Kituba language

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Kituba
Monokutuba, Munukutuba, Kituba (mkw)
Kikongo ya leta (ktu)
Native speakers
(5.4 million cited 1987–1990)[1]
Several million L2 speakers
Official status
Official language in
National language and unofficial language:
 Democratic Republic of the Congo
 Republic of the Congo
Language codes
ISO 639-3Either:
mkw – Kituba (RC)
ktu – Kituba (DRC)
Glottologkitu1246  DRC
kitu1245  RC
H10A,B[2]
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.

Kituba (Kituba: Kituba, Kituba: Kikongo ya leta) is a widely used lingua franca in Central Africa. It is a creole language[3] based on Kikongo, a Bantu language. It is a national language in Republic of the Congo and Democratic Republic of the Congo.

It is not entirely accurate to call Kituba a creole language as it lacks the distinction between superstrate and substrate influence that is typical of creole development.

Names[]

Kituba is known by many names among its speakers. In academic circles the language is called Kituba or Kikongo-Kituba.

In the Republic of the Congo it is called Munukutuba or Kituba. The former (also spelled Mono kutuba) is a phrase which means literally "I say",[4] and is used in the Republic's 1992 constitution.[5] The latter means "way of speaking"[6]: 213  and is used in the 2015 constitution.[7]

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo it is called Kikongo ya leta ("the state's Kikongo"[4] or "Government Kikongo"[8]), shortened to Kileta.[6]: 212  Confusingly, it is also called Kikongo, especially in areas that lack Kongo (Kikongo) speakers.[8] The constitution of the Democratic Republic of the Congo lists "Kikongo" as one of the national languages,[9][10] meaning Kituba.[11][6]: 215 

There are also other historical names such as Kibula-matadi (literally "the stone-breaker's speech"),[4][6]: 212  Ikele ve (literally "be not", "it isn't so"),[4][6]: 213  Kikwango,[6]: 215  and Kizabave[12] (literally "do not know"), but they have largely fallen out of use.

Geographic distribution[]

Dialect map of Kikongo and Kituba. NB:[13][14][15] Kisikongo (also called Kisansala by some authors) is the Kikongo spoken in Mbanza Kongo. Kisikongo is not the mother language that carries the Kongo (i.e. Kikongo) Language Cluster.

The majority of Kituba speakers live in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It is spoken as the primary lingua franca in the provinces of Kongo Central, Kwango and Kwilu and to a lesser extent in Kinshasa, Mai-Ndombe and Kasai.

Kituba is spoken in the southern of the Republic of Congo, in regions of Kouilou, Pointe-Noire, Niari, Bouenza, Lékoumou and in the capital Brazzaville. Lingala is more popular in the north.

The status of Kituba in Angola is not known. It is probable that it is understood and spoken by Bakongo who have lived in the Republic of Congo or the Democratic Republic of Congo as refugees or otherwise.

Official status[]

Kituba is a national language in the Republic of Congo and the Democratic Republic of Congo. In practice the term national language means that it is a language of regional administration and elementary education.

A national language is also one that is used for public and mass communication. National public radios and televisions in the Democratic Republic of Congo and in the Republic of Congo use Kituba as one of their main languages for evening news.[16][17][18][19][20]

History[]

There are several theories on how Kituba came into being. One theory claims that it had already evolved at the time of the Kongo Kingdom as a simplified interdialectal trade language, which the European colonists subsequently took into use for regional administration. Another theory claims that a simplified trade language called Kifyoti was developed at the Portuguese coastal trading 18 post and it was later spread upstream by the Christian missionaries to the region between the Kwango and the Kasai rivers where it evolved further (hence the name Kikwango). Yet another theory emphasizes the construction of the Matadi-Kinshasa railroad at the end of the 1800s, which involved forced labour from West Africa, lower Congo, and the neighbouring Bandundu region. The workers had diverse linguistic backgrounds which gave birth to a grammatically simplified language.

