SIL Electronic Survey Reports 2010-023

This paper presents the findings of sociolingustic research conducted in the Fipa language community in southwestern Tanzania. The main purpose of the research was to clarify the dialect differences between the speech varieties included in the term “Fipa” and their relationships to one another. Research was conducted in November 2004. The survey identified several groups identifying themselves as Fipa with a very strong sense of identity as Fipa. However, linguistically some of the varieties show considerable differences. The report concludes that, pending further testing, most varieties of the Fipa language community could still be part of the same language development project. The Fipa-Mambwe might be able to use literature in the Mambwe-Lungu language but could perhaps be better served with language development in their own speech variety.