Kituba is a widely used lingua franca in Central Africa. It is based on Kikongo, a family of closely related Bantoid languages (some of which aren't mutually intelligible). It is an official language in Congo-Brazzaville and Congo-Kinshasa. 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. ... 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 639-1 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. ... For information on how to read IPA transcriptions of English words see here. ... Phonetics (from the Greek word φωνή, phone meaning sound, voice) is the study of sounds and the human 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. ... Kongo is the Bantu language spoken by the Kongo people living in the tropical forests of Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo and Angola. ... In the classification of African languages, Bantoid is a branch of the Benue-Congo subfamily of the Niger-Congo phylum. ...

Sometimes Kituba is called a creole language but it's not entirely accurate, because it lacks the distinction between superstrate and substrate influence that is typical of creole development. A creole language, or just creole, is a well-defined and stable language that originated from a non-trivial combination of two or more languages, typically with many distinctive features that are not inherited from either parent. ...

Names

Kituba is known with many names among its speakers. In the Republic of Congo it is called Munukutuba or Kituba. The former is grammatically incorrect phrase which means literally "I to speak". The latter means simply "speech". The name Kituba is used in the constitution of the Republic of Congo.

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo it is called Kikongo ya leta i.e. Kikongo of the state administration, but it is often called in short Kikongo especially out of the region of ethnic Bakongo people. The constitution of the Democratic Republic of Congo lists Kikongo as one of the national languages. In fact it refers to Kikongo ya leta i.e. Kituba, because a translation of the constitution itself is written in Kituba but no translation exists in Kikongo! The Bakongo people (aka. ...

There are also other historical names such as Kibulamatadi, Kikwango, Ikeleve and Kizabave but they have largely fell out of use. In the academic circles the language is called Kikongo-Kituba.

Geographic distribution

The majority of Kituba speakers live in Congo-Kinshasa. 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. Country Democratic Republic of the Congo Capital Matadi Largest city Matadi National Language Kikongo Land area¹ 53. ... Country Democratic Republic of the Congo Capital Kenge Largest city National language Kikongo Land area¹ km² Governor [[]] Population Density (est. ... Country Democratic Republic of the Congo Capital Kikwit Largest city National language Kikongo Land area¹ km² Governor [[]] Population Density (est. ... Kinshasa (formerly Léopoldville) is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. ... Country Democratic Republic of the Congo Capital Inongo Largest city National language Lingala Land area¹ km² Governor [[]] Population Density (est. ...

Kituba is the largest language of Congo-Brazzaville. It is spoken in the souther half of the country, approximately south of Lefini.

The status of Kituba in Angola is not known. It is probable that it is understood by some of the Bakongo people, especially those who have lived in Congo-Brazzaville or Congo-Kinshasa as refugees or otherwise.

Official status

Kituba is a national language in Congo-Brazzaville and Congo-Kinshasa. 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 Congo-Brazaville use Kituba as one of their main languages for evening news.

History

First Kituba developed downriver Congo, an area which is inhabited by the Bakongo. The Bakongo people (aka. ...

There are several theories on how Kituba came into being. A theory claims that it evolved already at the times 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 trade 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 19th century, 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. The Empire Kongo The Kongo Kingdom was an African kingdom located in southwest Africa in what are now northern Angola, Cabinda, Republic of the Congo, and the western portion of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. ... The suburbs of Matadi Matadi is a port in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the capital of the province Bas-Congo. ... Kinshasa (formerly Léopoldville) is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. ...  Western Africa (UN subregion)  Maghreb West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. ... Country Democratic Republic of the Congo Capital Bandundu Largest city Kikwit National Language Kikongo, Lingala Land area¹ 295. ...

