Kinyarwanda is the chief spoken language in Rwanda. It is also spoken in the east of DRC and in the south of Uganda (Bufumbira-area). Kinyarwanda is a tonal language of the Bantu language family (Guthrie D61). Kinyarwanda is closely related to Kirundi spoken in the neighboring country, Burundi and to Giha of western Tanzania. Current distribution of Human Language Families Most languages are known to belong to language families. ... Map showing the distribution of Niger-Congo languages The Niger-Congo languages constitute one of the worlds major language families, and Africas largest in terms of geographical area, number of speakers, and number of distinct languages. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... In the classification of African languages, Volta-Congo is the major branch (in terms of number of languages) of the Niger-Congo phylum. ... The Benue-Congo group of languages constitutes the largest branch of the Niger-Congo language family, both in terms of sheer number of languages, of which 938 are known (not counting mere dialects), and in terms of speakers, numbering perhaps 550 million. ... In the classification of African languages, Bantoid is a branch of the Benue-Congo subfamily of the Niger-Congo phylum. ... ISO 639-1 is the first part of the ISO 639 international-standard language-code family. ... ISO 639-2:1998 Codes for the representation of names of languages — Part 2: Alpha-3 code Twenty-two of the languages have two three-letter codes: a code for bibliographic use (ISO 639-2/B) a code for terminological use (ISO 639-2/T). ... ISO 639-3 is in process of development as an international standard for language codes. ... The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is a system of phonetic notation devised by linguists to accurately and uniquely represent each of the wide variety of sounds (phones or phonemes) used in spoken human language. ... Phonetics (from the Greek word φωνή, phone = sound/voice) is the study of sounds (voice). ... Because of technical limitations, some web browsers may not display some special characters in this article. ... This is a concise version of the International Phonetic Alphabet for English sounds. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Motto: Justic - Paix - Travail (French: Justice - Peace - Work) Anthem(s): Debout Congolais Capital Kinshasa Largest city Kinshasa Official language(s) French Government Transitional  - President Joseph Kabila Independence    - From Belgium June 30, 1960  Area  - Total 2,344,858 km² (12th) 905,351 sq mi   - Water (%) 3. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Tone (linguistics). ... Map showing the approximate distribution of Bantu (dull yellow) vs. ... Malcolm Guthrie (1903-1972), professor of Bantu languages, is known primarily for his classification of Bantu languages (Guthrie 1971). ... Kirundi (also written Rundi) is a Bantu language (D62 in Guthries classification) spoken by some 6 million people in Burundi and adjacent parts of Tanzania and Congo-Kinshasa, as well as in Uganda. ...

The inhabitants of Rwanda and Burundi belong to three different ethnic groups (Although the validity of the ethnic nature is debatable; see [1]): Hutu, Tutsi, and Twa. The fact that these ethnic groups share the same language is assumed to be the result of the Hutu outnumbering the latter two groups (see Hutu for a more complete historical perspective). To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... The Tutsi are one of three native peoples of the nations of Rwanda and Burundi in central Africa, the other two being the Twa and the Hutu. ... The Twa are a pygmy people, of short stature, who were the oldest recorded inhabitants of anthe Great Lakes region of central Africa that now comprises the nations of Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

Pronunciation

a [ɑ]

b [b/β]

c [c]

d [d]

e [e]

f [f]

g [g]

h [h]

i [i]

j [ʤ]

k [k]

l [l]

m [m]

n [n]

o [o]

p [p] (stands alone only in foreign loanwords)

r [ɾ]

s [s]

t [t]

u [u]

v [v]

w [w]

y [j]

z [z]

sh [ɕ]

nt [nh]

mp [mh]

nk [ŋx]

cy [kj]

jy [gj]

ny [ɲ]

'ki' and 'ke' can be pronounced interchangeably as [ki] and [ke] or [ci] and [ce] according to speaker's preference

An 'a', 'e', or 'i' at the end of a word followed by a word starting with a vowel often follows a pattern of omission (observed in the following excerpt of the Rwandan anthem) in common speech, though the orthography REMAINS THE SAME.

e.g. 'Reka tukurate tukuvuge ibigwi wowe utubumbiye hamwe twese Abanyarwanda uko watubyaye berwa, sugira, singizwa iteka.' would be pronounced as 'reka tukurate tukuvug' ibigwi wow' utubumiye hamwe twes' abanyarwand' uko watubyaye berwa, sugira singizw' iteka.'

Grammar

Nouns

Kinyarwanda has a number of different noun classes.

Sing./Pl.

u-mu-/a-ba-

u-mu-/i-mi-

i-(ri)-/a-ma-

i-ki- (i-gi-)/i-bi-

i-n-/i-n-

u-ru-/i-n-

a-ka-/u-tu-

u-bu-/u-bu-

u-ku-/a-ma-

a-ha-/a-ha-

When proceeded by a demonstrative, a the first vowel prefix is dropped. (e.g. umu --> mu) The u-mu-/a-ba- group is used for words representing humans.

Verbs

All Kinyarwanda verb infinitives begin with 'gu-' or 'ku-' (morphed into 'gw-' or 'kw-' before vowels). To conjugate, the infinitive prefix is removed and a prefix agreeing with the subject takes its place. Then a tense infix can be inserted.

Noun Prefix | Subject Prefix

Sing./Pl. | Sing./Pl.

u-mu-/a-ba- | a-/ba-

u-mu-/i-mi- | u-/i-

i-(ri)-/a-ma- | ri-/a-

i-ki- (i-gi-)/i-bi- | ki- (morphs to cy- before vowels)/bi-

i-n-/i-n- | i-/zi-

u-ru-/i-bi- | ru-/bi-

a-ka-/u-tu- | ka-/tu-

u-bu-/u-bu- | bu-/bu-

u-ku-/a-ma- | ku-/a-

a-ha-/a-ha- | ha-/ha-

The prefixes for pronouns are as follows.

I = n-

you (sing.) = mu-

he = y-/a-

she = y-/a-

we = tu-

you (pl.) = u-

they (human) = ba-

Tense markers include the following.

-Ø- | Present

-ra- (morphs to -da- when preceded by 'n' | Present Progressive - to be doing

-za- | Future - will do

-racya- | to still be doing

The past tense can be formed by using the present and present progressive infixes and modifying the apect marker suffix.

Example translations

References

• Jouannet, Francis (ed.) (1983). Le Kinyarwanda, langue bantu du Rwanda. Paris: Société d’Études Linguistiques et Anthropologiques de France (SELAF).
• Kimenyi, Alexandre (1980). A Relational Grammar of Kinyarwanda. University of California Press.
• Habumuremyi, Emmanuel et al. (2006). IRIZA-STARTER 2006: The 1st Kinyarwanda-English and English-Kinyarwanda Dictionary. Kigali: Rural ICT-Net

External links

• Ethnologue report on Rwanda
• PanAfrican L10n page on Kinyarwanda ...

Kinyarwanda language edition of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia