Tonga love poem

A translation for a Tonga love poem (Chitonga, Batonga, Zambezi, Southern Tonga, Sanjo, Twa of Kafwe, Shanjo, Mala, Toka, Plateau Tonga, Valley Tonga, Leya, We).

The word Tonga means independent or grumblers (Lancaster, 1974).

Chitonga is a Bantu language of the Lenje-Tonga group, it is one of the official languages of Zimbabwe, also spoken in neighboring Zambia. This love poem is in the language of the Tonga ethnic group, which represents 1% of the population of Zimbabwe, around Lake Kariba in particular.

1.4 million Tongas (Batonga, Goba, Nyai, Chikunda) use it as a lingua franca, some are also in South Africa, Mozambique and Malawi.

Chitonga can be divided into several dialects spoken mainly in north-western Zimbabwe (Binga and Gokwe) and in southern Zambia by the Bàtongas.

The most important dialect differences are between southern and northern dialects, although there are some between east and west.

During colonization, Rhodesian officials of European origin in general knew how to speak Ndebele or Shona. If the objective was not to impose English but indeed to develop local languages, it is these same Europeans who initiated grammar books on these languages.

I leave it up to you to judge what can happen when someone who learns a language, and therefore know more an "interlanguage" than the one he is learning, and at the same time writes a precise grammar.

Subsequently, Shona, Ndbele and English became official languages. These first two were used for the education of the youngest, and English for that of the oldest and for all commercial relations ... hence the control of English on Zimbabwean society.

Subsequently, other linguistic groups such as the Tongas sought to have their language recognized and disseminated through education and work in their region.

Zimbabwe (ex Southern Rhodesia), a multi-racial country: black, white, half-breeds, Hindus, born of purely colonial circumstances, and little disposed by its relief to centralization, is traditionally divided. The germ of colonization resided in the discovery of gold vein. Besides gold it is a country rich in nickel, platinum, chromite.

Its peak at the Great Zimbabwe time (1400), and the Monomotapa Empire, in addition to gold was linked to copper and ivory. One finds in Zimbabwe the oldest structures of sub-Saharan Africa. You have to visit the magical ruins of the Great Zimbabwe Acropolis.