Kongo language

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"Kikongo" redirects here. For a related language known as Kikongo ya leta, see Kituba language. For the spider genus, see Kikongo (spider). For the ward in Tanzania, see Kikongo, Tanzania.
"Yombe language" redirects here. For the language of Zambia, see Yombe dialect (Zambia).
Kongo
Kikongo
Native toDR Congo (Kongo Central), Angola, Republic of the Congo, Gabon
EthnicityKongo
Native speakers
(L1: 6.0 million cited 1982–2021)[1]
L2: 5.0 million (2021)[1]
Latin
Mandombe
Official status
Official language in
National language and unofficial language:
Angola
Language codes
ISO 639-1kg
ISO 639-2kon
ISO 639-3kon – inclusive code
Individual codes:
kng – Koongo
ldi – Ladi, Laadi, Lari or Laari
kwy – San Salvador Kongo (South)
yom – Yombe
Glottologyomb1244  Yombe
H.14–16[2]
Map of the area where Kongo and Kituba are spoken, Kituba as a lingua franca. Kisikongo (also called Kisansala by some authors) is the Kikongo spoken in Mbanza Kongo.
The Kongo language
PersonmuKongo, musi Kongo, muisi Kongo, mwisi Kongo, nKongo
PeoplebaKongo, bisi Kongo, besi Kongo, esiKongo, aKongo
LanguagekiKongo

Kongo or Kikongo is one of the Bantu languages spoken by the Kongo people living in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the Republic of the Congo, Gabon, and Angola. It is a tonal language. The vast majority of present-day speakers live in Africa. There are roughly seven million native speakers of Kongo in the above-named countries. An estimated five million more speakers use it as a second language.[1]

Historically, it was spoken by many of those Africans who for centuries were taken captive, transported across the Atlantic, and sold as slaves in the Americas. For this reason, creolized forms of the language are found in ritual speech of Afro-American religions, especially in Brazil, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Suriname. It is also one of the sources of the Gullah language, which formed in the Low Country and Sea Islands of the United States Southeast,[3] and a major source of the Palenquero language of Colombia.

Geographic distribution

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Kikongo was the language of the Kingdom of Kongo prior to the creation of Angola by the Portuguese Crown in 1575. The Berlin Conference (1884-1885) among major European powers divided the rest of the kingdom into three territories. These are now parts of the DRC (Kongo Central and Bandundu), the Republic of the Congo, and Gabon.

Kikongo is the base for the Creole language Kituba, also called Kikongo de l'État and Kikongo ya Leta (French and Kituba, respectively, for "Kikongo of the state administration" or "Kikongo of the State").[4]

The constitution of the Republic of the Congo uses the name Kituba,[5] and Democratic Republic of the Congo uses the term Kikongo (i.e. Kikongo ya Leta).[6]This can be explained by the fact that Kikongo ya Leta is often mistakenly called Kikongo (i.e. KiNtandu, KiManianga, KiNdibu, etc.).[7][4][8]

Kikongo and Kituba are spoken in:

Presence in the Americas

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Many African slaves transported in the Atlantic slave trade spoke Kikongo. Its influence can be seen in many creole languages in the diaspora, such as:

People

[edit]

Prior to the Berlin Conference, the people called themselves "Bisi Kongo" (plural) and "Mwisi Kongo" (singular). Today they call themselves "Bakongo" (pl.) and "Mukongo" (sing.).[9]

Writing

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The Hail Mary in Kikongo.

Kongo was the earliest Bantu language to be written in Latin characters. Portuguese created a dictionary in Kongo, the first of any Bantu language. A catechism was produced under the authority of Diogo Gomes, who was born in 1557 in Kongo to Portuguese parents and became a Jesuit priest. No version of that survives today.

In 1624, Mateus Cardoso, another Portuguese Jesuit, edited and published a Kongo translation of the Portuguese catechism compiled by Marcos Jorge. The preface says 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).[10]

The dictionary was written in about 1648 for the use of Capuchin missionaries. The principal author was Manuel Robredo, a secular priest from Kongo (after he became a Capuchin, he was named Francisco de São Salvador). The back of this dictionary includes a two-page sermon written in Kongo. The dictionary has some 10,000 words.

In the 1780s, French Catholic missionaries to the Loango coast created additional dictionaries. Bernardo da Canecattim published a word list in 1805.

Baptist missionaries who arrived in Kongo in 1879 (from Great Britain) developed a modern orthography of the language.

American missionary W. Holman Bentley arranged for his Dictionary and Grammar of the Kongo Language to be published by the University of Michigan in 1887. In the preface, Bentley gave credit to Nlemvo, an African, for his assistance. He described "the methods he used to compile the dictionary, which included sorting and correcting 25,000 slips of paper containing words and their definitions."[11] Eventually W. Holman Bentley, with the special assistance of João Lemvo, produced a complete Christian Bible in 1905.

The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has published a translation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Fiote.

Standardisation

[edit]

The work of English, Swedish and other missionaries in the 19th and 20th centuries, in collaboration with Kongo linguists and evangelists such as Ndo Nzuawu Nlemvo (or Ndo Nzwawu Nlemvo; Dom João in Portuguese) and Miguel NeKaka, marked the standardisation of Kikongo.[12][13][14][15]

A large proportion of the people at San Salvador, and in its neighbourhood, pronounce s and z before i as sh and j; for the sound sh, the letter x was adopted (as in Portuguese), while z before i was written as j. Our books are read over a much wider area than the district of San Salvador, and in those parts where s and z remain unchanged before i, the use of x and j has proved a difficulty; it has therefore been decided to use s and z only, and in those parts where the sound of these letters is softened before i they will be naturally softened in pronunciation, and where they remain unchanged they will be pronounced as written.

— William Holman Bentley, Dictionary and grammar of the Kongo language as spoken at San Salvador, the ancient capital of the old Kongo Empire (1887)

Linguistic classification

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Kikongo belongs to the Bantu language family.

Malcolm Guthrie classified Kikongo 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.

Bastin, Coupez and Man's classification of the language (as Tervuren) is more recent and precise than that of Guthrie on Kikongo. The former say the language has the following dialects:

  • Kikongo group H16
    • Southern Kikongo H16a
    • Central Kikongo H16b
    • Yombe (also called Kiyombe) H16c[16]
    • Fiote H16d
    • Western Kikongo H16d
    • Bwende H16e
    • Ladi (Lari) H16f
    • Eastern Kikongo H16g
    • Southeastern Kikongo H16h

NB:[17][18][19] Kisikongo is not the protolanguage of the Kongo language cluster. Not all varieties of Kikongo are mutually intelligible (for example, 1. Civili is better understood by Kiyombe- and Iwoyo-speakers than by Kisikongo- or Kimanianga-speakers; 2. Kimanianga is better understood by Kikongo of Boko and Kintandu-speakers than by Civili or Iwoyo-speakers).

Phonology

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Consonant phonemes
LabialCoronalDorsal
Nasalm /m/n /n/(ng /ŋ/)
Plosivevoicelessp /p/t /t/k /k/
prenasal voicelessmp /ᵐp/nt /ⁿt/nk /ᵑk/
voicedb /b/d /d/(g /ɡ/)1
prenasal voicedmb /ᵐb/nd /ⁿd/ng /ᵑɡ/2
Fricativevoicelessf /f/s /s/
prenasal voicelessmf /ᶬf/ns /ⁿs/
voicedv /v/z /z/
prenasal voicedmv /ᶬv/nz /ⁿz/
Approximantw /w/l /l/y /j/
Vowel phonemes
FrontBack
Highi /i/u /u/
Mide /e̞/o /o̞/
Lowa /a/
  1. The phoneme /ɡ/ can occur, but is rarely used.
  2. May also be heard as a nasal sound.

