A problemática das variantes das linguas Xithswa: o caso de xinyai

Abstract

According to Ngunga and Firmino (1989, pp.1-4) "Mozambique is a multilingual country where there are several Bantu languages ​​together with Portuguese and others". This diversity of languages ​​is associated with the complexity that arises when trying to accurately determine their number. The discussion of this aspect is referred to in other works, for example, in Katupha (1985) and Ngunga (1992), plus others. This problematic of the difficulty of determining the exact number of Mozambican languages ​​is also allied to the question of. to know how each of them can be linguistically delimited, or which dialects can be integrated in each one of them. A concrete case is that of a linguistic variant spoken between regions where Ndau and Xinyai predominate, which according to the NELIMO report (1989) is an integral dialect of Xitshwa. However, a careful observation of the location of Xinyai, which is located in the convergence zone between Xitshwa and Cindau, will make it legitimate to hypothesize that it might be a dialect of Ndau. The fact that the data from NELIMO (1989) require a response to a more solid fieldwork test is enough to legitimize this questioning and establish the validity of a study that can clarify the dialectal status of Xinyai. Thus, our theme arises to make a study that allows a better linguistic framing of Xinyai (TRADUÇÃO NOSSA)