji	living things plural
5	li-, ly-	li	miscellaneous singular
6	ma-	ga	plurals of class 5
7	chi-, ch'-	chi	miscellaneous singular
8	i-, y-	i	plurals of class 7
9	n-, ny-, mb-, (nw-)	ji	miscellaneous singular
10	n-, ny-, mb-, (nw-)	si	plurals of class 9
11	lu-	lu	like 9, also singulars of class 10
12	ka-	ka	diminutives singular
13	tu-	tu	plurals of class 13
14	u-	u	collective and abstract, no plural; also some singulars of class 6
15	ku, kw-	ku	infinitives
16	(pa-)	pa	locality (at)
17	(ku-, kwa-)	ku	locality (to)
18	(mu-, mwa-)	mu	locality (in)

Vinthu ivi vikuyana waka na vilembo vyakwambilira, kweni mu kilasi lakwamba na lachiŵiri, vilembo ivi ni "mb-" na "a-" Fundo yakuti ŵanthu ŵa vigaŵa vya 16, 17 na 18 ŵali mu gulu ili yikupambana na ya ŵanthu ŵa mtundu wa Bantu.

Kuyowoya

Fomu za ŵanthu wose zili pasi apa, ndipo za ŵanthu ŵambura kuzomerezgeka zili mu mabokosi.

Personal form prefix	English equivalent (pronoun)
n-, ni-	I
(u-)	(thou)
a-	he, she, it, you
tu-	we
m-, mu-, mw-	you
ŵa-, a-	they (he, you)

Pali vigaŵa viŵiri vya lizgu ili, cigaŵa ciwemi na cigaŵa ciheni.

Umoyo wakulongora

Nga umo vikuŵira mu viyowoyero vinandi vya ŵanthu ŵa mtundu wa Bantu, mazgu agha ghakumalira pa 'a.' Ŵakupambaniska nyengo za sono, zakunthazi, zakunozgekera sono, zamunthazi na zamunthazi.

Umoyo wa munthu

Mu viyowoyero vinandi vya ku Bantu, mazgu ghaumaliro gha 'a' ghakusintha kuŵa 'e.' Ghangagwiliskirika nchito nga ni mazgu ghaciwuravi, ndipo kanandi ghakuŵa na mazgu ghaciŵiri.

Kuŵikapo mtima

Kuti munthu waŵe na lizgu lakuti 'kaŵirikaŵiri' (kanandi para wakuyowoya mwantchindi yayi), wangagwiliskira ntchito lizgu lakuti 'n' panji lizgu lakuti 'n' panji lizgu lakuti '-ga' panji '-je.'

Mazina gha ŵanthu

Zina la munthu likukhwaska waka magulu 1 na 2. Zina mwa mazina agha ghakupangika kufuma ku mazina gha magulu. Viyezgo ivi, ivyo ŵanthu ŵa ku Bantu ŵakutemwa kuyowoya, ni vyambura kusuzga kuvipulikiska chifukwa vikupambana na mazgu ghanyake. Zina la munthu wacitatu likuthemba pa zina la munthu, nga ni umo tawonera.

Absolute pronoun	English equivalent (subject pronoun, object pronoun)
une	I, me
(ugwe)	thou, thee
uwe	we, us
umwe	you

Viyowoyero ivi vingaŵa kuti vikukolerana na malango ghanyake gha ŵanthu ŵa ku Bantu ghakukhwaskana na kuzgoka kwa vwayelo.

Paliso viyelezgero vinyake ivyo vikulongora kuti munthu wali kutali chomene.

Wonani

• ŴaYao
• Viyowoyero vya Bantu

Baibolo

• Centre for Language Studies (Zomba, Malawi) "Amendments and/or Additional Rules to Ciyawo Orthography 2010"
• Dicks, Ian & Dollar, Shawn (2010) "A Practical Guide to Understanding Ciyawo"
• Hetherwick, Alexander (1889), "Introductory Handbook of the Yao Language"
• Hetherwick, Alexander (1902), "A Handbook of the Yao Language"
• Kaunjika, David Jones (2006), "A Chiyao course in three languages", Montfort Media, Balaka, Malawi
• Yusuf Jonas Msume (2017) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yao_people_(East_Africa)
• Mtenje, Al (1990), Verb morphology and tone assignment in Chiyao. Afrikanistische Arbeitspapiere (AAP) 22. 41-59.
• Ngunga, Armindo (1997), Lexical Phonology and Morphology of the CiYao Verb Stem. University of California, Berkeley, PhD dissertation. https://escholarship.org/content/qt3xw7j0c2/qt3xw7j0c2_noSplash_5b3f6edf3cbb24dad546d3d22b4de150.pdf
• Sanderson, George Meredith (1922), "A Yao Grammar"
• Sanderson, George Meredith (1954), "A dictionary of the Yao language"
• SIL Mozambique, "Linguas de Moçambique Vocabulario de CIYAO Archived 2014-10-28 at the Wayback Machine"
• Steere, Edward (1871) "Collections for a Handbook of the Yao Language"
• U.S. Peace Corps manual
• Whiteley, Wilfred Howell (1966), "A study of Yao sentences"