There is contrastive vowel length. /m/ and /n/ also have syllabic variants, which contrast with prenasalized consonants.

Grammar

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Noun classes

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Kikongo has a system of 18 noun classes in which nouns are classified according to noun prefixes. Most of the classes go in pairs (singular and plural) except for the locative and infinitive classes which do not admit plurals.[20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33]

ClassesNoun prefixesCharacteristicsExamples
1mu-, n-humansmuntu/muuntu/mutu/muutu (person, human)
2ba-, wa-, a-plural form of the class 1...bantu/baantu/batu/baatu/wantu/antu (people, humans,)
3mu-, n-various: plants, inanimate...muti/nti (tree), nlangu (water)
4mi-, n-, i-plural form of the class 3...miti/minti/inti (trees), milangu/minlangu (waters)
5di-, li-various: body parts, vegetables...didezo/lideso/lidezu/didezu (bean)
6ma-various : liquids, plural form of the class 5...madezo/medeso/madeso/madezu (beans), maza/maamba/mamba/maampa/masi/masa (water)
7ki-, ci (tchi/tshi) -, tsi (ti) -, i-various: language, inanimate...kikongo/cikongo/tsikongo/ikongo (kongo language), kikuku/cikuuku/tsikûku (kitchen)
8bi-, i-, yi-, u-plural form of the class 7...bikuku/bikuuku/bikûku (kitchens)
9Ø-, n-, m-, yi-, i-various: animals, pets, artefacts...nzo/nso (house), ngulu (pig)
10Ø-, n-, m-, si-, zi-, tsi-plural form of the classes 9, 11...si nzo/zi nzo/zinzo/tsi nso (houses), si ngulu/zi ngulu/zingulu (pigs)
11lu-various: animals, artefacts, sites, attitudes, qualities, feeling... lulendo (pride), lupangu/lupaangu (plot of land)
13tu-plural form of the classes 7 11...tupangu/tupaangu (plots of land)
14bu-, wu-various: artefacts, sites, attitudes, qualities... bumolo/bubolo (laziness)
15ku-, u-infinitiveskutuba/kutub'/utuba (to speak), kutanga/kutaangë/utanga (to read)
15aku-body parts...kulu (foot), koko/kooko (hand)
6ma-plural form of the class 15a...malu (feet), moko/mooko (hands)
4mi-plural form of the class 15a...miooko/mioko(hands)
16va-, ga- (ha-), fa-locatives (proximal, exact)va nzo (near the house), fa (on, over), ga/ha (on), va (on)
17ku-locatives (distal, approximate)ku vata (in the village), kuna (over there)
18mu-locatives (interior)mu nzo (in the house)
19fi-, mua/mwa-diminutivesfi nzo (small house), fi nuni (nestling, fledgling, little bird), mua (or mwa) nuni (nestling, fledgling, little bird)

NB: Noun prefixes may or may not change from one Kikongo variant to another (e.g. class 7: the noun prefix ci is used in civili, iwoyo or ciladi (lari) and the noun prefix ki is used in kisikongo, kiyombe, kizombo, kimanianga,...).

Conjugation

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Personal pronounsTranslation
MonoI
NgeyeYou
YandiHe or she
KimaIt (for an object / an animal / a thing, examples: a table, a knife,...)
Yeto / BetoWe
Yeno / BenoYou
Yawu / Bawu (or Bau)They
BimaThey (for objects / animals / things, examples: tables, knives,...)

NB: Not all variants of Kikongo have completely the same personal pronouns and when conjugating verbs, the personal pronouns become stressed pronouns (see below and/or the references posted).

Conjugating the verb (mpanga in Kikongo) to be (kukala or kuba; also kuena, kwena or kuwena in Kikongo) in the present:[34]

(Mono) ngiena / Mono ngina(Me), I am
(Ngeye) wena / Ngeye wina / wuna / una(You), you are
(Yandi) wena / Yandi kena / wuna / una(Him / Her), he or she is
(Kima) kiena(It), it is (for an object / an animal / a thing, examples: a table, a knife,...)
(Beto) tuena / Yeto tuina / tuna(Us), we are
(Beno) luena / Yeno luina / luna(You), you are
(Bawu) bena / Yawu bena(Them), they are
(Bima) biena(Them), they are (for objects / animals / things, examples: tables, knives,...)

Conjugating the verb (mpanga in Kikongo) to have (kuvua in Kikongo; also kuba na or kukala ye) in the present :

(Mono) mvuidi(Me), I have
(Ngeye) vuidi(You), you have
(Yandi) vuidi(Him / Her), he or she has
(Beto) tuvuidi(Us), we have
(Beno) luvuidi(You), you have
(Bawu) bavuidi(Them), they have

NB: In Kikongo, the conjugation of a tense to different persons is done by changing verbal prefixes (highlighted in bold). These verbal prefixes are also personal pronouns. However, not all variants of Kikongo have completely the same verbal prefixes and the same verbs (cf. the references posted). The ksludotique site uses several variants of Kikongo (kimanianga,...).

