Toka-Leya Research Project

Abstract
In this research we found that there are two distinct languages, Toka
and Leya. Leya is spoken mainly in Mukuni Chiefdom, Toka is spoken in
Musokotwane, Nyawa and Sipatunyana chiefdoms. This is due to how
the Leyas and Tokas settled in this region. But it should be noted that by
now its only Toka Leya being spoken in all these chiefdoms because of
the influences they have had on each other, the intermarriages and
everyday interactions. Our research will provide conclusive evidence
from differences in vocabulary, grammar and ethnic origins to show that
though the two have different origins, today they are considered one
language called Toka-Leya, it is kind of common to hear people say they
are Toka or Leya but the language they speak is Toka-Leya. It further
investigates the influences other languages have on it like Tonga and
Lozi, their similarities in terms of phonological, morphological, syntactic
and lexical parameters.

The data was collected from previous research done on Tonga and Lozi
grammars. We also interviewd native speakers from Mukuni Chiefdom,
Musokotwane Chiefdom, Sekute (Chikuta) Chiefdom, and Sipatunyana
Chiefdom.

The researcher used his intuition, introspection and personal expertise of

the language because he is a native speaker of Toka-Leya Language. A
notebook and an audio recorder was used to gather information
thereafter transcribe it, all this was done in line with the objectives of the
study of the two languages Toka and Leya.
It was discovered that Tonga manifested similarities in Toka-Leya,
likewise Lozi manifested similarities to both languages.

The researcher was astounded to conclude that though similar, Toka and
Leya are two different peoples from different origins and migrations into
these Chiefdoms and have formed a somewhat colloquial language
called Toka-Leya as a result of intermarriage and day today interactions.

Toka and Leya dialects are geographically closer to each other, thereby,
reducing the linguistic variations between them. At this point we cannot
say the best Toka or Leya is from any of these chiefdoms because each
region claims mastery of the language. What we can safsssely say
without raising eyebrows is that there’s Toka-Leya language spoken in
these regions and there’s a great need of developing more literacy for the
language.

Introduction:

Objectives of the study:

 How is TL different from Tonga?

 What is “Good Toka-Leya”?

Aim of the study:

 Describe the TL/T/L language.
 How does TL/T/L differ from Tonga, Lozi, etc?
 What is good TL/T/L?

1. Background
To Leya
 It is believed that they are a group which broke away from the Lenje tribe
in the area of Kabwe in what is now the Central Province of Zambia. The
word ‘Leya’ is said to mean ‘to keep out of troubles’ and the explanation
is given that Sichichele Mukuni led off a number of his followers and
settled the country on both banks of the river above and below the
Victoria Falls.

A study has to be done to find out the language these people found
being spoken in Mukuni area because History has it that when they
migrated from Kabwe they found a chieftainess there with a title of
‘Bedyango” a woman ruler. This woman ruler and the then Mukuni
married and both became rulers of this land. Were they speaking Toka,
Tonga or Lozi? But above all we can safely conclude and say today the
language spoken there is Toka Leya.

To Toka
These are traced from Kabanga in Kalamo district, the family of Monze and
Syanalumba. The Monze family now Chief Monze of Monze District were
polygamous brothers with Syanalumba who used to live in the Zambezi River
Basin. The Makololo army and the Tshaka the Zulu were about to move north
wards in extension of their Kingdom. The two brothers got wind of this and
decided to flee the area. Monze climbed the hills now known as the plateau to
settle there so that from the hilltop they could easily see an invading foreign army.

Syanalumba traveled west and south wards reaching Kabanga, which is the present
site of Kabanga Mission. Syanalumba got married to the daughter of an important
headman known as Siamomo. At his new headquarters Monze got married and had
two children Syambelele (Hambelele) and Moono a woman - while at Kabanga,
Syanalumba had two children Mwela and Simutemambalo. Syanalumba traveled
further south with nephew Sipatunyana, He realized the vastness of the area he
conquered, Sipatunyana was installed custodian (Chief) of the area as he advanced
further south wards into what is now Livingstone which he turned into his
headquarters at Nkana now Old Livingstone by the Zambezi River about 1836.

