The names of the dialects vary in different sources. The shibboleth or distinctive variant in the dialects is the treatment of the
s: • eSamgagi dialect:
odhiva • eSangagi dialect:
θtiva • eSaaka dialect:
ociva • eNahara dialect:
oziva - all meaning "agreeable, pleasant" Maho (2009) lists the following dialects: • Central Makhuwa (3.1 million) • Meetto (Metto) (1.3 million, including Ruvuma) • Chirima (Shirima) (1.5 million, including subdialects Kokola, Lolo, Manyawa, Marenje, Takwane) • Marrevone (Coastal Makhuwa; 460,000 including eNahara) • eNahara (Naharra) • eSaka (Saka, 210,000) • Ruvuma Makhuwa (Tanzanian Makhuwa, including subdialects Imithupi, Ikorovere)
Mutual intelligibility between these is limited. Central Makhuwa ("Makhuwa-Makhuwana") is the basis of the standard language.
Ethnologue lists Central Makhuwa, Meetto–Ruvuma, Marrevone–Enahara, and Esaka as separate languages, and Chirima as six languages. The population figures are from
Ethnologue for 2006. They tally 3.1 million speakers of Central Makhuwa and 3.5 million of the other varieties, though the
Ethnologue article for Central Makhuwa covers Marrevone and Enahara, so these might be double counted. ==Vocabulary==