Vocabulary

[edit]
WordTranslation
kiambote, yenge (kiaku, kieno) / mbot'aku / mbotieno (mboti'eno) / mbote zeno / mbote / mboti / mboto / bueke / buekanu [35]hello, good morning
malafu, malavualcoholic drink
diambahemp
binkutu, binkuticlothes
ntoto, mutotosoil, floor, ground, Earth
nsi, tsi, sicountry, province, region
vata, gata, divata, digata, dihata, diɣata, buala (or bwala), bual' (or bwal', bualë, bwalë), bula, hata, ɣatavillage
mavata, magata, mahata, maɣata, mala, maalavillages
nzohouse
zulu, yulu, yilusky, top, above
maza, masa, mamba, maamba, masi, nlangu, mazi, maampawater
tiya, mbasu, mbawufire
makayaleaves (example : hemp leaves)
bakala, yakalaman, husband
nkento, mukento, nkiento, ncyento, nciento, ntchiento, ntchientu, ntchetu, ntcheetu, ncetu, nceetu, mukietu, mukeetu, mukeetowoman
mukazi, nkazi, nkasi, mukasispouse (wife)
mulumi, nlumi, nnunispouse (husband)
muana (or mwana) ndumba, ndumbayoung girl, single young woman
nkumbu / zina / li zina / dizina / ligina [36]name
kudia, kudya, kulia, kulyato eat
kunua, kunwato drink
nenebig
fiotismall
mpimpanight
lumbuday
kukovola, kukofola, kukofula, kukoola, kukogola, kukohola, kukosulato cough
kuvana, kugana, kuhana, kuɣanato give
nzola, zolalove
luzolo, luzolulove, will
kutanga, kutaangëto read
kusoneka, kusonikë, kusonika, kusonik', kutinato write
kuvova, kuta, kuzonza, kutuba, kutub', kugoga, kuɣoɣa, kuhoha, utubato say, to speak, to talk, to tell
kuzola, kutsola, kutsolo, kuzolo, uzolato love
ntangutime, sun, hour
kuseva, kusega, kuseɣa, kuseha, kusefa, kusefë, kusef', kuseyato laugh
nzambigod
luzituthe respect
lufua, lufwathe death
yi ku zolele / i ku zolele [37] / ngeye nzolele / ni ku zololo (or ni ku zolele) (Ladi) / minu i ku zoleze (Ibinda) / mi ya ku zola (Vili) / minu i ku tidi (Cabindan Yombe) / mê nge nzololo (or mê nge nzolele) (Ladi) / minu i ku zoleze (Cabindan Woyo) / minu i ba ku zola (Linji, Linge) / mi be ku zol' (or mi be ku zolë) (Vili) / me ni ku tiri (Beembe) / minu i ku tilii love you
Days of the week in EnglishKisikongo and KizomboCongolese YombeLadi (Lari)Vili[38]IbindaNtanduKisingombe and Kimanianga
MondayKyamosiUn'tôneBuduka / NsilaUn'tôneTchikundaKinteteKiamonde / Kiantete
TuesdayKyazoleN'siluNkêngeN'siluTchimuali / TchimwaliKinzoleKianzole
WednesdayKyatatuUn'dukaMpikaUn'duk'TchintatuKintatuKiantatu
ThursdayKyayaN'soneNkôyiN'soneTchinnaKinyaKianya
FridayKyatanuBukonzuBukônzoBukonz'TchintanuKintanuKiantanu
SaturdayKyasabalaSab'lSaba / SabalaSab'lTchisabalaSabalaKiasabala
SundayKyaluminguLuminguLumîngu / NsonaLuminguTchiluminguLuminguKialumingu
Numbers 1 to 10 in EnglishKisikongo and KizomboLadi (Lari)NtanduSolongoYombeBeembeViliKisingombe and KimaniangaIbinda
OneMosiMosiMosiMosi / KosiMosiMosiMuek' / MesiMosiMueka / Tchimueka
TwoZoleZoleZoleZoleWadiBoolo / BioleWaliZoleWali
ThreeTatuTatuTatuTatuTatuTatu / BitatuTatuTatuTatu
FourYaYaYaYaYaNa / BinaNaYaNa
FiveTanuTanuTanuTanuTanuTaanu / BitaneTanuTanuTanu
SixSambanuSambanuSambanuNsambanu / SambanuSambanuSaambanu / Saamunu / SamneSamunuSambanuSambanu
SevenNsambuadi (Nsambwadi) / Nsambuadia (Nsambwadia)Nsambuadi (Nsambwadi)Sambuadi (Sambwadi)Nsambuadi (Nsambwadi) / Sambuadi (Sambwadi)Tsambuadi (Tsambwadi)TsambeSambuali (Sambwali)Nsambuadi (Nsambwadi) / NsambodiaSambuali (Sambwali)
EightNanaNana / Mpoomo / MpuomôNanaNanaDinanaMpoomoNanaNanaNana
NineVua (Vwa) / Vue (Vwe)Vua (Vwa)Vua (Vwa)Vua (Vwa)Divua (Divwa)WaVua (Vwa)Vua (Vwa)Vua (Vwa)
TenKumiKumiKumi / Kumi dimosiKumiDikumiKumiKumiKumiKumi

English words of Kongo origin

[edit]
  • The southern Black American English word "goober" comes from Kongo nguba, meaning "peanut".[39]
  • The southern Black American English word "finda", from the Hoodoo tradition, comes from the Kongo word mfinda, meaning "the great forest."[40]
  • The southern Black American English word "mojo", from the Hoodoo tradition, comes from the Kongo word mooyo, meaning "to the spirits that dwelt within magical charms."[41]
  • The Black American popular music terms "funk" and "funky" may be from the Kongo word lu-fuki.[42]

Spanish words of Kongo origin

[edit]
  • The name of the Cuban dance mambo comes from a Bantu word meaning "conversation with the gods".[citation needed]
[edit]

The roller coaster Kumba at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay in Tampa, Florida gets its name from the Kongo word for "roar".

Sample text

[edit]

According to Filomão CUBOLA, article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Fiote translates to:

Bizingi bioso bisiwu ti batu bambutukanga mu kidedi ki buzitu ayi kibumswa. Bizingi-bene, batu, badi diela ayi tsi-ntima, bafwene kuzingila mbatzi-na-mbatzi-yandi mu mtima bukhomba.
"All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood."[43]

