Kimachame (Machame Chaga) Alphabet

Unicode's CLDR, the data that teaches phones and computers each language, lists the Machame alphabet as a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p r s t u v w y z, each in capital and small form. That is the English alphabet without q and x, the same letter set CLDR gives the other Chaga languages, Vunjo and Rombo, and the neighbouring Kipare (Asu). CLDR's locale forms include Kyichina (Chinese) and Machi (March); those labels do not establish ch as a Kimashami spelling.

There are no accented letters: no é, no ñ, no dotted vowels. Like most Bantu languages Kimachame is tonal, but everyday spelling does not mark tone, so a whole Kimashami text can be typed on a standard Latin keyboard. The symbol grid above holds the 48 letters, the curly quotation marks, the 🇹🇿 flag, 🏔️ for Kilimanjaro, and ☕ and 🍌 for the coffee and bananas that grow in the Chaga homegardens on its slopes.

ky, lyi and nyi: how Kichaga cha Machame looks on the page

Machame shares a great deal of everyday vocabulary with Swahili, and the spelling shows where the two part ways. In CLDR's Kimachame locale, language names take the prefix Kyi- where Swahili has Ki-: Kyingereza (English, Swahili Kiingereza), Kyifaransa (French), Kyiarabu (Arabic), Kyichina (Chinese), Kyirusi (Russian), Kyireno (Portuguese). The language's own name is Kimashami; CLDR uses Kimachame as its Machame locale name.

CLDR's jmc locale uses date labels such as Jumapilyi, Jumatatuu and Jumatanu for Sunday, Monday and Wednesday, and Aprilyi, Junyi and Julyai for months; the Kimashami dictionary records Sunday as nkonu wa irubha, Monday as nkonu wa lyimwi and Wednesday as nkonu wa kaghaaghu. CLDR's Machame locale labels a.m. and p.m. as utuko and kyiukonyi; it also uses Kabla ya Kristu and Baada ya Kristu for the eras, abbreviated KK and BK.

How to type Kimachame letters, quotes and the shilling

Every Kimachame letter is on a standard keyboard, so there is nothing to install: an English or Swahili phone keyboard types it all, ky and nyi included. 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 Kimachame locale puts it straight before the amount with no space, TSh1,000.00, with a comma between thousands and a full stop for decimals, and names it Shilingi ya Tanzania. The Kenyan currency is Shilingi ya Kenya and the US dollar Dola ya Marekani.

Where the Machame language is spoken

Machame is the speech of the Chaga people around Machame in Hai District, Kilimanjaro Region, on the south-western slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro, the area that gave its name to the Machame Route up the mountain. Here families farm coffee under banana groves on the green, terraced slopes below the forest. CLDR estimates roughly 500,000 speakers, all in Tanzania; it gives Vunjo and Rombo the very same figure, so treat it as a rough estimate. Swahili, the national language, is widely spoken alongside it.

Chaga is not one language but a chain of related Bantu varieties around the mountain. In Swahili they are all Kichaga, and people tell them apart by place: Kichaga cha Machame, cha Kibosho, cha Marangu, cha Rombo. Machame sits in the west of that chain, Vunjo (around Marangu) in the middle and Rombo in the east. Each has its own collection, as do Kipare (Asu) of the Pare Mountains to the south-east, Masai of the plains around the mountain, Swahili, and Tanzania for the flag, the shilling and the country's emoji.