Kirundi (also written Rundi) is a Bantu language (D62 in Guthrie's classification) spoken by some 6 million people in Burundi and adjacent parts of Tanzania and Congo-Kinshasa, as well as in Uganda. 85% of the speakers are Hutu, 15% are Tutsi. Jump to: navigation, search This is a list of languages ordered by number of first-language speakers, with some data for second-language use. ... Current distribution of Human Language Families Most languages are known to belong to language families (families hereforth). ... 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. ... 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. ... Bantu is a language family that belongs to the Niger-Congo group. ... In the classification of African languages, Southern Bantoid (or South Bantoid) is one of the two branches of the Bantoid subfamily of the Niger-Congo phylum. ... In the classification of African languages, Narrow Bantu is a term commonly used to designate the branch of Niger-Congo containing the numerous Bantu languages as recognized by Guthrie (1948) in his seminal classification of the Bantu languages. ... ISO 639 is one of several international standards that lists short codes for language names. ... SIL International is a non-profit, Christian, scientific organization with the main purpose to study, develop and document lesser-known languages for the purpose of expanding linguistic knowledge, promoting world literacy and aiding minority language development. ... Jump to: navigation, search This list of languages is alphabetical by English name. ... Bantu is a language family that belongs to the Niger-Congo group. ... Malcolm Guthrie (1903-1972), professor of Bantu languages, is known primarily for his classification of Bantu languages (Guthrie 1971). ... Hutu is the name given to one of the three ethnic groups occupying Burundi and Rwanda. ... See also The Watusi, a dance, and Watusi (band). ...

Kirundi is closely related to Kinyarwanda, the main language of neighbouring country Rwanda and to Giha, a language spoken in western Tanzania. Kinyarwanda is the chief spoken language in Rwanda. ...

The inhabitants of Rwanda and Burundi belong to three different ethnic groups: Bahutu, Batutsi, and Batwa (a pygmy people). The fact that these ethnic groups share the same language is assumed to be the result of the Bahutu outnumbering the latter two groups (see Bahutu for a more complete historical perspective). Hutu is the name given to one of the three ethnic groups occupying Burundi and Rwanda. ... See also The Watusi, a dance, and Watusi (band). ... The Twa are a pygmy people, of short stature, who were the oldest recorded inhabitants of an area in central Africa that now comprises the nations of Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. ... Generally speaking, pygmy (from Greek pygmaios, fist sized, a kind of dwarf in Greek mythology) can refer to any human or animal of unusually small size, for example, the pygmy hippopotamus. ... Hutu is the name given to one of the three ethnic groups occupying Burundi and Rwanda. ... Hutu is the name given to one of the three ethnic groups occupying Burundi and Rwanda. ...

Kirundi is frequently cited as a language where Meeussen's rule, a rule describing a certain pattern of tonal change in Bantu languages, is active. Meeussen’s rule is the name for a special case of tone reduction in Bantu languages. ...

Example Translations: Ego-Yes.

 Oya-No. Uvuga icongereza?-Do You Speak English. Ubu-Now. Faransa-France. Ngereza-England. Leta z'uzumwe z'amerika-USA 

References

• Meeussen, A.E. (1959) Essai de grammaire Rundi Annales du Musée Royal du Congo Belge, Série Sciences Humaines - Linguistique, vol. 24. Tervuren.

External link

• Ethnologue on Rundi