Chidigo

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A language of Kenya

ISO 639-3
dig
Alternate Names
Digo, Kidigo
Population

217,000 in Kenya (1994 I. Larsen), increasing. Population total all countries: 305,000.

Location

Coast Province, Kwale district, south of Mombasa. Also in Tanzania (Digo).

Language Maps
Language Status

5 (Developing).

Classification
Niger-Congo, Atlantic-Congo, Volta-Congo, Benue-Congo, Bantoid, Southern, Narrow Bantu, Central, E, Nyika (E.73)
Dialects

Chichifundi, Chichinondo, Chigwirani. Partially intelligible with Kigiryama [nyf] but most remote from Kigiryama of the Mijikenda subgroup. Lexical similarity: 74% with Chiduruma [dug], 72% with Chichonyi [coh] and Kiswahili [swh], 71% with Kiswahili dialects Mrima and Mvita, 67% with Amu [swh], 62% with Bajun [swh], 58% with Upper Pokomo [pkb].

Language Use

Vigorous. Home, social gatherings. All ages. Positive attitudes. Also use Kiswahili [swh].

Language Development
Literacy rate in L1: Below 1%. Literacy rate in L2: 30%. Poetry. Radio programs. Films. Videos. Dictionary. NT: 2007.
Language Resources
OLAC resources in and about Chidigo
Writing
Latin script.
Other Comments

9 ethnic groups form the Mijikenda community. Moderate degree of Kiswahili [swh] and Islamic cultural influence. Digo is the tribal name. Muslim.

Also spoken in:

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