This site offers materials from Bende, Katavi Region, Tanzania
IRC & LingDy 2 ILCAA, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies

Introduction
Bende language and people
Bende is a Bantu language (Niger-Congo family) spoken in the Mpanda district, Katavi Region in western Tanzania. The speakers of Bende are estimated 27,000 by Ethnologue (Lewis 2015) or 41,490 by Language of Tanzania Project (Chuo kikuu cha DSM 2009), although none of those estimations would be difficult to be verified at the moment. Bende language is usually mentioned as brotherly-related of Tongwe. Tongwe and Bende are listed F11 and F12 respectively in Guthrie’s referential classification (Guthrie 1948). Both languages are very similar to each other in all aspects, except for a few vocabulary and minor morphology (e.g. future negative form). However, the two ethnic groups were divided by history, and each of them has been undergone different linguistic changes with time.
Location
Bende-land is found in the westward of Mpanda town up to the Lake Tanganyika.
Tusahule Sibhende (Alphabet and Readers)
This Bende textbook ("Tusahule Sibhende / Tuongee Kibende / Let's speak Bende") was originally written and edited by three auhors Yasini MASHAKA, Hamisi KABOKO, and Yuko ABE (published from ILCAA, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies in 2015. ISBN: 978-4-86337-186-6). This textbook employs the simple orthography desgined with co-authors (see Alphabet) for Bende speakers' to use easily. Most contents are footnoted by Swahili.
Bende-Swahili-English-Japanese Dictionary
This Bende dictionary has been developed on the basis of "A Bende Vocabulary" published from ILCAA, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies in 2006. ISBN: 9784872979329. Both published and online versions are edited by a SIL software, Lexiquepro.
Copyright
@Yuko ABE c/o ILCAA, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies TEL. +82-42-330-5600 e-mail. <abe.yuko[at]tufs.ac.jp>
Copyright 2016 (c) Yuko ABE, All rights reserved.