יאו

Yao (Chiyao, also spelled Ciyawo) is a Bantu P21 language straddling the Mozambique-Malawi-Tanzania tri-border at the southern end of Lake Malawi. The Yao were major caravan-trade leaders in the 19th century, controlling the route from the Zanzibar coast to Lake Malawi — one reason Yao spread as a regional lingua franca. They are predominantly Muslim (a notable exception in the largely Christian or animist surrounding Bantu populations). The unyago female initiation rite is a defining cultural institution. Tonal with five contrastive heights.