Regardless of the genesis, Kituba established itself in the large towns that were found during the colonial period between 1885 and 1960. Kituba is spoken as the primary language in the large Bakongo cities of Moanda, Boma, Matadi, Pointe-Noire, Dolisie, Nkayi, and Brazzaville and also in large non-Bakongo cities of Bandundu, Kikwit, and Ilebo.

A translation of the New Testament in Kituba was completed and published in 2005.[21]

The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has published a translation of Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Kituba. [22]

Phonology[]

Vowels[]

Kituba has five vowel phonemes: /a/, /e/, /i/, /o/, and /u/. They are very similar to the vowels of Spanish and Italian. Vowels are never reduced, regardless of stress. The vowels are pronounced as follows:

  • /a/ is pronounced like the "a" in father
  • /e/ is pronounced like the "e" in bed
  • /i/ is pronounced like the "i" in ski or ring
  • /o/ is pronounced like the first part of the "o" in home, or like a tenser version of "o" in "lot"
  • /u/ is pronounced like the "oo" of fool

Consonants[]

Labial Alveolar
/Dental 		Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal m n ŋ
Stop plain p b t d k g
prenasal. ᵐp ᵐb ⁿt ⁿd ᵑk ᵑg
Fricative plain f v s z (h)
prenasal. ᶬf ᶬv ⁿs ⁿz
Approximant w l j

Notes:

  • Word-initial voiceless prenasalized consonants are reduced to simple consonants in some dialects: mpimpa and nkento become pimpa and kento in Kituba of Pointe-Noire.
  • Some dialects add stop to prenasalized alveolar fricatives: Kinsasa and nzila become Kintsasa and ndzila.
  • Alveolar fricatives may become postalveolar (ʃ or ʒ) before /i/.

Grammar[]

Pronouns[]

Kituba has subject and object pronouns. The object pronouns are used in place of subject pronouns when the subject is being emphasized.

Person Singular Plural
Subject Object Subject Object
1st mu munu, mono beto beto
2nd nge nge beno beno
3rd yá yandi ba bau
hide
I love you in kituba
Mu zola nge / Munu me zola nge / Mu me zola nge / Me zola nge / Mono (or Mu, Munu) ke zola nge

Nouns[]

Kituba has kept by and large the noun classes of ethnic Kikongo with some modifications. The classes 9 and 11 have in effect merged with the singular class with zero prefix, and their plural is formed with generic plural class prefix ba-.

Singular Plural
Class Prefix Example Class Prefix Example
0 – mama ('mother) 2 ba- bamama (mothers)
1 mu- muntu (person) 2 ba- bantu (people)
3 mu- mulangi (bottle) 4 mi- milangi (bottles)
5 di- dinkondo (banana) 6 ma- mankondo (bananas)
7 ki- kima (thing) 8 bi- bima (things)
9 n-/m- nkosi (lion) 2+9 ba-n- bankosi (lions)
11 lu- ludimi (tongue) 2+11 ba-lu- baludimi (tongues)
12 ka- kakima (trifle) 13 tu- tubima (trifles)
14 bu bumbote (goodness)
15 ku- kubanza (to think, thinking)

Verbs[]

Kituba has a well-developed verbal system involving grammatical tense and aspect. Most verb forms have long and short versions. The long forms are used in formal written communication whereas the short forms have developed for spoken communication.

The irregular conjugation of the verb kuvanda or kuvuanda (to be) is presented in the table below. It is the only irregular verb in Kituba.

Tense Long form Short form Example Translation
Present and immediate future kele ke Yau kele nkosi. It is a lion.
Future kele/ata kuv(u)anda ke/ta v(u)anda Mu ta vuanda tata. I will be a father.
Present progressive kele kuv(u)andaka ke v(u)andaka Nge ke vuandaka zoba. You are being stupid.
Future progressive ata kuv(u)andaka ta v(u)andaka Beno ta vuandaka ya kukuela. You will be married.
Past v(u)anda Yandi vuanda kuna. He was there.
Past progressive v(u)andaka Beto vuandaka banduku. We used to be friends.
Past perfect mene kuv(u)anda me v(u)anda Yandi me vuanda na Matadi. He was in Matadi.
Past perfect progressive mene kuv(u)andaka me v(u)andaka Yandi me vuandaka mulongi. She has been a teacher.

