Ronga, also known as XiRonga and Xizronga is a Bantu languages spoken in Maputo in Mozambique. It extends slightly into South Africa. The Xizronga language has its own dialects, which are: Xinondzrwana, Xizingili, Xihlanganu and Xilwandle.
The Swiss philologist Henri-Alexandre Junod seems to have been the first linguist to have studied it, in the late 19th century.
Phonology
Source:
Alphabet
Its alphabet is similar to that of
Tsonga language as provided by
Methodism missionaries and Portuguese settlers.
Grammar
Ronga is grammatically so close to
Tsonga language in many ways that census officials have often considered it a dialect; its noun class system is very similar and its verbal forms are almost identical. Its most immediately noticeable difference is a much greater influence from Portuguese, due to being centred near the capital Maputo (formerly Lourenço Marques).
Literature
The first book to be published in Ronga was the Gospel of John translated mainly by Henri Berthoud from the . It was published by the British and Foreign Bible Society in 1896. Further translation was done by Pierre Loze from Mission Romande (Swiss Romande Mission) and H.L. Bishop (Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society), assisted by Jeremia Caetano and Efraim Hely. The New Testament was published in 1903, and the whole Bible was published by the British and Foreign Bible Society in 1923.
