Designing orthography for the ha language
Lotta Harjula · Studia Orientalia Electronica · 2006
Ha is one of the 127 living languages of Tanzania (Gordon 2005). Ha speakers form the majority of the population in the three districts of Kigoma, Kasulu, and Kibondo in the Kigoma region east and north of Lake Tanganyika. Nowadays, there are quite a number of Has also living in other parts of Tanzania, as well as in Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Zambia. The Ethnologue (Gordon 2005) lists the number of Ha speakers as 990,000. According to the census of 1988, the population of the Kigoma region was ca. 860,000, but by 2002 it had more than doubled to ca. 1,680,000.1 The increase in the number of inhabitants in the area is partly explained by the political situation in the neighbouring countries: Since 1994, refugees, especially from Burundi have crossed the border to Kigoma, and in June 2005, there were still ca. 400,000 refugees in the region.2 In addition, refugees from earlier influxes have already settled in the community. The Ha area, especially that of Kibondo, is fairly isolated because of poor road conditions. When the political situation in the neighbouring countries was stable, Kigoma used to be an important city on the trade route between Tanzania and Burundi as well as to the Democratic Republic of Congo (Zahe in those days) across Lake Tanganyika, and it was also an important transit port for passengers. Nowadays, Kigoma is one of the least developed regions inTanzania. The region is best connected to the coast by railway, which, however does not run everyday, and is not very reliable. There are also regular flights to Kigoma. Ha is an Interlacustrine Bantu language, closely related to Rundi of Burundi and Nyarwanda of Rwanda. These three languages, together with Vinza, Hangaza and Shubi, are classified as group D60 Guthrie (l9ll), Ha being D66.