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Chapter I: Phonology
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 April 2026
Abstract
§1. General Remarks. In all its aspects except the behaviour of the pitch-accent, the phonetic system of the Chewa language is a fairly simple one. There are only five vowels, and the consonantal system is highly symmetrical.
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- © 1937 Linguistic Society of America
References
1 Cf. §17.
2 Cf. §28, g, §30, A, d-2, and §37, j.
3 Cf. §26.
4 Cf. §43.
5 Cf. also §39.
6 Cf. §25.
7 Cf. §31.
8 Cf. The Rev. Alexander Hetherwick, A Practical Manual of the Nyanja Language 2, Nyasaland 1922; and Alice Werner, Introductory Sketch of the Bantu Languages.
9 However, this phonetic difference has been recognized orthographically, and, except for illustrative purposes, the nasal is written as a superior letter when such sounds occur in initial position only.
10 sγ and zγ may be excepted, being borrowed sounds. γ, as has been noted, appears usually in one of these combinations. It is, therefore, excluded from the table.
11 Cf. §33.
12 Stress is indicated by the symbol (') placed after the syllable.
13 Cf. §2.
14 Cf. §37, a and c.
15 Cf. §36, a and b.
16 Professor Daniel Jones has made an interesting study of this problem, and some of his findings are applicable to Chichewa. See Daniel Jones, The Tones of Sechuana Nouns, Memorandum vi, International Institute of African Languages and Cultures.