Literature

[edit]
  • Mgr. Jean Cuvelier, Nkutama a mvila za Makanda, Impr. Mission Catholique, 1934
  • A. Fu-kiau kia Bunseki-Lumanisa, N'Kongo Ye Nza Yakun'zungidila : Nza-Kôngo, Office National de la Recherche et de Développement, Kinshasa, 1969 (Réimpression 2021, Paari éditeur).
  • Rodrigue Tchamna and Imanuel Kimbuala Hemsey, Wasala wûnu, si kadia mbazi. Wavuata kimôlo wûnu, si kalaba mbazi, Cameroun BD, 2019.
  • Jussie Nsana and Armel Bemba, M'tekolo, Nsana-Arts Butsiele and Ecole Les Bourgeons, 2020.
  • Fernando Ndombele Kidima Tadi, Malongi ma mpila mu mpila muna ndinga kikongo, Mayamba, 2023.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c Kongo at Ethnologue (27th ed., 2024) Closed access icon
    Koongo at Ethnologue (27th ed., 2024) Closed access icon
    Ladi, Laadi, Lari or Laari at Ethnologue (27th ed., 2024) Closed access icon
    San Salvador Kongo (South) at Ethnologue (27th ed., 2024) Closed access icon
    Yombe at Ethnologue (27th ed., 2024) Closed access icon
  2. ^ Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
  3. ^ Adam Hochschild (1998). King Leopold's Ghost. Houghton Mifflin. p. 11. ISBN 9780618001903.
  4. ^ a b "Kikongo-Kituba". Britannica. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  5. ^ "Constitution de 2015". Digithèque matériaux juridiques et politiques, Jean-Pierre Maury, Université de Perpignan (in French). Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  6. ^ "Constitution de la République Démocratique du Congo" (PDF). Organisation mondiale de la propriété intellectuelle ou World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) (in French). p. 11. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  7. ^ Foreign Service Institute (U.S.) and Lloyd Balderston Swift, Kituba; Basic Course, Department of State, 1963, p.10
  8. ^ Godefroid Muzalia Kihangu, Bundu dia Kongo, une résurgence des messianismes et de l’alliance des Bakongo?, Universiteit Gent, België, 2011, p. 30
  9. ^ Wyatt MacGaffey, Kongo Political Culture: The Conceptual Challenge of the Particular, Indiana University Press, 2000, p.62
  10. ^ François Bontinck and D. Ndembi Nsasi, Le catéchisme kikongo de 1624. Reeédtion critique (Brussels, 1978)
  11. ^ "Dictionary and Grammar of the Kongo Language, as Spoken at San Salvador, the Ancient Capital of the Old Kongo Empire, West Africa: Preface". World Digital Library. Retrieved 2013-05-23.
  12. ^ William Holman Bentley, Dictionary and grammar of the Kongo language as spoken at San Salvador, the ancient capital of the old Kongo Empire, Baptist Missionary Society, The University of Michigan, 1887
  13. ^ Karl Edvard Laman, Nkanda wa bilekwa bianza uzayulwanga mpangulu ye nkadulu au, Svenska missionsförbundet, S.M.S., Matadi, 1899
  14. ^ Karl Edvard Laman, Dictionnaire kikongo-français, avec une étude phonétique décrivant les dialectes les plus importants de la langue dite Kikongo, bruxelles : Librairie Falk fils, 1936
  15. ^ "Publications en kikongo Bibliographie relative aux contributions suédoises entre 1885 et 1970" (PDF). DiVA portal, Bertil Söderberg & Ragnar Widman, L'institut scandinave d'etudes africaines, Uppsala et Le musée ethnographique, Stockholm, 1978 (in French). Retrieved 31 October 2023.
  16. ^ Maho 2009
  17. ^ Jasper DE KIND , Sebastian DOM, Gilles-Maurice DE SCHRYVER et Koen BOSTOEN, Fronted-infinitive constructions in Kikongo (Bantu H16): verb focus, progressive aspect and future, KongoKing Research Group, Department of Languages and Cultures, Ghent University, Université Libre de Bruxelles, 2013
  18. ^ Koen Bostoen et Inge Brinkman, The Kongo Kingdom: The Origins, Dynamics and Cosmopolitan Culture of an African Polity, Cambridge University Press, 2018
  19. ^ Raphaël Batsîkama Ba Mampuya Ma Ndâwla, L'ancien royaume du Congo et les Bakongo, séquences d'histoire populaire, L'harmattan, 2000
  20. ^ Amélia Arlete MINGAS, ETUDE GRAMMATICALE DE L'IWOYO (ANGOLA), UNIVERSITE RENE DESCARTES PARIS - UFR DE LINGUISTIQUE GENERALE ET APPLIQUEE, 1994 (in French)
  21. ^ Luntadila Nlandu Inocente, Nominalisations en kìsìkongò (H16): Les substantifs predicatifs et les verbes-supports Vánga, Sála, Sá et Tá (faire), Facultat de Filosofia i Lletres, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, 2015 (in French)
  22. ^ Elise Solange Bagamboula, Les classificateurs BU (CL. 14), GA (CL. 16), KU (CL. 17) et MU (CL. 18) dans l’expression de la localisation en kikongo (lari), Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales (INALCO), 2019 (in French)
  23. ^ Audrey Mariette TELE-PEMBA, Eléments pour une approche comparée des emprunts lexicaux du civili du Gabon, du Congo-Brazzaville et du Cabinda : proposition d’ un modèle de dictionnaire, UNIVERSITE OMAR BONGO – Faculté des Lettres et Sciences Humaines – Département des Sciences du Langage, Libreville, 2009 (in French)
  24. ^ R. P. L. DE CLERCQ, Grammaire du Kiyombe , Edition Goemaere – Bruxelles – Kinshasa, 1907 (in French)
  25. ^ Léon Dereau, COURS DE KIKONGO, Maison d’éditions AD. WESMAEL-CHARLIER, Namur, 1955 (in French)
  26. ^ François Lumwamu, Sur les classes nominales et le nombre dans une langue bantu, Cahiers d’Études africaines, 1970 (in French)
  27. ^ Joaquim Mbachi, CAMINHOS DA GRAMÁTICA IBINDA, Cabinda (Angola), 2013 (in Portuguese)
  28. ^ Robert Tinou, Abécédaire du kouilou zaab’ ku tub’ tchi vili, L’HARMATTAN, 2015 (in French)
  29. ^ Filipe Camilo Miaca, Corpus lexical dos verbos em iwoyo e português, proposta de um dicionário bilingue de verbos em português e iwoyo, Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas da Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, 2020 (in Portuguese)
  30. ^ Guy Noël Kouarata, DICTIONNAIRE BEEMBE–FRANÇAIS, SIL-Congo, 2010 (in French)
  31. ^ Raharimanantsoa Ruth, Petit guide d’orthographe et de grammaire KUNYI (KUNI), SIL-Congo, 2022 (in French)
  32. ^ Emmanuel Ngizulu Nsemi, Longoka Kikongo, Paari éditeur, 2025
  33. ^ JOSÉ LOURENÇO TAVARES, Gramática da língua do Congo (kikongo) (dialecto kisolongo), Composto e Impresso nas oficinas da Imprensa, Nacional de Angola, 1915 (in Portuguese)
  34. ^ "Kikongo grammar, first part". Ksludotique. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
  35. ^ Kiambote kiaku / mbot'aku (hello/good morning to you (to one person)), kiambote kieno / mbote zeno / mbotieno / buekanu (hello/good morning to many people), yenge kiaku (hello/good morning to you / peace to you (to one person)), yenge kieno (hello/good morning to many people / peace to you (to many people))
  36. ^ The family name and first name were not part of the Kongo culture, meaning the Kongo people gave the children a name based on the circumstances surrounding their birth, significant events, etc. The rule of giving a surname, a first name and a middle name to the children was introduced by the Westerners (Portuguese, French and Belgians).
  37. ^ Yi ku zolele, i ku zolele and ngeye nzolele are used in several variants of Kikongo such as kintandu, kisingombe, kimanianga, kikongo of boko,...
  38. ^ Old version of the days of week in Vili: Ntoonu (Monday), Nsilu (Tuesday), Nkoyo (Wednesday), Bukonzo (Thursday), Mpika (Friday), Nduka (Saturday), Sona (Sunday).
  39. ^ "Bartleby.com: Great Books Online -- Quotes, Poems, Novels, Classics and hundreds more". www.bartleby.com. Archived from the original on 2008-03-28. Retrieved 2017-07-21.
  40. ^ Brown, Ras Michael (2012). African-Atlantic Cultures and the South Carolina Lowcountry (1st ed.). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. pp. 26, 27, 90–102, 106–110, 119–121, 123. ISBN 978-1-107-66882-9.
  41. ^ McCurnin, Mary (2010). "From the Old to the New World: The Transformation of Kongo Minkisi in African American Art". VCU Scholars Compass: 43–52.
  42. ^ Farris Thompson, in his work Flash Of The Spirit: African & Afro-American Art & Philosophy
  43. ^ "Universal Declaration of Human Rights - Fiote (Angola)". OHCHR. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kikongo language.

Kongo learning materials

[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kongo_language&oldid=1323920721"
    Kongo
    Kikongo
    Native toDR Congo (Kongo Central), Angola, Republic of the Congo, Gabon
    EthnicityKongo
    Native speakers
    		(L1: 6.0 million cited 1982–2021)[1]
    L2: 5.0 million (2021)[1]
    Latin
    Mandombe
    Official status
    Official language in
    		National language and unofficial language:
    Angola
    Language codes
    ISO 639-1kg
    ISO 639-2kon
    ISO 639-3kon – inclusive code
    Individual codes:
    kng – Koongo
    ldi – Ladi, Laadi, Lari or Laari
    kwy – San Salvador Kongo (South)
    yom – Yombe
    Glottologyomb1244  Yombe
    H.14–16[2]
    Map of the area where Kongo and Kituba are spoken, Kituba as a lingua franca. Kisikongo (also called Kisansala by some authors) is the Kikongo spoken in Mbanza Kongo.
    The Kongo language
    PersonmuKongo, musi Kongo, muisi Kongo, mwisi Kongo, nKongo
    PeoplebaKongo, bisi Kongo, besi Kongo, esiKongo, aKongo
    LanguagekiKongo

    Kongo or Kikongo is one of the Bantu languages spoken by the Kongo people living in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the Republic of the Congo, Gabon, and Angola. It is a tonal language. The vast majority of present-day speakers live in Africa. There are roughly seven million native speakers of Kongo in the above-named countries. An estimated five million more speakers use it as a second language.[1]

    Historically, it was spoken by many of those Africans who for centuries were taken captive, transported across the Atlantic, and sold as slaves in the Americas. For this reason, creolized forms of the language are found in ritual speech of Afro-American religions, especially in Brazil, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Suriname. It is also one of the sources of the Gullah language, which formed in the Low Country and Sea Islands of the United States Southeast,[3] and a major source of the Palenquero language of Colombia.