All other verbs are conjugated with the help of auxiliary verbs. The conjugation of the verb kusala (to do) is presented in the table below.

Tense Long form Short form Example Translation
Present and immediate future kele kusala ke sala Yandi ke sala. He works. / He will work.
Present progressive kele kusalaka ke salaka Yandi ke salaka. He is working.
Past salaka salaka Yandi salaka. He worked.
Immediate past mene sala me sala Yandi me sala. He has worked.
Immediate past progressive mene salaka me salaka Yandi me salaka. He has been working.
Past progressive vuandaka kusala va sala Yandi vuandaka kusala. He used to work.
Narrative sala sala
Future ata sala ta sala Yandi ta sala. He will work.
Future progressive ata salaka ta salaka Yandi ta salaka. He will be working.

Voice[]

The suffix indicating voice is adding after the verb root and before the suffix indicating tense.

The most common forms are "ila", indicating action to or toward someone, and "ana", indicating mutual or reciprocal action:

Kutanga "to read", Tangila "read to", Tangilaka "read to" (past)

Sadisa "to help", Sadisana "help one another", Sadisanaka "helped one another (past)[23]

Dictionary[]

A Kituba-English-French dictionary compiled by linguist Harold W. Fehderau, Ph.D., was published in 1969. It is not widely available.[24]

Lexicon[]

The bulk of Kituba words come from Kikongo. Other Bantu languages have influenced it as well, including Kiyaka, Kimbala, Kisongo, Kiyansi, Lingala, and Swahili. In addition, many words have been borrowed from French, Portuguese, and English.[25] These include:

  • sandúku (Swah. sanduku) "box", the Swahili word comes from Arabic صندوق (ṣandūq)
  • matáta (Swah. matata) "trouble"
  • letá (Fr. l'état) "state"
  • kamiyó (Fr. camion) "truck"
  • sodá/solodá (Fr. soldat) "soldier"
  • masínu (Fr. machine) "machine"
  • mísa (Port. missa) "mass"
  • kilápi (Port. lápis) "pen"
  • katekisimu (Eng. catechism)
  • bóyi (Eng. houseboy)
  • sapatu (Port. sapato) "shoe"
  • mesa (Port. mesa) "table"
  • dikopa (Port. copa) "cup"
  • simisi (Fr. chemise) "shirt"

Literature[]

