Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 18, 2026

Tongwe–Bende language

Tongwe (Sitongwe) and Bende (Sibende) constitute a clade of Bantu languages coded Zone F.10 in Guthrie's classification. According to Nurse & Philippson (2003), they form a valid node. Indeed, at 90% lexical similarity they may be dialects of a single language.

Last revised
Jun 18, 2026
Read time
≈ 1 min
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190 w
Citations
6
Source
Wikipedia ↗
Tongwe–Bende
Native toTanzania
Native speakers
(40,000 cited 1999–2001)1
Dialects
  • Tongwe
  • Bende
Language codes
ISO 639-3Either:
tny – Tongwe
bdp – Bende
Glottologtong1320  Tongwe
bend1258  Bende
F.10 (F.11–12)2
ELPBende

Tongwe (Sitongwe) and Bende (Sibende) constitute a clade of Bantu languages coded Zone F.10 in Guthrie's classification. According to Nurse & Philippson (2003),3 they form a valid node. Indeed, at 90% lexical similarity they may be dialects of a single language.

Phonology

Consonants4
Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Plosive p b t d c ɟ k g
Fricative f s z h
Nasal m n ɲ ŋ
Approximant w j
Vowels4
Front Central Back
High i iː u uː
Mid e eː o oː
Low a ã aː

Additionally, Bende has four tones;4 high, low, rising, and falling.

References

References

  1. Tongwe at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
    Bende at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
  3. Nurse, Derek; Philippson, Gérard, eds. (2003). The Bantu languages. London: Routledge. ISBN 9780700711345.
  4. Abe, Yuko (2006). "A Bende Vocabulary". Bantu Vocabulary Series (13). Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA), Tokyo University of Foreign Studies.
Further reading

Further reading