Chitonga
/tʃɪˈtɒŋɡə/noun
A Bantu language spoken chiefly in parts of Zambia and Zimbabwe, also known as Tonga.
Did you know?The prefix *chi-* belongs to a wider Bantu noun-class system and appears in names for several African languages, including Chichewa and Chishona.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Bantu
Proto-Bantu
*ki- / *ci-
“Noun-class prefix associated with languages, objects, or things of a particular kind”
Early Bantu
Bantu
*Tonga
“Ethnonym for the Tonga people; the deeper origin of the name is uncertain”
Precolonial period
Tonga
Chitonga
“The Tonga language, formed with the language-related prefix chi-”
19th Century
English
Chitonga
“English recording of the name of the Tonga language”
Modern English
English
Chitonga
“A Bantu language spoken mainly in Zambia and Zimbabwe”