Kwere

In Doe it is someone who brings food to an initiate, while in Kwere, this person helps to bring the initiate to the initiation site.

Societies, Religion, and History: Central East Tanzanians and the World They Created, c. 200 BCE to 1800 CE 2008

In the second half of the second millennium, the proto-Central-East Ruvu evolved its daughters, Kwere, Kami, and proto-Southeast Ruvu.

Societies, Religion, and History: Central East Tanzanians and the World They Created, c. 200 BCE to 1800 CE 2008

Doe's range with Central-East Ruvu runs 81% – 83.5%, with a particularly high figure of 89.5% cognation with Kwere.

Societies, Religion, and History: Central East Tanzanians and the World They Created, c. 200 BCE to 1800 CE 2008

Note 81: Today it is home to Doe and Kwere speakers, but in the seventh century those languages were not yet spoken because proto-East Ruvu had not yet diverged. back

Societies, Religion, and History: Central East Tanzanians and the World They Created, c. 200 BCE to 1800 CE 2008

First, there is rather clear evidence of a straightforward dialect divergence in the tight range of cognation shared among the Central-East Ruvu subgroup — consisting of three divisions, Kami, the Southeast Ruvu cluster of Kutu and Zalamo, and Kwere — at 84.5% – 88.5%.

Societies, Religion, and History: Central East Tanzanians and the World They Created, c. 200 BCE to 1800 CE 2008

The somewhat higher percentage that Lugulu shares with Kami, at 85.5%, reflects a long-term history of contact, although one perhaps not as influential as the linguistic intermingling between Doe and Kwere speakers.

Societies, Religion, and History: Central East Tanzanians and the World They Created, c. 200 BCE to 1800 CE 2008

This range makes a good case for postulating a proto-Central-East Ruvu society dating to around the fifteenth century, out of which Kami, proto-Southeast Ruvu, and Kwere dialects then emerged.

Societies, Religion, and History: Central East Tanzanians and the World They Created, c. 200 BCE to 1800 CE 2008

For similar reasons, Zalamo and Kutu are positioned closer to Kwere and Kami than they are to Doe and Lugulu or to Kagulu or the West Ruvu group.

Societies, Religion, and History: Central East Tanzanians and the World They Created, c. 200 BCE to 1800 CE 2008

Around the midpoint of the second millennium CE, two additional stages of divergence broke up the proto-Central-East Ruvu society, with incipient Kwere, Kami, and proto-Southeast Ruvu language communities emerging between 1400 and 1500.

Societies, Religion, and History: Central East Tanzanians and the World They Created, c. 200 BCE to 1800 CE 2008

Doe and Kwere are also positioned closely together to account for their high-end-of-the-range cognate percentages with each other.

Societies, Religion, and History: Central East Tanzanians and the World They Created, c. 200 BCE to 1800 CE 2008