| Mbukushu | |
|---|---|
| Thimbukushu | |
| Native to | Namibia, Angola, Botswana, Zambia |
| Region | Kavango East |
Native speakers | 95,000 (2020)[1] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | mhw |
| Glottolog | mbuk1240 |
K.333[1][2] | |
Mbukushu or Thimbukushu is a Bantu language spoken by 45,000 people along the Kavango East Region in Namibia, where it is a national language, and in Botswana, Angola and Zambia.
In 2022 it was selected among a variety of Mother Tongue languages to be taught in Botswana Primary Schools in the year 2023.
Mbukushu is one of several Bantu languages of the Kavango which have click consonants; Mbukushu has three: tenuis c, voiced gc, and nasalized nc, as well as prenasalized ngc, which vary between speakers as dental, palatal, and postalveolar.[3] It also has a nasal glottal approximant.
- ^ a b Mbukushu at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- ^ Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
- ^ Nurse, Derek; Philippson, Gérard (2003). The Bantu Languages. Routledge. p. 37. ISBN 0700711341.