Sebitwane who came from South Africa and wanted to settle in Rhodesia but was
defeated by - Chief Umuzilikazi of the Ndebele and about 1840, the Makololo lead
by Sebitwane crossed the Zambezi and wanted to settle in Southern Province but
could not do so because he was defeated by Chief Syanalumba (Musokotwane).

Sebitwane, realised the military importance of the strategy, Syanalumba and left
him great responsibility. He left part of his Army under Syanalumba.
Syanalumba’s army jointly with Sebitwane’s under syanalumba’s command
remained guarding against the Umuzilikazi army who were preparing to follow
sebitwane’s advances into Barotseland. Sebitwane who had lost most of his
soldiers in the Matebela war, joint forces with Musokotwane and the Matebele
Warriors retreated.

Syanalumba became the manufacture and suppliers of shields to Makololo people

after the death of Mulambwa the Lozi Chief, Chief Syanalumba Musokotwane and
Sebitwane became allies to defeat the Lozi. This enhanced his military might with
Sebitwane. He died soon after this period and his son Mwela Took over. Mwela
moved his headquarters from Nkana to Dambwa site the present Dambwa north in
Livingstone.

It’s however important to explain at this stage, the special relationship existing
between Lozis, Musokotwane and Tongas which does not come as a result of
conquest.

The Lozi’s after their war of liberation with the Makololo’s around 1864, naturally
had to recognize what the Makololo’s recognized about Syanalumba’s military
strategy against the southern armies. Though he did not give him any part of his
army like the Makololo’s did Lewanika the Lozi King confirmed this military
position around the whole area.

One of the known and famous assignments of the Mwela was when the Lewanika
the Lozi King ordered that Chikuta’s (Sekute) canoes be destroyed. Lewanika had
a fear that Chikuta (Sekute) might be left alone, help with his canoes the army of
Matantisi from the south to cross and fight the Lozi’s.

Commander Matantisi had forced the Makololo from the south of Zambezi to
come and persecute the war of conquest in the north. Mwela (Musokotwane) did
just that as he moved his headquarters from Nkana to Dambwa, he found a
stranger, Chief Mukuni settled at what’s today known as Libuyu.

Mukuni had rebelled against his uncle senior Chief Mukuni of Kabwe district and
travelled all the way to Livingstone. Thus the name of Mukuni near Livingstone of
Leya by tribe. Leya means to rebel or better still, to Get way. Mukuni tried to
advance from Libuyu to Central Livingstone and Mwela sent an army and drove
them to the Present Village site of chief Mukuni.

He made Nansanzu stream just outside Livingstone municipal area as the boundary
to show appreciation. In return Mukuni gave his niece to Musokotwane by the
name of Mutakane to marry. The truth has to be followed by facts when late Chief
Musokotwane Mwananembo died in 1938. Chief Monze sent his son Syambelele
for the funeral with 3 Cattle. Later after the funeral Syambelele delivered an
invitation from his father Monze to the remaining sister of Mwananembo to visit
Chief Monze her name is Mukasinswi.

2. What is Toka?

This is common among the Musokotwane, Sipatunyana, and

Chikuta (Sekute) chiefdoms. These people refer to themselves as
Toka because of their ancestry. Mainly you will hear them saying,
‘ndili Mutoka”. When you are referring to them you say, “Batoka”
and this should be differentiated from ‘bb’ sound.
…
What is Leya?

This is deep among the Mukuni Chiefdom, these ae called

“Baleya”. History has it that they broke away from the Lenjes of
Kabwe and migrated south to where they are today. Leya simply
mean to break away. The natives of the area can tell whether one is
Toka or Leya based on the dialects. But today generally, the

What is Toka-Leya?

In as much as some people would say they are Leya or Toka, the
language generally spoken in this region is Toka-Leya. Like this,
both the Tokas and Leyas find it easy to identify with the language
because their identities are on it. The native Differences in dialect

3. Designation:
 1. Is “Toka-Leya” a proper designation or is it better to say
“Toka”, “Leya” or some other possibility.
2. Do people in any chiefdoms say, “We are Toka?” as opposed
to “We are Toka-Leya” or “We are Leya” ?

4. Considering that no Bantu people have a problem with the

pronunciation of “k’ compared to “ng”, is it really valid to say that
“Toka” is just a mispronunciation of “Tonga”?