    Geographic distribution

    Kikongo was the language of the Kingdom of Kongo prior to the creation of Angola by the Portuguese Crown in 1575. The Berlin Conference (1884-1885) among major European powers divided the rest of the kingdom into three territories. These are now parts of the DRC (Kongo Central and Bandundu), the Republic of the Congo, and Gabon.

    Kikongo is the base for the Creole language Kituba, also called Kikongo de l'État and Kikongo ya Leta (French and Kituba, respectively, for "Kikongo of the state administration" or "Kikongo of the State").[4]

    The constitution of the Republic of the Congo uses the name Kituba,[5] and Democratic Republic of the Congo uses the term Kikongo (i.e. Kikongo ya Leta).[6]This can be explained by the fact that Kikongo ya Leta is often mistakenly called Kikongo (i.e. KiNtandu, KiManianga, KiNdibu, etc.).[7][4][8]

    Kikongo and Kituba are spoken in:

    Presence in the Americas

    Many African slaves transported in the Atlantic slave trade spoke Kikongo. Its influence can be seen in many creole languages in the diaspora, such as:

    People

    Prior to the Berlin Conference, the people called themselves "Bisi Kongo" (plural) and "Mwisi Kongo" (singular). Today they call themselves "Bakongo" (pl.) and "Mukongo" (sing.).[9]

    Writing

    The Hail Mary in Kikongo.

    Kongo was the earliest Bantu language to be written in Latin characters. Portuguese created a dictionary in Kongo, the first of any Bantu language. A catechism was produced under the authority of Diogo Gomes, who was born in 1557 in Kongo to Portuguese parents and became a Jesuit priest. No version of that survives today.

    In 1624, Mateus Cardoso, another Portuguese Jesuit, edited and published a Kongo translation of the Portuguese catechism compiled by Marcos Jorge. The preface says 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).[10]

    The dictionary was written in about 1648 for the use of Capuchin missionaries. The principal author was Manuel Robredo, a secular priest from Kongo (after he became a Capuchin, he was named Francisco de São Salvador). The back of this dictionary includes a two-page sermon written in Kongo. The dictionary has some 10,000 words.

    In the 1780s, French Catholic missionaries to the Loango coast created additional dictionaries. Bernardo da Canecattim published a word list in 1805.

    Baptist missionaries who arrived in Kongo in 1879 (from Great Britain) developed a modern orthography of the language.

    American missionary W. Holman Bentley arranged for his Dictionary and Grammar of the Kongo Language to be published by the University of Michigan in 1887. In the preface, Bentley gave credit to Nlemvo, an African, for his assistance. He described "the methods he used to compile the dictionary, which included sorting and correcting 25,000 slips of paper containing words and their definitions."[11] Eventually W. Holman Bentley, with the special assistance of João Lemvo, produced a complete Christian Bible in 1905.

    The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has published a translation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Fiote.

    Standardisation

    The work of English, Swedish and other missionaries in the 19th and 20th centuries, in collaboration with Kongo linguists and evangelists such as Ndo Nzuawu Nlemvo (or Ndo Nzwawu Nlemvo; Dom João in Portuguese) and Miguel NeKaka, marked the standardisation of Kikongo.[12][13][14][15]

    A large proportion of the people at San Salvador, and in its neighbourhood, pronounce s and z before i as sh and j; for the sound sh, the letter x was adopted (as in Portuguese), while z before i was written as j. Our books are read over a much wider area than the district of San Salvador, and in those parts where s and z remain unchanged before i, the use of x and j has proved a difficulty; it has therefore been decided to use s and z only, and in those parts where the sound of these letters is softened before i they will be naturally softened in pronunciation, and where they remain unchanged they will be pronounced as written.

    — William Holman Bentley, Dictionary and grammar of the Kongo language as spoken at San Salvador, the ancient capital of the old Kongo Empire (1887)

    Linguistic classification

    Kikongo belongs to the Bantu language family.

    Malcolm Guthrie classified Kikongo 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.

    Bastin, Coupez and Man's classification of the language (as Tervuren) is more recent and precise than that of Guthrie on Kikongo. The former say the language has the following dialects:

    • Kikongo group H16
      • Southern Kikongo H16a
      • Central Kikongo H16b
      • Yombe (also called Kiyombe) H16c[16]
      • Fiote H16d
      • Western Kikongo H16d
      • Bwende H16e
      • Ladi (Lari) H16f
      • Eastern Kikongo H16g
      • Southeastern Kikongo H16h

    NB:[17][18][19] Kisikongo is not the protolanguage of the Kongo language cluster. Not all varieties of Kikongo are mutually intelligible (for example, 1. Civili is better understood by Kiyombe- and Iwoyo-speakers than by Kisikongo- or Kimanianga-speakers; 2. Kimanianga is better understood by Kikongo of Boko and Kintandu-speakers than by Civili or Iwoyo-speakers).

    Phonology

    Consonant phonemes
    LabialCoronalDorsal
    Nasalm /m/n /n/(ng /ŋ/)
    Plosivevoicelessp /p/t /t/k /k/
    prenasal voicelessmp /ᵐp/nt /ⁿt/nk /ᵑk/
    voicedb /b/d /d/(g /ɡ/)1
    prenasal voicedmb /ᵐb/nd /ⁿd/ng /ᵑɡ/2
    Fricativevoicelessf /f/s /s/
    prenasal voicelessmf /ᶬf/ns /ⁿs/
    voicedv /v/z /z/
    prenasal voicedmv /ᶬv/nz /ⁿz/
    Approximantw /w/l /l/y /j/
    Vowel phonemes
    FrontBack
    Highi /i/u /u/
    Mide /e̞/o /o̞/
    Lowa /a/
    1. The phoneme /ɡ/ can occur, but is rarely used.
    2. May also be heard as a nasal sound.

    There is contrastive vowel length. /m/ and /n/ also have syllabic variants, which contrast with prenasalized consonants.

