The Mwani language, also known by its native name Kimwani, (Kimwani [kiˈmwani]) is a Bantu language spoken on the coast of the Cabo Delgado Province of Mozambique, including the Quirimbas Islands.
According to Anthony P. Grant[4] Kimwani of northern Mozambique appears to be the result of imperfect shift towards Swahili several centuries ago by speakers of Makonde, and Arends et al. suggest it might turn out to be a Makonde–Swahili mixed language.
Kimwani (similar to Swahili) is unusual among sub-Saharan languages in having lost the feature of lexical tone (with the exception of some verbal paradigms where its use is optional).
It does not have the penultimate stress typical of Swahili; it has movable pitch accent.
It does not have a distinction of closed and open mid vowels typical of Portuguese or French and found in some other Bantu languages like Lingala, Fang, and perhaps Sukuma.