5. Background to Tonga
Historian and scholars have so far not been able to name any part in Africa, where the Tonga
speaking people originated from. Literally, all tribes in Zambia have been traced to have
originated from neighboring countries. The little that is known about the Tonga tribe is that they
had numerous movements via so many routes beginning with the Zambezi Valley to the plateau
and then West ward, and thereafter, south wards but within the province. That there is only one
common language in the province with the only difference, being the emphasis in pronouncing
some words is clear testimony that the main people of the Southern province have lived together
for centuries, if not since creation of man. One, however traces some kind of association linking
the valley Tonga with the Karanga people of Zimbabwe. It’s not hard to find an explanation to
this because only the Zambezi River separated the Karanga people from the Tonga valley people.
Hence you find some Karanga language words, distorted into the Tonga’s of Siavonga, Gwembe,
Sinazongwe etc and vice versa. Some families lived on either side of the river

How is TL different from Tonga?

How has Tonga influenced it TL?

Background to Lozi
Lozi is similar grammatically to the other Zambian languages because it is part of the Bantu group but
differs vocabulary. Vocabulary is closer to Sitswana and Sotho spoken in Bostwana and Lesotho
respectively. It has 75% Kololo-an offshoot of southern Sotho group and @5% Luyana-refered to as old
Lozi (LIsimba 2000)

6.
 How is TL different from Lozi?
How has Lozi influenced it TL?

7. Is TL merely a political distinction from Tonga to set up a different

chiefdom? See Chief Mukuni’s book.

 How is the TL language different from Tonga, Lozi or any other

language?

 What is “Proper Toka-Leya”?

 What is “Good Toka-Leya”?

Sound System and Orthography of Toka-Leya

Vowels,

Consonants,

Vowel Sequences

Regular alternations

Less Common An alternations

Vowel Harmony

Consonants and consonants + Vowel Sequences and alternations

Prenasalisation of Consonants

Nasal Deletion

NasaÌ + Vowel: Meinhof s Rule

Consonant Harmony

TONAL SYSTEM
Toka Leya is a tonal language , High and Low Tones are the determinants
Basically there are two surface tone

1. high (H)- is marked with acute ascent ( ')

2. low (L)- is left unmarked, apart from lowered H, marked by grave accent (' )

Nindakaseka when I laughed (HHHHL)

tuyomubona we will see you (LLLLL)
basikombe prayerful ones (HSLL)
nibakagusya when they took out (HHLHL)

Homographic words - those spelt the same

Muyanda- root
muyanda- what do you want
nitwakazyana- when we danced
nitwakazyana-had we danced

Bbamba- Underwear
bbamba- a spell

High and low tones; neutral and determinant tonemes)

The tonal syllable (learn more)

Vowels are the tone bearers, the pitch of the vowel is carried on to any consonant following it.
Ikulya- sounds like ikuliya
Tone sequences

Downdrift Downdraft

Each successive L in a sentence is lower,in pitch than úe L before it, whether or not there is an
intervening H or a succession of Hs:

Kuno kumaanzi here at the water place

tabanasika- they have not arrived yet

This feature is known as 'downdrift'.

Crescendo
Crescendo In a sequence of Hs, tìe pitch is generally level, but the final H ofthe sequence is often
slightly higher in pitch and louder; this is termed 'crescendo'
-cotwakalanga what we looked at
-nitwakazyana when we danced

Downstep
Downstep This refers to cases in which úe second of two Hs is lower in pitch than the first, but
still counts as rhigh tone:
sínkondo'enem
básinkondo 'enemies
(-sl- is still H, higher than the following L, though lower in pitch thalr bó-

Raising
If a L occurs between two Hs, it is generally raised to the pitch level of the second H, resulting in
a downstepped

níndakrimúbona > níndàlmmúbona ,

if I had seen him
I would have seen him

Lowering: Effect of Depressor Consonants

bb, d, g, j, v(w), z,

consonants associated with murmur or breathy voice are called depressors.

