Bena Language (Kibena) Alphabet

Unicode's CLDR, the data that teaches phones and computers each language, lists the Bena locale's main letters as a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w y z, each in capital and small form. That makes 25 letters. CLDR includes q among its main letters, but that list does not identify which words use it. As in Swahili, c turns up inside ch (Hichina, Chinese), and sounds such as sh and dz are written as pairs of letters: shahulembela (Saturday), mwedzi (month).

A 2013 SIL survey said final orthography decisions were pending; the scheme it describes follows Swahili spelling and writes long vowels twice. The symbol grid above holds the 50 letters, the curly quotation marks used in Tanzanian print, the 🇹🇿 flag and ⛰️ for the highlands where Bena is spoken.

CLDR's Bena-language and country names compared with Swahili

Swahili is Tanzania's national language and is widely spoken alongside Bena, while CLDR's Bena locale renders some country and language labels in forms resembling Swahili. In CLDR's Bena locale, many language labels use Hi- where the corresponding Swahili labels use Ki-: Hibena (Kibena), Hiingereza (English), Hifaransa (French), Hihispania (Spanish), Hijerumani (German), Hichina (Chinese), Hiharabu (Arabic). Many CLDR country labels use Hu-: Hutanzania, Hukenya, Humisri (Egypt), Humalawi (Malawi), Huchina.

In several CLDR forms, l appears where the corresponding Swahili form has r. Russia is Huulusi (Swahili Urusi), Russian is Hilusi (Kirusi), America is Humalekani (Marekani) and a quarter of the year is Lobo (robo). The r survives in a few borrowed words such as Hiingereza, which is why it stays in the alphabet.

Days, months and the clock in Bena

CLDR's Bena locale names most weekdays with number-based forms. In CLDR's Bena locale Sunday is pa mulungu, Monday pa shahuviluha, then pa hivili, pa hidatu, pa hitayi and pa hihanu (Tuesday to Friday, built on the Bena numbers for two to five), and Saturday pa shahulembela.

CLDR labels the months as "the month of …": pa mwedzi gwa hutala for January, followed by gwa wuvili, gwa wudatu, gwa wutai and gwa wuhanu for February to May, then gwa sita, gwa saba, gwa nane, gwa tisa, gwa kumi, gwa kumi na moja and gwa kumi na mbili for June to December. A full date reads pa hidatu, 21 pa mwedzi gwa kumi 2026. Morning and afternoon are pamilau and pamunyi, and the era names are Kabla ya Mtwaa and Baada ya Mtwaa (BC and AD).

How to type Bena letters, quotes and the shilling

Every Bena letter is on a standard keyboard, so an English or Swahili phone keyboard types it all. For curly quotes on Windows, hold Alt and type 0147 for “, 0148 for ”, 0145 for ‘ and 0146 for ’ on the number pad; on a Mac, Option+[ gives “, Option+Shift+[ gives ”, Option+] gives ‘ and Option+Shift+] gives ’. Phones curl straight quotes by themselves, or long-press the quote key.

The Tanzanian shilling has no Unicode sign of its own; it is written TSh (code TZS). CLDR's Bena locale calls it Shilingi ya Hutanzania and formats prices as 1,000.00 TSh, the symbol right after the amount, with a comma between thousands and a full stop for decimals.

Where the Bena language is spoken

Bena is the language of the Bena people (Wabena in Swahili) of Njombe Region in the Southern Highlands of Tanzania, cool green uplands of tea estates, timber plantations and avocado farms around the town of Njombe. CLDR's territory data lists an estimate of roughly 1.1 million Bena speakers in Tanzania, many of whom also speak Swahili.

Its closest relatives are its highland neighbours, above all Hehe, spoken around Iringa to the north; the greeting Kamwene is documented among the Hehe. Other languages of Tanzania have their own collections here too, among them Swahili, Kipare (Asu), Langi and Makonde, and the Tanzania collection gathers the flag, the shilling and the country's emoji.