    Grammar

    Noun classes

    Kikongo has a system of 18 noun classes in which nouns are classified according to noun prefixes. Most of the classes go in pairs (singular and plural) except for the locative and infinitive classes which do not admit plurals.[20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33]

    ClassesNoun prefixesCharacteristicsExamples
    1mu-, n-humansmuntu/muuntu/mutu/muutu (person, human)
    2ba-, wa-, a-plural form of the class 1...bantu/baantu/batu/baatu/wantu/antu (people, humans,)
    3mu-, n-various: plants, inanimate...muti/nti (tree), nlangu (water)
    4mi-, n-, i-plural form of the class 3...miti/minti/inti (trees), milangu/minlangu (waters)
    5di-, li-various: body parts, vegetables...didezo/lideso/lidezu/didezu (bean)
    6ma-various : liquids, plural form of the class 5...madezo/medeso/madeso/madezu (beans), maza/maamba/mamba/maampa/masi/masa (water)
    7ki-, ci (tchi/tshi) -, tsi (ti) -, i-various: language, inanimate...kikongo/cikongo/tsikongo/ikongo (kongo language), kikuku/cikuuku/tsikûku (kitchen)
    8bi-, i-, yi-, u-plural form of the class 7...bikuku/bikuuku/bikûku (kitchens)
    9Ø-, n-, m-, yi-, i-various: animals, pets, artefacts...nzo/nso (house), ngulu (pig)
    10Ø-, n-, m-, si-, zi-, tsi-plural form of the classes 9, 11...si nzo/zi nzo/zinzo/tsi nso (houses), si ngulu/zi ngulu/zingulu (pigs)
    11lu-various: animals, artefacts, sites, attitudes, qualities, feeling... lulendo (pride), lupangu/lupaangu (plot of land)
    13tu-plural form of the classes 7 11...tupangu/tupaangu (plots of land)
    14bu-, wu-various: artefacts, sites, attitudes, qualities... bumolo/bubolo (laziness)
    15ku-, u-infinitiveskutuba/kutub'/utuba (to speak), kutanga/kutaangë/utanga (to read)
    15aku-body parts...kulu (foot), koko/kooko (hand)
    6ma-plural form of the class 15a...malu (feet), moko/mooko (hands)
    4mi-plural form of the class 15a...miooko/mioko(hands)
    16va-, ga- (ha-), fa-locatives (proximal, exact)va nzo (near the house), fa (on, over), ga/ha (on), va (on)
    17ku-locatives (distal, approximate)ku vata (in the village), kuna (over there)
    18mu-locatives (interior)mu nzo (in the house)
    19fi-, mua/mwa-diminutivesfi nzo (small house), fi nuni (nestling, fledgling, little bird), mua (or mwa) nuni (nestling, fledgling, little bird)

    NB: Noun prefixes may or may not change from one Kikongo variant to another (e.g. class 7: the noun prefix ci is used in civili, iwoyo or ciladi (lari) and the noun prefix ki is used in kisikongo, kiyombe, kizombo, kimanianga,...).

    Conjugation

    Personal pronounsTranslation
    MonoI
    NgeyeYou
    YandiHe or she
    KimaIt (for an object / an animal / a thing, examples: a table, a knife,...)
    Yeto / BetoWe
    Yeno / BenoYou
    Yawu / Bawu (or Bau)They
    BimaThey (for objects / animals / things, examples: tables, knives,...)

    NB: Not all variants of Kikongo have completely the same personal pronouns and when conjugating verbs, the personal pronouns become stressed pronouns (see below and/or the references posted).

    Conjugating the verb (mpanga in Kikongo) to be (kukala or kuba; also kuena, kwena or kuwena in Kikongo) in the present:[34]

    (Mono) ngiena / Mono ngina(Me), I am
    (Ngeye) wena / Ngeye wina / wuna / una(You), you are
    (Yandi) wena / Yandi kena / wuna / una(Him / Her), he or she is
    (Kima) kiena(It), it is (for an object / an animal / a thing, examples: a table, a knife,...)
    (Beto) tuena / Yeto tuina / tuna(Us), we are
    (Beno) luena / Yeno luina / luna(You), you are
    (Bawu) bena / Yawu bena(Them), they are
    (Bima) biena(Them), they are (for objects / animals / things, examples: tables, knives,...)

    Conjugating the verb (mpanga in Kikongo) to have (kuvua in Kikongo; also kuba na or kukala ye) in the present :

    (Mono) mvuidi(Me), I have
    (Ngeye) vuidi(You), you have
    (Yandi) vuidi(Him / Her), he or she has
    (Beto) tuvuidi(Us), we have
    (Beno) luvuidi(You), you have
    (Bawu) bavuidi(Them), they have

    NB: In Kikongo, the conjugation of a tense to different persons is done by changing verbal prefixes (highlighted in bold). These verbal prefixes are also personal pronouns. However, not all variants of Kikongo have completely the same verbal prefixes and the same verbs (cf. the references posted). The ksludotique site uses several variants of Kikongo (kimanianga,...).

    Vocabulary

    WordTranslation
    kiambote, yenge (kiaku, kieno) / mbot'aku / mbotieno (mboti'eno) / mbote zeno / mbote / mboti / mboto / bueke / buekanu [35]hello, good morning
    malafu, malavualcoholic drink
    diambahemp
    binkutu, binkuticlothes
    ntoto, mutotosoil, floor, ground, Earth
    nsi, tsi, sicountry, province, region
    vata, gata, divata, digata, dihata, diɣata, buala (or bwala), bual' (or bwal', bualë, bwalë), bula, hata, ɣatavillage
    mavata, magata, mahata, maɣata, mala, maalavillages
    nzohouse
    zulu, yulu, yilusky, top, above
    maza, masa, mamba, maamba, masi, nlangu, mazi, maampawater
    tiya, mbasu, mbawufire
    makayaleaves (example : hemp leaves)
    bakala, yakalaman, husband
    nkento, mukento, nkiento, ncyento, nciento, ntchiento, ntchientu, ntchetu, ntcheetu, ncetu, nceetu, mukietu, mukeetu, mukeetowoman
    mukazi, nkazi, nkasi, mukasispouse (wife)
    mulumi, nlumi, nnunispouse (husband)
    muana (or mwana) ndumba, ndumbayoung girl, single young woman
    nkumbu / zina / li zina / dizina / ligina [36]name
    kudia, kudya, kulia, kulyato eat
    kunua, kunwato drink
    nenebig
    fiotismall
    mpimpanight
    lumbuday
    kukovola, kukofola, kukofula, kukoola, kukogola, kukohola, kukosulato cough
    kuvana, kugana, kuhana, kuɣanato give
    nzola, zolalove
    luzolo, luzolulove, will
    kutanga, kutaangëto read
    kusoneka, kusonikë, kusonika, kusonik', kutinato write
    kuvova, kuta, kuzonza, kutuba, kutub', kugoga, kuɣoɣa, kuhoha, utubato say, to speak, to talk, to tell
    kuzola, kutsola, kutsolo, kuzolo, uzolato love
    ntangutime, sun, hour
    kuseva, kusega, kuseɣa, kuseha, kusefa, kusefë, kusef', kuseyato laugh
    nzambigod
    luzituthe respect
    lufua, lufwathe death
    yi ku zolele / i ku zolele [37] / ngeye nzolele / ni ku zololo (or ni ku zolele) (Ladi) / minu i ku zoleze (Ibinda) / mi ya ku zola (Vili) / minu i ku tidi (Cabindan Yombe) / mê nge nzololo (or mê nge nzolele) (Ladi) / minu i ku zoleze (Cabindan Woyo) / minu i ba ku zola (Linji, Linge) / mi be ku zol' (or mi be ku zolë) (Vili) / me ni ku tiri (Beembe) / minu i ku tilii love you
    Days of the week in EnglishKisikongo and KizomboCongolese YombeLadi (Lari)Vili[38]IbindaNtanduKisingombe and Kimanianga
    MondayKyamosiUn'tôneBuduka / NsilaUn'tôneTchikundaKinteteKiamonde / Kiantete
    TuesdayKyazoleN'siluNkêngeN'siluTchimuali / TchimwaliKinzoleKianzole
    WednesdayKyatatuUn'dukaMpikaUn'duk'TchintatuKintatuKiantatu
    ThursdayKyayaN'soneNkôyiN'soneTchinnaKinyaKianya
    FridayKyatanuBukonzuBukônzoBukonz'TchintanuKintanuKiantanu
    SaturdayKyasabalaSab'lSaba / SabalaSab'lTchisabalaSabalaKiasabala
    SundayKyaluminguLuminguLumîngu / NsonaLuminguTchiluminguLuminguKialumingu
    Numbers 1 to 10 in EnglishKisikongo and KizomboLadi (Lari)NtanduSolongoYombeBeembeViliKisingombe and KimaniangaIbinda
    OneMosiMosiMosiMosi / KosiMosiMosiMuek' / MesiMosiMueka / Tchimueka
    TwoZoleZoleZoleZoleWadiBoolo / BioleWaliZoleWali
    ThreeTatuTatuTatuTatuTatuTatu / BitatuTatuTatuTatu
    FourYaYaYaYaYaNa / BinaNaYaNa
    FiveTanuTanuTanuTanuTanuTaanu / BitaneTanuTanuTanu
    SixSambanuSambanuSambanuNsambanu / SambanuSambanuSaambanu / Saamunu / SamneSamunuSambanuSambanu
    SevenNsambuadi (Nsambwadi) / Nsambuadia (Nsambwadia)Nsambuadi (Nsambwadi)Sambuadi (Sambwadi)Nsambuadi (Nsambwadi) / Sambuadi (Sambwadi)Tsambuadi (Tsambwadi)TsambeSambuali (Sambwali)Nsambuadi (Nsambwadi) / NsambodiaSambuali (Sambwali)
    EightNanaNana / Mpoomo / MpuomôNanaNanaDinanaMpoomoNanaNanaNana
    NineVua (Vwa) / Vue (Vwe)Vua (Vwa)Vua (Vwa)Vua (Vwa)Divua (Divwa)WaVua (Vwa)Vua (Vwa)Vua (Vwa)
    TenKumiKumiKumi / Kumi dimosiKumiDikumiKumiKumiKumiKumi