Regardless of the genesis, Kituba has 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. Moanda is one of the four largest towns in Gabon, lying on the N3 road in Haut Ogooué. It is one of the most important manganese mining towns in the world, under the auspices of the Compagnie Minière de lOgooué (COMILOG), who began mining in 1957. ... The port town of Boma (1984 pop. ... The suburbs of Matadi Matadi is a port in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the capital of the province Bas-Congo. ... Pointe-Noire is a port city in the Republic of the Congo. ... Loubomo, also known as Dolisie, is a city in the western Republic of the Congo, lying on the Congo-Ocean Railway. ... Nkayi is a district located in the Bouenza Region of the Republic of the Congo. ... Image of Kinshasa and Brazzaville, taken by NASA. Brazzaville is the capital and largest city of the Republic of the Congo and is located on the Congo River. ... Bandundu is the capital of Bandundu Province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. ... Kikwit is a city lying on the Kwilu River in the south western Democratic Republic of Congo. ... Ilebo, formerly known as Port-Francqui, is a town in the Democratic Republic of Congo, lying at the highest navigable point of the Kasaï River. ...

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
• /o/ is pronounced like the first part of the "o" in American English home, or like a tenser version of "o" in British English "lot"
• /u/ is pronounced like the "u" in haiku

Consonants

Notes: In phonetics, a bilabial consonant is a consonant articulated with both lips. ... In phonetics, labiodentals are consonants articulated with the lower lips and the upper teeth, or viceversa. ... Dentals are consonants such as t, d, n, and l articulated with either the lower or the upper teeth, or both, rather than with the gum ridge as in English. ... Alveolar consonants are articulated with the tongue against or close to the superior alveolar ridge, which is called that because it contains the alveoli (the sockets) of the superior teeth. ... Postalveolar (or palato-alveolar) consonants are consonants articulated with the tip of the tongue between the alveolar ridge (the place of articulation for alveolar consonants) and the palate (the place of articulation for palatal consonants). ... Palatal consonants are consonants articulated with the body of the tongue raised against the hard palate (the middle part of the roof of the mouth). ... Velars are consonants articulated with the back part of the tongue (the dorsum) against the soft palate (the back part of the roof of the mouth, known also as the velum). ... Glottal consonants are consonants articulated with the glottis. ... A stop or plosive or occlusive is a consonant sound produced by stopping the airflow in the vocal tract. ... Prenasalized stops are phonetic sequences of nasal plus plosive that behave phonologically like single consonant. ... A nasal consonant is produced when the velum—that fleshy part of the palate near the back—is lowered, allowing air to escape freely through the nose. ... Fricatives (or spirants) are consonants produced by forcing air through a narrow channel made by placing two articulators close together. ... Laterals are L-like consonants pronounced with an occlusion made somewhere along the axis of the tongue, while air from the lungs escapes at one side or both sides of the tongue. ... Approximants are speech sounds that could be regarded as intermediate between vowels and typical consonants. ...

• Word-initial voiceless prenasalized consonants are reduced to simple consonants in some dialects. For example mpimpa and nkento become pimpa and kento in Kituba of Pointe-Noire.
• Some dialects add stop to prenasalized alveolar fricatives so that for example Kinsasa and nzila become Kintsasa and ndzila.
• Alveolar fricatives may become postalveolar before /i/.

Lexicon

The bulk of Kituba words come from Kikongo. Other Bantu languages have influenced it too including Kiyaka, Kimbala, Kisongo, Kiyansi, Lingala and Swahili. In addition there are a lot of words from French and some words from Portuguese and English. Kongo or Kikongo is the Bantu language spoken by the Bakongo people living in the tropical forests of Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo and Angola. ... Lingala is one of the Bantu languages spoken throughout the northwestern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Congo-Kinshasa) and a large part of the Republic of the Congo (Congo-Brazzaville), as well as to some degree in Angola and the Central African Republic. ... Swahili (also called Kiswahili; see below for derivation) is a Bantu language widely spoken in East Africa. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ...

• sandúku (swa. sanduku)
• matáta (swa. matata)
• letá (fra. l'état)
• kamiyó (fra. camion)
• sodá/solodá (fra. soldat)
• masínu (fra: machine)
• mísa (por. missa)
• kilápi (por. lápis)
• katekisimu (eng. catechism)
• bóyi (eng. houseboy)
• sapatu (por/esp. "zapata)
• mesa(por. mesa)

External links

• Ethnologue report for Kituba (DRC)
• Ethnologue report for Kituba (Congo
• PanAfrican L10n page on Kongo * Kituba