| 释义 |
Tonga, n.4 and a.|ˈtɒŋə|
[Native name: cf. Zulu i(li) Thonga member of the Tonga people, perh. f. -thonga member of a subject race.]
A. n. The name of several African peoples living chiefly in southern Mozambique, Malawi, and Zambia; a member of these peoples. Also, the Bantu language spoken by them. Cf. Tsonga.
B. adj. Of, pertaining to, or designating these peoples or their language.
1866in A. Mackenzie Memorials Henrietta Robertson 247 He might make beginnings both in the Amaswazi and Amatonga countries. 1872Cape Monthly Mag. Feb. 117 The Tonga does not own a single head of cattle. 1875Jrnl. R. Geogr. Soc. XLV. 53 The Portuguese..must have found conquest south of the Zambesi an easy matter when the country was entirely peopled by these industrious natives, called generally by the Zulus by the contemptuous title of Tongas. Ibid. 93 We found..the poor Tonga Chief at his wit's end. 1910Jrnl. Afr. Soc. IX. 305 The Tonga of the Zambezi is..a different language from the one just mentioned [sc. Thonga], and also distinct from the Tonga of Lake Nyasa. 1910Encycl. Brit. III. 360/1 The Ronga (Tonga) languages of Portuguese South-East Africa..are almost equally related to the Nyanja group..and to Zulu. 1929[see Nguni n. and a.]. 1951Colson & Gluckman Seven Tribes Brit. Central Africa ii. i. 94 The Plateau Tonga, a matrilineal people, occupy a large portion of the Southern Province of Northern Rhodesia. Ibid. 95 Within the Tonga group itself slight changes accumulate. 1968C. Burke Elephant across Border iii. 79 Roger broke the silence, translating his discussion in Tonga dialect to Gomez. 1968Guardian 15 Apr. 9/4 In Zambia..there are four strong tribal vernaculars—Bemba, Tonga, Lozi and Nyanja. 1970[see Ila n. and a.]. 1977Times Lit. Suppl. 30 Sept. 1109/3, I am a chi-Tonga speaker from the lakeside Tonga of Malawi, and I should say that the so-called Tongas of Zambia, Mozambique, Malawi, etc., are one people. |