Talk:Tonga language (Malawi)

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Africa: Malawi

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Title of article[edit]

@Kwamikagami: I am not sure why you moved Tonga language (Malawi) to Tonga (Nyasa) language. It seems to me that the earlier name was much clearer to the layman, and also matches the title of the companion article Tonga language (Zambia and Zimbabwe). Can you explain your reasoning? Kanjuzi (talk) 16:46, 4 November 2016 (UTC)[reply]

This is the title I chose when I created the article. The move was a quick way to create a redirect from another reasonable title. Since the language does seem to be largely confined to Malawi, I don't particularly care which title is used. — kwami (talk) 06:03, 7 November 2016 (UTC)[reply]

One thing is clear, that nobody calls it "Western Nyasa", apart from Ethnologue. Where they get that name from they don't say. The name isn't used in publications of the University of Malawi, or in Turner's dictionary, or anywhere else on the internet apart from Ethnologue. It is also illogical, since it would imply an "Eastern Nyasa" on the other side of the lake, which of course there isn't. I have therefore deleted the words "also called Western Nyasa". Kanjuzi (talk) 04:30, 9 November 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Recent changes[edit]

The changes made by the recent editor (105.234.162.33) seem in many cases unjustified by the sources. For example, he or she has changed the number of speakers from 170,000 to (a highly unlikely) 1.5 million, while keeping the same reference to the 2015 edition of Ethnologue. But the entry in Ethnologue puts the number of speakers at 170,000. Thus the new figure appears to have the justification of a footnote, but the source does not support it. Another reference purporting to support the figure of 1.5 million is footnote 4, referring to the Northern Malawi Languages map produced by the Centre for Language Studies of the University of Malawi. But neither this map nor the accompanying survey gives any indication of population sizes. – The spelling 'ChiTonga' with a capital T is not justified in any of the sources quoted, nor is it usual to find such spelling for other Bantu languages. – The information that "There are also significant pockets [of] Tonga speakers in Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa, as Mdawuku wa Atonga (MWATO), the Tonga Heritage, has established through its recruitment exercise" is rather vague. In what document can this information be checked, and how large is "significant"? I find no document on the internet about MWATO's exercise. In a Wikipedia article there should be some reference to a published academic or other reliable document that can be checked. Until such a source is given, the figure 170,000 should be retained. – The assertion "current research indicates that ChiTonga is a unique langaue" [sic] is also meaningless. What research is that, and where is it published? In what way is Chitonga more unique than other languages? – Similarly, the change of spellings in the Chitonga folktale (e.g. singo to singu) may be justified but these spellings are not what is given in the source, so perhaps should not be substituted unless there is an obvious misprint. Kanjuzi (talk) 21:31, 13 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]