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Kerewe language

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kerebe
Kerewe
Ekikerebe
Native toTanzania
RegionLake Victoria
EthnicityKerewe people
Native speakers
(100,000 cited 1987)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3ked
Glottologkere1283
JE.24[2]

Kerewe, or Kerebe, is a Bantu language of Tanzania, spoken on Ukerewe Island in Lake Victoria, the largest inland island in Africa.

Kerewe phonology prohibits vowel sequences: if a vowel sequence arises in the underlying representation of a phrase, the sequence becomes either a long vowel or a glide followed by a long vowel in the surface representation.[3]

Literature

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The first attempts at Bible translation into Kerewe were some Bible stories in 1899, liturgical Gospels in 1921 and 1937 and a Gospel harmony in 1930. The New Testament was translated into Kerewe by French Canadian Padri Almas Simard (1907-1954) from the White Fathers, working with several native speakers. The translation received the imprimatur on 4 October 1945. It was published as Omulago Muhya, (Kikahindurwa mu Kikerewe) at the White Fathers Mission Press in Bukerewe.[4]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Kerebe at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
  3. ^ Odden, David. "Bantu Phonology" (PDF). pp. 19–20. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 7 October 2014.
  4. ^ KED1946 Bible | Omulago Muhya 1946 (Kikahindurwa mu Kikerewe) | YouVersion.
  • See My Language: A History of Bible Translation in East Africa by Aloo Osotsi Mojola published in 1999