When a depressor follows a High vowel, and is itself followed by a Low vowel, the pitch of the
High vowel will sudden move' down to allow the depressor to be on a low pitch. íkúmvwa'to
hear' will be pronounce.
Similarly a depressor initial in a word preceding a H vowel will cause its pitch to be rising rather
than level high.
zyándízimìna' I can’t find them
zyándízimìna they are lost to me

A depressor will also block the operation ofraising:

ízina lyángu. My name
íkkükó lyángu 'my shoulder (-blade

In a sequence of three or more Hs, if a depressor occurs in any syllable oúer than the first and
last ofthe sequence, the precedíng vowel is lowered:
nóbákágusya > nóbákagusya ,when they took out

Morphology
NOMINAS

The category of nominal includes

1. Nouns,
2. Adjectives,
3. Pronouns and
4. Demonstratives

Nouns typically consist of two segments

 (morphemes), a noun prefix (Noun Prefix-Np) and

 a stem

. the noun mu-ntu' person' has the prefix mu- and the stem –ntu. We can say ba-ntu

Table of noun classes

Class Singular Plural Notes

1 &2 Mu, mwa, ba For Human beings
 Mu-ntu ba-ntu
Mu-syimani ba-syimani
Mu-zyalwama ba-zyalwama
Mu-cizi ba-cizi
Mwa-lumi ba-lumi

1a Ba Ba Honorifics

Ba-alumi Ba-alumi
Ba-mwami Ba-mwami
Ba-daala Ba-madaala
Ba-sibbuku Ba-masibbbuku
Ba-alu Ba-alu

3 and 4 Mu mi Natural things like

plants, animals, body
Mu-longa mi-longa parts
Mu-samu mi-samu
Mwi-ini mi-ini
Mu-lomo mi-lomo
Mu-nego mi-nego

5 and 6 li-, Ma, me-,

li-nso Me-nso
li-no Me-no
li- Ma-
li Me
li me

7 and 8 ci-, Zi-, Body parts, tools,

insects and language
ci-sulwe Zi-sulwe names
ci-ngombe Zi-ngombe
ci-ibwa Zi-bwa
ci-swepu Zi-swepu
ci-kekere Zi-kekere
ci-bboni

7 and 8 Chi Tribes and languages

Chi-tonga Chi-tonga
Chi-lozi Chi-lozi
Chi-luvale Chi-luvale
Chi-toka Chi-Toka
 Chi-leya Chi-leya
9 and 10 N N Animals,
body parts and
n-kumo n-kumo tools
n-komoki n-komoki
n-kuni n-kuni
n-kuku n-kuku
n-kasaalo n-kasaalo

Lu-, lo Lu-, lo Long thin items,

11 tools
Lo-ozi Lu-ozi
Lu-kanda Lu-kanda
Lu-emya Lu-emya
Lu-limi Lu-limi
Lu-
Abstracts and
12 Lu-, Bu-, Ma-, ba-, collectives

Bu-umi Ma-umi
Bu-lwazi Ma-lwazi
Bu-mambe Ma-mambe
Bu-sichamba Ba-sichamba
Bu-zike Ba-zike

13
Ku-, Ku-, Verb infinitive

Ku-twa Ku-twa
Ku-lya Ku-lya
Ku-samba Ku-samba
Ku-nana Ku-nana

14 and 15 Ka Tu Diminutive

Ka-bwa Tu-bwa
Ka-twe Tu-twe
Ka-capu Tu-capu
Ka-mbeli Tu-mbeli
Ka-bbudula Tu-bbudula
Ka-bbula Tu-bbula

16, 17 and 18 a-, to a-, Locative

a-lubuwa a-lubuwa “on top of” or “at”
 a-maanzi a-maanzi
a-malyango a-malyango

Ku-, a-, Ku-, a-, To-, from-,

16, 17 and 18
Ku-julu Ku-julu
Ku-dolopo Ku-madolipo
Ku-cikomelo Ku-zikombelo

Mu Mu Inside
Mu-cuumbwe Mu-zyuumbwe
Mu-maanzi Mu-maanzi
Mu-mugolo Mu-migolo

Adjectives, (make table using Carter’s notes-page34)

An adjective has a stem to which the adjectival prefix of the nown is attached.

-botu good
-musimbi mubotu a good girl
-muzeezo mubotu a good idea

Possessive prefixes and stem

Syntax -

Word order
mwana ulalila