Ndengereko

Ndengereko is a Bantu language spoken by the Ndengereko people in southern Mozambique, notably in Inhambane Province and adjacent areas of Gaza Province. It is one of several closely related southern Mozambican languages and forms part of the larger Bantu language family within Niger-Congo.

Classification and features: Ndengereko is a member of the Bantu branch of Niger-Congo. Like many Bantu languages, it uses a noun class system and rich subject- and object-marking on verbs. The phonology typically includes a set of consonants with prenasalized and glottalized varieties, five-vowel system, and tonal contrasts in some dialects.

Geographic distribution: Community speakers are concentrated along coastal and near-coastal settlements, with diaspora in urban centers. The language is used in home communities, traditional events, and some local marketplaces; Portuguese is the dominant language in education and administration, contributing to language shift.

Status and efforts: Ndengereko is considered a minority language with ongoing endangerment pressures from Portuguese and national languages. Documentation and descriptive work has been carried out by linguists, and there are efforts to develop literacy materials and bilingual dictionaries or grammars at local or academic levels, though standardization is limited.

Name and variation: The language has alternative names in some sources and shows internal variation among villages and communities.