Mwani is a Bantu language spoken in northern Mozambique along the coast of Cabo Delgado Province and in the Quirimbas Islands. In 2006 there were about 120,000 speakers of Mwani, including 100,000 native speakers and 20,000 second language speakers.
Mwani is also known as Ibo, Kimwani, Muane, Mwane or Quimuane. The name, Kimwani, means "language of the beach". Dialects include Kisanga (Kikisanga), Nkojo (Kinkojo), Nsimbwa (Kinsimbwa) and Wibo (Kiwibo). Wibo is considered the prestige dialect.
In the past Mwani was written with a version of the Arabic script. There are currently several ways to write Mwani with the Latin alphabet. One is based on Swahili spelling, one is based on Portuguese spelling, and another is used in schools in Mozambique. The school system (shown below) only differs from the Swahili-based system in the spelling of /ʧ/, which is written ch in the Swahili system.
Download an alphabet chart for Mwani (Excel)
Baba wetu uri binguni, rikurisiwe zina rako, uje ufalume wako, vitendiwe vyausaka kamba vitendiwa mbinguni, na mulumwengu‑mu vitendiwe novyo. Tipe luziki rero ratisakula kila suku. Tiswamii makosa etu, kamba ofwe novyo vyatiwaswamii watikosa. Usitase kutingira ushetwani, fala tinusuru mmakono mwa Mbaya.
Source: The Bible in Over 800 Languages
Information about Mwani | Numbers
Information about the Mwani language
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mwani_language
https://www.ethnologue.com/18/language/wmw/
http://www.african.gu.se/aa/pdfs/aa02088.pdf
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Languages written with the Latin alphabet
Page last modified: 07.08.24
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