Kichaga
/kiˈtʃɑːɡə/noun
A collective name for the Bantu languages spoken by the Chaga peoples of northern Tanzania.
Did you know?The opening ki- is a Bantu noun-class prefix commonly used for languages in Swahili and related naming traditions, as in Kiswahili and Kikuyu.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Bantu
Proto-Bantu
*kì-
“Noun-class prefix associated with artifacts, cultural products, and related categories”
Precolonial Bantu usage
Bantu languages
ki- + ethnonym
“A formation meaning the language or cultural expression associated with a people”
19th Century
Swahili
Kichaga
“The language associated with the Chaga people of the Kilimanjaro region”
19th–20th Century
European scholarship
Kichaga / Chaga
“A collective label for several closely related Chaga languages and dialects”
Modern English
English
Kichaga
“A collective name for the Chaga languages of Tanzania”
Explore more surprising origins