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THE LINGUISTICS STUDENT’S HANDBOOK 332
Language name Shona �ʃəυnə
Language name Shelta Cant �ʃeltə
Autonym (if known and different)
Autonym (if known and different)
Language family Niger-Congo Bantu
Language family Indo-European Celtic
Spoken in Zambia, Zimbabwe
Spoken in Ireland, United Kingdom, USA
Approximate number of speakers 118k
Approximate number of speakers 6k
Writing system Roman
Writing system
Phonetics/phonology
Phonetics/phonology
Stress word-penultimate
Stress
Contains following rare retroflex; implosive; ‘whistling’ labial-alveolar fricatives
consonant (types)
Contains following rare
consonant (types)
Said to have how many vowels? 5
Said to have how many vowels? 7 + length (5) + 3 diphthongs
Marked vowel types
Marked vowel types
Tone register
Tone none
Rhythm no information
Rhythm no information
Vowel harmony none
Vowel harmony none
Morphology agglutinative
Morphology
Particular formation types prefix; reduplication; suffix
Particular formation types prefix; suffix
Syntax
Word order SVO NA prepositions and
NPoss postpositions
Syntax
Word order
Particular syntactic phenomena
Particular syntactic phenomena noun classes
Points of interest
Points of interest largely a cryptic jargon used by tinkers, etc., with English
syntax predominating
Sources Doke (1954), Gordon (2002), Katzner (1977),
Ruhlen (1976)
Sources Hancock (1984), Macalister (1974)