Symbols
61Click a symbol to copy it and open its page.
Chimakonde alphabet
One row per letter, A to Z, as Unicode's CLDR lists it: 26 plain letters, no accents. Everyday Makonde spelling, like Swahili's, rarely needs q or x, and tone is not written.
Quotation marks
Tanzanian print follows English punctuation: double curly quotes, single quotes inside them, and ’ as the apostrophe.
Where it's spoken
The Makonde Plateau in south-eastern Tanzania and the Mueda Plateau in northern Mozambique, either side of the Ruvuma River. Neither the shilling (TSh) nor the metical (MT) has a Unicode sign.
Makonde art
Carving in blackwood, the masked mapiko dance and the drums that drive it.
On the map
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Makonde orthography varies by region
Unicode's CLDR, the data that teaches phones and computers each language, lists the Makonde locale's main letters as the full a to z, each in capital and small form, and calls the language by its own name, Chimakonde. Mozambique's standardized Shimakonde orthography has 23 graphemes, including ny, ng’ and sh, and can mark tone with acute and grave accents. In the CLDR forms shown here, c appears inside ch (Chimakonde, Chichina for Chinese).
Makonde is a tonal Bantu language, and linguists have studied its tones closely. Mozambique's standardized Shimakonde orthography marks high tone with an acute accent and low tone with a grave accent, so CLDR's A–Z forms do not represent every orthographic convention. The symbol grid above has the 52 A–Z characters in CLDR's locale set, the curly quotation marks used in Tanzanian print, the flags of Tanzania and Mozambique, and for the carving, masks and drums Makonde culture is known for.
Makonde names in CLDR: l and dy where Swahili has r and j
Put CLDR's Makonde names for countries and languages next to the Swahili ones and a pattern jumps out: these Makonde forms have l where Swahili has r. English is Chiingeleza (Swahili Kiingereza), French Chifalansa and France Ufalansa, Russia Ulusi, Rwanda Lwanda, Egypt Misli, America Malekani, South Africa Afilika Kusini, and the year's quarters are Lobo 1 to Lobo 4 (Swahili robo). CLDR's Makonde names also have dy where Swahili has j: Japan is Dyapani and Japanese Chidyapani.
The CLDR language names shown here use the prefix Chi- where Swahili uses Ki-: Chimakonde, Chiingeleza, Chihispania (Spanish), Chiitaliano (Italian), Chihindi (Hindi). Mozambique is Msumbiji, as in Swahili, and the era names, BC and AD, are Akanapawa Yesu and Nankuida Yesu. Words may start with a doubled n, as in Nnyano (five) and Nngalesa (the United Kingdom), so keep both letters when you copy them.
Counting in fives: Makonde days and months
Makonde months are numbered, and after five the numbers are built as five plus something. January is Mwedi Ntandi, the first month, then Mwedi wa Pili, wa Tatu, wa Nchechi and wa Nnyano (second to fifth). June is Mwedi wa Nnyano na Umo, the month of five and one, July five and two (na Mivili), August five and three (na Mitatu), September five and four (na Nchechi), and October Mwedi wa Nnyano na Nnyano, five and five.
The days work the same way and, as in Swahili, start counting from Saturday: Liduva litandi (Saturday) is the first day, Liduva lyapili (Sunday) the second, then lyatatu (Monday), lyanchechi (Tuesday), lyannyano (Wednesday), Liduva lyannyano na linji (Thursday, five and one) and Liduva lyannyano na mavili (Friday, five and two). Phones set to CLDR's Makonde locale shorten them to Ll1 to Ll7.
How to type Makonde: quotes and the shilling
Every Makonde letter is on a standard keyboard, so an English, Swahili or Portuguese keyboard on a phone or computer types it all with nothing to install. 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 “, OptionShift[ gives ”, Option] gives ‘ and OptionShift] gives ’. Phones curl straight quotes by themselves, or long-press the quote key.
Neither currency of the Makonde homeland has a Unicode sign. The Tanzanian shilling, Shilingi ya Tanzania in the Makonde locale, is written TSh (code TZS), and CLDR formats it as TSh1,000.00, with a comma between thousands and a full stop for decimals. In Mozambique prices are in meticais, written MT (code MZN).
Where the Makonde language is spoken
Makonde is the language of the Makonde people of the Makonde Plateau in south-eastern Tanzania, in Mtwara and Lindi regions around Newala and Tandahimba, and of the Mueda Plateau in Cabo Delgado, northern Mozambique, across the Ruvuma River. CLDR estimates roughly 1.7 million speakers in Tanzania, where Swahili is the national language; in Mozambique, where the language is often called Shimakonde, its neighbour on the page is Portuguese. Smaller communities live in Dar es Salaam, Zanzibar and on the Kenyan coast.
Makonde belongs to the same branch of Bantu as Yao, spoken to the west around the Ruvuma and in Malawi, and borders the Makhuwa language to the south in Mozambique. Each of those has its own collection, as do Swahili and Portuguese, the languages Makonde speakers use alongside their own, and Tanzania and Mozambique for the flags and the countries' emoji.
How to use them
5 situationsClick to copyMakonde Language Alphabet combos
10Worth knowing
- In Unicode's Makonde data, June is Mwedi wa Nnyano na Umo, the month of five and one, and October is Mwedi wa Nnyano na Nnyano, five and five.
- Makonde is tonal; Mozambique's standardized Shimakonde orthography can mark high and low tone with acute and grave accents.
- The famous Makonde carvings, from single figures to the crowded ujamaa trees of people climbing on one another, are cut from mpingo, African blackwood, one of the densest woods in the world.
- Makonde District in Zimbabwe shares only the name: the Makonde language and people live some 1,300 kilometres away on the Tanzania–Mozambique border.
Questions people ask
7What is the Makonde language?
Makonde, Chimakonde in the language itself (also Kimakonde in Swahili, Shimakonde in Mozambique), is the Bantu language of the Makonde people of south-eastern Tanzania and northern Mozambique. Its ISO code is kde and it has its own locale in Unicode's CLDR.
What alphabet does Makonde use?
Makonde uses Latin script; Mozambique's standardized Shimakonde orthography has 23 graphemes, including ny, ng’ and sh, and can mark tone with acute and grave accents.
Is Kimakonde the same as Swahili?
No. It is a separate Bantu language, though Swahili is the national language in Tanzania and the two share some vocabulary. The CLDR Makonde forms shown here have l where Swahili has r and Chi- where Swahili has Ki-: Chiingeleza for Kiingereza (English), Lobo for robo (quarter).
Does Makonde have accents?
Not in every convention: Mozambique's standardized Shimakonde orthography marks high tone with acute accents and low tone with grave accents.
Where is the Makonde tribe in Tanzania?
On the Makonde Plateau in Mtwara and Lindi regions in the far south-east, around Newala and Tandahimba, facing Mozambique across the Ruvuma River. Many Makonde also live in Dar es Salaam.
Where is the Makonde tribe in Mozambique?
On the Mueda Plateau in Cabo Delgado province in the far north, just south of the Ruvuma River and the border with Tanzania.
How many people speak Makonde?
Unicode's CLDR estimates roughly 1.7 million speakers in Tanzania (2.5% of the population); there are further speakers in Mozambique and a small community in Kenya.
