Nyiha, Tanzania

NIH

developing

Alternate Names: Ishinyiha, Isinyixa, Kinyiha, Nyika, Nyixa, Shinyiha

Dialects: Mbozi, Sumbawanga. Reportedly similar to Lambya ,. Lexical similarity: 67% with Nyika, Tanzania ,; 74% with Malila ,; 71% with Safwa , (Roth 2011).

Genealogy:

Niger-Congo
Atlantic-Congo
Volta-Congo
Benue-Congo
Bantoid
Southern
Narrow Bantu
Central
M
Nyiha-Safwa (M.23)

Demographics: 306,000 in Tanzania (1987), increasing. Population total all countries: 662,000.

Language Use: Most domains except education, government. All ages. Very positive attitudes.

Language Development: Literacy rate in L1: 0%. SIL has transition literacy work (Swahili to Nyiha). Grammar. NT: 1913–1966.

Typology: SVO; prepositions; noun head initial; noun classes; verbal affixation for subject, object, tense, aspect, mood and derivation; 34 consonant phonemes; 10 vowel phonemes; tonal.

Writing System: Latin

Nation of Origin: Tanzania

Other Comments: Different from Nyika , (Kigiryama) of Kenya. Christian.