Kongo
Kikongo
Spoken in	Angola  Democratic Republic of the Congo  Republic of the Congo
Region	Central Africa
Native speakers	7 million  (no date) 5 million L2 speakers
Language family	Niger–Congo Atlantic–Congo Benue–Congo Bantoid Bantu (Zone H) Kongo languages (H.10) Kongo
Official status
Official language in	Angola  Democratic Republic of the Congo  Republic of the Congo
Language codes
ISO 639-1	kg
ISO 639-2	kon
ISO 639-3	kon – inclusive code Individual codes: kng – Koongo ldi – Laari kwy – San Salvador Kongo (South) yom – Yombe

The Kongo language, or Kikongo, is the Bantu language spoken by the Bakongo and Bandundu people living in the tropical forests of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo and Angola. It is a tonal language and formed the base for Kituba, a Bantu creole and lingua franca throughout much of west central Africa. It was spoken by many of those who were taken from the region and sold as slaves in the Americas. For this reason, while Kongo still is spoken in the above-mentioned countries, creolized forms of the language are found in ritual speech of African-derived religions in Brazil, Jamaica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, and especially in Haiti. It is also one of the sources of the Gullah people's language and the Palenquero creole in Colombia. The vast majority of present-day speakers live in Africa. There are roughly seven million native speakers of Kongo, with perhaps two million more who use it as a second language.

Catholic prayer in kikongo

Map of the area where Kongo and Kituba as the lingua franca are spoken

It is also the base for a creole used throughout the region: Kituba also called Kikongo de L'état or Kikongo ya Leta ("Kongo of the state" in French or Kongo), Kituba and Monokituba (also Munukituba). The constitution of the Republic of the Congo uses the name Kitubà, and the one of the Democratic Republic of the Congo uses the term Kikongo, even if Kituba is used in the administration.

Writing[link]

At present there is no standard orthography of Kikongo, with a variety in use in written literature, mostly newspapers, pamphlets and a few books.

Kongo was the earliest Bantu language which was committed to writing in Latin characters and had the earliest dictionary of any Bantu language. A catechism was produced under the authority of Diogo Gomes, a Jesuit born in Kongo of Portuguese parents in 1557, but no version of it exists today.

In 1624, Mateus Cardoso, another Portuguese Jesuit, edited and published a Kongo translation of the Portuguese catechism of Marcos Jorge. The preface informs us that the translation was done by Kongo teachers from São Salvador (modern Mbanza Kongo) and was probably partially the work of Félix do Espírito Santo (also a Kongo).^[1]

The dictionary was written in about 1648 for the use of Capuchin missionaries and the principal author was Manuel Robredo, a secular priest from Kongo (who became a Capuchin as Francisco de São Salvador). In the back of this dictionary is found a sermon of two pages written only in Kongo. The dictionary has some 10,000 words.

Additional dictionaries were created by French missionaries to the Loango coast in the 1780s, and a word list was published by Bernardo da Canecattim in 1805.

Baptist missionaries who arrived in Kongo in 1879 developed a modern orthography of the language, and eventually W. Holman Bentley, with the special assistance of Joao Lemvo produced a complete Christian Bible in 1905.

Linguistic classification[link]

Kikongo belongs to the Bantu language family.

According to Malcolm Guthrie, Kikongo is in the language group H10, the Kongo languages. Other languages in the same group include Bembe (H11). Ethnologue 16 counts Ndingi (H14) and Mboka (H15) as dialects of Kongo, though it acknowledges they may be distinct languages.

According to Bastin, Coupez and Man's classification (Tervuren) which is more recent and precise than that of Guthrie on Kikongo, the language has the following dialects:

• Kikongo group H16
  • Southern Kikongo H16a
  • Central Kikongo H16b
  • Yombe H16c
  • Fiote H16d
  • Western Kikongo H16d
  • Bwende H16e
  • Lari H16f
  • Eastern Kikongo H16g
  • Southeastern Kikongo H16h

English words of Kongo origin[link]

• The Southern American English word "goober", meaning peanut, comes from Kongo "nguba".^[2]

Palenquero[link]

The influence of the Kongo language is evident in Palenquero, a Creole language spoken by descendants of escaped black slaves in Colombia, and which includes words of clear Bantu origin such as "ngombe" (cattle).

See also[link]

• Kituba

References[link]

1. ^ François Bontinck and D. Ndembi Nsasi, Le catéchisme kikongo de 1624. Reeédtion critique (Brussels, 1978)
2. ^ Bartleby.com

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Kikongo

Kongo language edition of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

• Ethnologue entry for the Kongo language
• Kongo–English Dictionary
• PanAfrican L10n page on Kongo

v t e  Languages of Angola Official Portuguese National Ju  · Kimbundu  · Kongo  · Kung  · Kwadi  · Kwanyama  · Lunda  · Ndonga  · Oshiwambo  · Portuguese · Umbundu  · Yauma Native Bolo  · Diriku  · Holu  · Khwe  · Kilari  · Kisikongo  · Kung-Ekoka  · Kwadi  · Kwangali  · Lingala  · Lucazi  · Luimbi  · Lunda  · Luvale  · Luyana  · Maligo  · Mashi  · Mbangala  · Mbukushu  · Mbwela  · Ndombe  · Ngandyera  · Nkangala  · Nkumbi  · Nyaneka  · Nyemba  · Nyengo  · !O!ung  · Ruund  · Sama  · Songo  · Umbundu  · Yaka  · Yauma  · Yombe  · Zemba Dialects [Côkwe] Minungo, Ulanda, Ukhongo  · [Holu] Yeci  · [Khwe] Buma-Kxoe  · [Kikongo] South Kongo, South-West Kongo, West Kongo, Ibinda (Cabindan, Fiote, Fioti), Ndingi, Mboka, Kisikongo, Kizombo, Kindibu, Kimanyanga, Cabinda Kiwoyo, Cabinda Kiyombe  · [Mbundu] Njinga (Ginga, Jinga), Mbamba (Kimbamba, Bambeiro), Mbaka (Ambaquista), Ngola  · [Portuguese] Benguelense, Huambense, Luandense, Southern  · [Kwadi] Zorotua (Vasorontu)  · [Kwangali] Sambyu (Shisambyu, Sambiu, Sambio)  · [Lucazi] Ngangela  · [Luyana] Kwandi, Mbowe (Esimbowe), Mdundulu (Ndundulu, Imilangu), Mishulundu  · [Mashi] North Kwandu, South Kwandu  · [Mbangala] Mbangala, Yongo  · [Ngandyera] Kwambi  · [Nkumbi] Nkumbi-mulondo  · [Nyaneka] Humbe, Mwila (Olumuila, Muila, Huila), Ngambwe (Olungambwe), Handa, Cipungu, Cilenge  · [Oshiwambo] Kwanyama, Ndonga, Kwambi, Mbadja  · [Umbundu] Mbalundu  · [Yaka] Ngoongo  · [Yombe] Mbala (Mumbala), Vungunya (Kivungunya, Yombe Classico)

v t e Languages the Democratic Republic of the Congo Official or national African French Swahili Tshiluba Lingala Kongo (Kituba) Other Lunda Tetela Mongo Bemba Logo Nyanga

v t e Languages of the Republic of the Congo Official French National Kituba Lingala Interethnic French Kituba Lingala Indigenous Aka Bwisi Fang Kongo Teke languages