Beyond Time - Linguistics - University of California, Berkeley

(19) Observed NT dialect continuum: Fwe (K402) — China Chilao (Totela) (K41) —
China Luhani (Totela) (K41) — Linyanti / Mbalangwe (K401) — Subiya (K42)
English plays a larger role in Namibian Totela than in Zambian Totela, because the
Namibian Totela population is centered close to the urban area of Katima Mulilo, and contact
is regular. Map 2.3, from Seidel (2005:209), shows an approximate current distribution of
languages in Caprivi around where Totela is spoken.
Map 2.3: Caprivi languages (Seidel 2005:209)
Thus, the while the larger population of Totela speakers in Zambia is rapidly shrinking,
the smaller community of Namibian Totela speakers appear to be maintaining a relatively
stable multilingualism (see also Seidel 2005:208).
2.1.3 Previous research
Very little published work is available that deals specifically with the Totela language. Mentions
of Totela as a language and ethnic group may be found in several works, including
Torrend (1921), Bryan (1959), Fortune (1959, 1963) and others. Jacottet (1896-1901) includes
a few Totela songs. More recently, Baumbach (1997) published a brief sketch of
Namibian Totela. Some works dealing with Bantu Botatwe languages (e.g. Seidel 2005;
de Luna 2008, 2010) also include Totela wordlist data in their analyses.
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