    English words of Kongo origin

    • The southern Black American English word "goober" comes from Kongo nguba, meaning "peanut".[39]
    • The southern Black American English word "finda", from the Hoodoo tradition, comes from the Kongo word mfinda, meaning "the great forest."[40]
    • The southern Black American English word "mojo", from the Hoodoo tradition, comes from the Kongo word mooyo, meaning "to the spirits that dwelt within magical charms."[41]
    • The Black American popular music terms "funk" and "funky" may be from the Kongo word lu-fuki.[42]

    Spanish words of Kongo origin

    • The name of the Cuban dance mambo comes from a Bantu word meaning "conversation with the gods".[citation needed]

    The roller coaster Kumba at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay in Tampa, Florida gets its name from the Kongo word for "roar".

    Sample text

    According to Filomão CUBOLA, article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Fiote translates to:

    Bizingi bioso bisiwu ti batu bambutukanga mu kidedi ki buzitu ayi kibumswa. Bizingi-bene, batu, badi diela ayi tsi-ntima, bafwene kuzingila mbatzi-na-mbatzi-yandi mu mtima bukhomba.
    "All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood."[43]

    Literature

    • Mgr. Jean Cuvelier, Nkutama a mvila za Makanda, Impr. Mission Catholique, 1934
    • A. Fu-kiau kia Bunseki-Lumanisa, N'Kongo Ye Nza Yakun'zungidila : Nza-Kôngo, Office National de la Recherche et de Développement, Kinshasa, 1969 (Réimpression 2021, Paari éditeur).
    • Rodrigue Tchamna and Imanuel Kimbuala Hemsey, Wasala wûnu, si kadia mbazi. Wavuata kimôlo wûnu, si kalaba mbazi, Cameroun BD, 2019.
    • Jussie Nsana and Armel Bemba, M'tekolo, Nsana-Arts Butsiele and Ecole Les Bourgeons, 2020.
    • Fernando Ndombele Kidima Tadi, Malongi ma mpila mu mpila muna ndinga kikongo, Mayamba, 2023.