In 2018, a book (Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela: Mbandu ya luzingu by Protais Yumbi) written in Kikongo ya Leta was nominated for the Grand Prix of Literary Associations.[26][27]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Kituba (RC) at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
    Kituba (DRC) at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
  2. ^ Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
  3. ^ Pidgins and Creoles: an introduction by Jacques Arends, Pieter Muysken, Norval Smith (page 17)
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b c d "Kikongo-Kituba". Britannica. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  5. ^ Maury, Jean-Pierre (ed.). "République du Congo: Constitution du 15 mars 1992". Digithèque matériaux juridiques et politiques (in French). Université de Perpignan. Article 3. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f Mufwene, Salikoko S. (2009). "Kituba, Kileta or Kikongo? What's in a name?" (PDF). In de Féral, Carole (ed.). Le nom des langues III: Le nom des langues en Afrique sub-saharienne: pratiques, dénominations, catégorisations. Naming Languages in Sub-Saharan Africa: Practices, Names, Categorisations. BCILL. 124. Louvain-la-Neuve: Peeters. ISBN 9789042922709. Retrieved 2021-07-31.
  7. ^ Maury, Jean-Pierre (ed.). "Congo: Constitution de 2015". Digithèque matériaux juridiques et politiques (in French). Université de Perpignan. Article 4. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  8. ^ Jump up to: a b Swift, Lloyd Balderston; Zola, Emile W. A. (1963). Hodge, Carleton T. (ed.). Kituba: Basic Course. Foreign Service Institute Basic Course Series. Washington, D.C.: Foreign Service Institute. p. x. OCLC 877994.
  9. ^ "Constitution de la République Démocratique du Congo" (PDF). Journal Officiel de la République Démocratique du Congo (in French). Kinshasa. 2006-02-18. Article 1. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  10. ^ "Constitution de la République Démocratique du Congo" (PDF). Journal Officiel de la République Démocratique du Congo (in French). Kinshasa. 2011-02-05. Article 1. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
  11. ^ Muzalia Kihangu, Godefroid (2011). Bundu Dia Kongo: une résurgence des messianismes et de l'alliances des Bakongo? (PhD). Ghent: Universiteit Gent. p. 30. hdl:1854/LU-4132125. Mais le Kikongo dont il est question ici est le Kituba ou munukutuba... érigé en langue nationale par les différentes constitutions de la R.D.C. [But the Kikongo in question here is the Kituba or munukutuba... made into a national language by the various constitutions of the DRC.]
  12. ^ Reinecke, John E.; Tsuzaki, Stanley M.; et al. (1975). "Kituba (Lingua Franca Kikongo)". A Bibliography of Pidgin and Creole Languages. Oceanic Linguistics Special Publications. 14. University of Hawai'i Press. p. 649. Retrieved 2021-07-31.
  13. ^ 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
  14. ^ Koen Bostoen et Inge Brinkman, The Kongo Kingdom: The Origins, Dynamics and Cosmopolitan Culture of an African Polity, Cambridge University Press, 2018
  15. ^ Raphaël Batsîkama Ba Mampuya Ma Ndâwla, L'ancien royaume du Congo et les Bakongo, séquences d'histoire populaire, L'harmattan, 2000
  16. ^ PY Esther; Thomas Bearth (1997). "Langues et education en Afrique noire" (PDF). THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER(ERIC), Institut de Linguistique, Universite Neuchatel, Suisse (in French). p. 18. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  17. ^ Jack Berry et Thomas Albert Sebeok, Linguistics in Sub-Saharan Africa, Mouton De Gruyter; Reprint 2017 ed. édition (1 avril 1971), p. 525.
  18. ^ "RDC INFO DU 24/05/2012 EN KIKONGO (Correction: KIKONGO YA LETA)". TELE50 (in French). 2012. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  19. ^ "INFO EN KIKONGO (Correction: KIKONGO YA LETA) - 21 MARS 2012". RTNC (in French). 2012. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  20. ^ "JOURNAL EN LANGUE NATIONALE DU CONGO KITUBA 19 03 2014". MNTV (in French). 2014. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  21. ^ Kituba Ethnologue
  22. ^ "Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Kituba (i.e. Kikongo ya Leta)". OHCHR. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
  23. ^ Harold W. Fehdereau, Ph.D., Dictionnaire Kikonga (ya Leta)-Anglais-Francais, (Kinshasa: Editions LECO, 1969) p. xxxvi
  24. ^ Harold W. Fehdereau, Ph.D., Dictionnaire Kikonga (ya Leta)-Anglais-Francais, (Kinshasa: Editions LECO, 1969
  25. ^ William Frawley, International Encyclopedia of Linguistics: 4-Volume Set, Oxford University Press, USA, 2003, p. 351
  26. ^ Source: [1]
  27. ^ "Protais Yumbi, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela:Mbandu ya luzingu (1918-2013)". Nzoi (in French). 20 June 2018. Retrieved 28 July 2020.

Bibliography[]

  • Diener, Ingolf; Maillart, Diana.(1970).Petit vocabulaire Francais-Anglais-Munukutuba. Pointe-Noire.
  • Khabirov, Valeri.(1990). Monokutuba. Linguistic Encyclopedic Dictionary. Moscow. "Soviet Encyclopedia". P. 309-310 (In Russian)
  • Fehderau, H., 1966. The Origin and Development of Kituba. PhD dissertation, Cornell University.

External links[]

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