    References

    1. ^ a b c Kongo at Ethnologue (27th ed., 2024) Closed access icon
      Koongo at Ethnologue (27th ed., 2024) Closed access icon
      Ladi, Laadi, Lari or Laari at Ethnologue (27th ed., 2024) Closed access icon
      San Salvador Kongo (South) at Ethnologue (27th ed., 2024) Closed access icon
      Yombe at Ethnologue (27th ed., 2024) Closed access icon
    2. ^ Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
    3. ^ Adam Hochschild (1998). King Leopold's Ghost. Houghton Mifflin. p. 11. ISBN 9780618001903.
    4. ^ a b "Kikongo-Kituba". Britannica. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
    5. ^ "Constitution de 2015". Digithèque matériaux juridiques et politiques, Jean-Pierre Maury, Université de Perpignan (in French). Retrieved 14 December 2020.
    6. ^ "Constitution de la République Démocratique du Congo" (PDF). Organisation mondiale de la propriété intellectuelle ou World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) (in French). p. 11. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
    7. ^ Foreign Service Institute (U.S.) and Lloyd Balderston Swift, Kituba; Basic Course, Department of State, 1963, p.10
    8. ^ Godefroid Muzalia Kihangu, Bundu dia Kongo, une résurgence des messianismes et de l’alliance des Bakongo?, Universiteit Gent, België, 2011, p. 30
    9. ^ Wyatt MacGaffey, Kongo Political Culture: The Conceptual Challenge of the Particular, Indiana University Press, 2000, p.62
    10. ^ François Bontinck and D. Ndembi Nsasi, Le catéchisme kikongo de 1624. Reeédtion critique (Brussels, 1978)
    11. ^ "Dictionary and Grammar of the Kongo Language, as Spoken at San Salvador, the Ancient Capital of the Old Kongo Empire, West Africa: Preface". World Digital Library. Retrieved 2013-05-23.
    12. ^ William Holman Bentley, Dictionary and grammar of the Kongo language as spoken at San Salvador, the ancient capital of the old Kongo Empire, Baptist Missionary Society, The University of Michigan, 1887
    13. ^ Karl Edvard Laman, Nkanda wa bilekwa bianza uzayulwanga mpangulu ye nkadulu au, Svenska missionsförbundet, S.M.S., Matadi, 1899
    14. ^ Karl Edvard Laman, Dictionnaire kikongo-français, avec une étude phonétique décrivant les dialectes les plus importants de la langue dite Kikongo, bruxelles : Librairie Falk fils, 1936
    15. ^ "Publications en kikongo Bibliographie relative aux contributions suédoises entre 1885 et 1970" (PDF). DiVA portal, Bertil Söderberg & Ragnar Widman, L'institut scandinave d'etudes africaines, Uppsala et Le musée ethnographique, Stockholm, 1978 (in French). Retrieved 31 October 2023.
    16. ^ Maho 2009
    17. ^ Jasper DE KIND , Sebastian DOM, Gilles-Maurice DE SCHRYVER et Koen BOSTOEN, Fronted-infinitive constructions in Kikongo (Bantu H16): verb focus, progressive aspect and future, KongoKing Research Group, Department of Languages and Cultures, Ghent University, Université Libre de Bruxelles, 2013
    18. ^ Koen Bostoen et Inge Brinkman, The Kongo Kingdom: The Origins, Dynamics and Cosmopolitan Culture of an African Polity, Cambridge University Press, 2018
    19. ^ Raphaël Batsîkama Ba Mampuya Ma Ndâwla, L'ancien royaume du Congo et les Bakongo, séquences d'histoire populaire, L'harmattan, 2000
    20. ^ Amélia Arlete MINGAS, ETUDE GRAMMATICALE DE L'IWOYO (ANGOLA), UNIVERSITE RENE DESCARTES PARIS - UFR DE LINGUISTIQUE GENERALE ET APPLIQUEE, 1994 (in French)
    21. ^ Luntadila Nlandu Inocente, Nominalisations en kìsìkongò (H16): Les substantifs predicatifs et les verbes-supports Vánga, Sála, Sá et Tá (faire), Facultat de Filosofia i Lletres, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, 2015 (in French)
    22. ^ Elise Solange Bagamboula, Les classificateurs BU (CL. 14), GA (CL. 16), KU (CL. 17) et MU (CL. 18) dans l’expression de la localisation en kikongo (lari), Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales (INALCO), 2019 (in French)
    23. ^ Audrey Mariette TELE-PEMBA, Eléments pour une approche comparée des emprunts lexicaux du civili du Gabon, du Congo-Brazzaville et du Cabinda : proposition d’ un modèle de dictionnaire, UNIVERSITE OMAR BONGO – Faculté des Lettres et Sciences Humaines – Département des Sciences du Langage, Libreville, 2009 (in French)
    24. ^ R. P. L. DE CLERCQ, Grammaire du Kiyombe , Edition Goemaere – Bruxelles – Kinshasa, 1907 (in French)
    25. ^ Léon Dereau, COURS DE KIKONGO, Maison d’éditions AD. WESMAEL-CHARLIER, Namur, 1955 (in French)
    26. ^ François Lumwamu, Sur les classes nominales et le nombre dans une langue bantu, Cahiers d’Études africaines, 1970 (in French)
    27. ^ Joaquim Mbachi, CAMINHOS DA GRAMÁTICA IBINDA, Cabinda (Angola), 2013 (in Portuguese)
    28. ^ Robert Tinou, Abécédaire du kouilou zaab’ ku tub’ tchi vili, L’HARMATTAN, 2015 (in French)
    29. ^ Filipe Camilo Miaca, Corpus lexical dos verbos em iwoyo e português, proposta de um dicionário bilingue de verbos em português e iwoyo, Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas da Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, 2020 (in Portuguese)
    30. ^ Guy Noël Kouarata, DICTIONNAIRE BEEMBE–FRANÇAIS, SIL-Congo, 2010 (in French)
    31. ^ Raharimanantsoa Ruth, Petit guide d’orthographe et de grammaire KUNYI (KUNI), SIL-Congo, 2022 (in French)
    32. ^ Emmanuel Ngizulu Nsemi, Longoka Kikongo, Paari éditeur, 2025
    33. ^ JOSÉ LOURENÇO TAVARES, Gramática da língua do Congo (kikongo) (dialecto kisolongo), Composto e Impresso nas oficinas da Imprensa, Nacional de Angola, 1915 (in Portuguese)
    34. ^ "Kikongo grammar, first part". Ksludotique. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
    35. ^ Kiambote kiaku / mbot'aku (hello/good morning to you (to one person)), kiambote kieno / mbote zeno / mbotieno / buekanu (hello/good morning to many people), yenge kiaku (hello/good morning to you / peace to you (to one person)), yenge kieno (hello/good morning to many people / peace to you (to many people))
    36. ^ The family name and first name were not part of the Kongo culture, meaning the Kongo people gave the children a name based on the circumstances surrounding their birth, significant events, etc. The rule of giving a surname, a first name and a middle name to the children was introduced by the Westerners (Portuguese, French and Belgians).
    37. ^ Yi ku zolele, i ku zolele and ngeye nzolele are used in several variants of Kikongo such as kintandu, kisingombe, kimanianga, kikongo of boko,...
    38. ^ Old version of the days of week in Vili: Ntoonu (Monday), Nsilu (Tuesday), Nkoyo (Wednesday), Bukonzo (Thursday), Mpika (Friday), Nduka (Saturday), Sona (Sunday).
    39. ^ "Bartleby.com: Great Books Online -- Quotes, Poems, Novels, Classics and hundreds more". www.bartleby.com. Archived from the original on 2008-03-28. Retrieved 2017-07-21.
    40. ^ Brown, Ras Michael (2012). African-Atlantic Cultures and the South Carolina Lowcountry (1st ed.). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. pp. 26, 27, 90–102, 106–110, 119–121, 123. ISBN 978-1-107-66882-9.
    41. ^ McCurnin, Mary (2010). "From the Old to the New World: The Transformation of Kongo Minkisi in African American Art". VCU Scholars Compass: 43–52.
    42. ^ Farris Thompson, in his work Flash Of The Spirit: African & Afro-American Art & Philosophy
    43. ^ "Universal Declaration of Human Rights - Fiote (Angola)". OHCHR. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
    Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kikongo language.
    • Bentley, William Holman (1887). Dictionary and grammar of the Kongo language, as spoken at San Salvador, the ancient capital of the old Kongo empire, West Africa. Appendix. London Baptist Missionary Society. Retrieved 2013-05-23.
    • Congo kiKongo Bible : Genesis. Westlind UBS. 1992. Retrieved 2013-05-23.
    • OLAC resources in and about the Koongo language Archived 2014-07-03 at the Wayback Machine

    Kongo learning materials

    • Cours de KIKONGO (1955) (French and Kongo language) par Léon DEREAU. Maison d'éditions AD. WESMAEL-CHARLIER, Namur; 117 pages.
    • Leçons de Kikongo par des Bakongo (1964) Eengenhoven - Louvain. Grammaire et Vocabulaire. 62 pages.
    • KIKONGO, Notions grammaticales, Vocabulaire Français – Kikongo – Néerlandais - Latin (1960) par A. Coene, Imprimerie Mission Catholique Tumba. 102 pages.
    • (1957) par Léon DEREAU, d'après le dictionnaire de K. E. LAMAN. Maison d'éditions AD. WESMAEL-CHARLIER, Namur. 60 pages.
    • Kongo language course : a course in the dialect of Zoombo, northern Angola = Maloòngi makíkoongo (1987) by Carter, Hazel and João Makoondekwa. Madison, WI : African Studies Program, University of Wisconsin—Madison.
    • Nominalisations en Kisikóngó (H16): les substantifs prédicatifs et les verbes-supports vánga, sala, sá et tá (faire) (2015). Luntadila Nlandu Inocente.
    • Grammaire du Kiyombe par R. P. L. DE CLERCQ. Edition Goemaere - Bruxelles - Kinshasa. 47 pages
    • Nkutama a Mvila za Makanda, Imprimerie Mission Catholique Tumba, (1934) par J. CUVELIER, Vic. Apostlique de Matadi. 56 pages (L'auteur est en réalité Mwene Petelo BOKA, Catechiste redemptoriste à Vungu, originaire de Kionzo.)
    • Dictionary and Grammar of the Kongo Language (1886) Bentley, William Holman. 718 pages.
    • Learn basic Kikongo (Mofeko) Omotola Akindipe and Moisés Kudimuena.
    • Leçons de kikongo (kintandu) par des Bakongo. (1964) Eegenhoven - Louvain. 61 pages or Leçons de kintandu par des Bakongo. (1964) Eegenhoven - Louvain. 61 pages
    Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kongo_language&oldid=1323920721"