Kituba language

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 family of closely related Bantu languages. It is a national language in Republic of the Congo and Democratic Republic of the Congo.

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]

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 the Republic of Congo it is called Munukutuba or Kituba. The former is a phrase which means literally "I say". The latter means simply "Way of speaking". The name Kituba is used in the constitution of the Republic of Congo.[4][5][6]

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo it is called Kikongo ya leta (i.e. Kikongo of the state administration or The State’s Kikongo), but it is also wrongly called Kikongo, especially outside the Kongo people region. The constitution of the Democratic Republic of Congo lists Kikongo as one of the national languages.[7][8] In fact, it refers to Kikongo ya leta (i.e. Kituba), this can be explained by the fact that Kikongo ya Leta (i.e. Kituba) is often mistakenly called Kikongo.[9][4][10][11]

There are also other historical names such as Kibulamatadi (literally: the stone-breaker’s speech), Kikwango, Ikeleve (literally: be not), and Kizabave (literally: do not know) but they have largely fallen out of use. In the academic circles the language is called Kikongo-Kituba.

Geographic distribution
Dialect map of Kikongo and Kituba

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.[12][13][14][15][16]

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.[17]

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

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 pb td kg
prenasal. ᵐpᵐb ⁿtⁿd ᵑkᵑg
Fricative plain fv sz (h)
prenasal. ᶬfᶬv ⁿsⁿz
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
SubjectObjectSubjectObject
1stmumunu, monobetobeto
2ndngengebenobeno
3rdyáyandibabau

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

TenseLong formShort formExampleTranslation
Present and immediate futurekelekeYau kele nkosi.It is a lion.
Futurekele/ata kuv(u)andake/ta v(u)andaMu ta vuanda tata.I will be a father.
Present progressivekele kuv(u)andakake v(u)andakaNge ke vuandaka zoba.You are being stupid.
Future progressiveata kuv(u)andakata v(u)andakaBeno ta vuandaka ya kukuela.You will be married.
Pastv(u)andaYandi vuanda kuna.He was there.
Past progressivev(u)andakaBeto vuandaka banduku.We used to be friends.
Past perfectmene kuv(u)andame v(u)andaYandi me vuanda na Matadi.He was in Matadi.
Past perfect progressivemene kuv(u)andakame v(u)andakaYandi 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.

TenseLong formShort formExampleTranslation
Present and immediate futurekele kusalake salaYandi ke sala.He works. / He will work.
Present progressivekele kusalakake salakaYandi ke salaka.He is working.
PastsalakasalakaYandi salaka.He worked.
Immediate pastmene salame salaYandi me sala.He has worked.
Immediate past progressivemene salakame salakaYandi me salaka.He has been working.
Past progressivevuandaka kusalava salaYandi vuandaka kusala.He used to work.
Narrativesalasala
Futureata salata salaYandi ta sala.He will work.
Future progressiveata salakata salakaYandi 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)[18]

Dictionary

A Kituba-English-French dictionary compiled by linguist Harold W. Fehderau, Ph.D., was published in 1969. It is not widely available.[19]

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.[20] 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.[21][22]

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. "Kikongo-Kituba". Britannica. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  5. "Constitution du 15 mars 1992". Digithèque matériaux juridiques et politiques, Jean-Pierre Maury, Université de Perpignan (in French). Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  6. "Constitution de 2015". Digithèque matériaux juridiques et politiques, Jean-Pierre Maury, Université de Perpignan (in French). Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  7. "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.
  8. "Constitution de la République Démocratique du Congo modifiée en 2011" (PDF). Organisation mondiale de la propriété intellectuelle ou World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) (in French). p. 6. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
  9. Foreign Service Institute (U.S.) and Lloyd Balderston Swift, Kituba; Basic Course, Department of State, 1963, p.10
  10. Godefroid Muzalia Kihangu, Bundu dia Kongo, une résurgence des messianismes et de l’alliance des Bakongo?, Universiteit Gent, België, 2011, p. 30
  11. Salikoko S. Mufwene, Lioba Moshi, Topics in African Linguistics: Papers from the XXI Annual Conference on African Linguistics, University of Georgia, April 1990, John Benjamins Publishing, 1993, p.244-246
  12. 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.
  13. Jack Berry et Thomas Albert Sebeok, Linguistics in Sub-Saharan Africa, Mouton De Gruyter; Reprint 2017 ed. édition (1 avril 1971), p. 525.
  14. "RDC INFO DU 24/05/2012 EN KIKONGO (KIKONGO YA LETA)". TELE50 (in French). 2012. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  15. "INFO EN KIKONGO (KIKONGO YA LETA) - 21 MARS 2012". RTNC (in French). 2012. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  16. "JOURNAL EN LANGUE NATIONALE DU CONGO KITUBA 19 03 2014". MNTV (in French). 2014. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  17. Kituba Ethnologue
  18. Harold W. Fehdereau, Ph.D., Dictionnaire Kikonga (ya Leta)-Anglais-Francais, (Kinshasa: Editions LECO, 1969) p. xxxvi
  19. Harold W. Fehdereau, Ph.D., Dictionnaire Kikonga (ya Leta)-Anglais-Francais, (Kinshasa: Editions LECO, 1969
  20. William Frawley, International Encyclopedia of Linguistics: 4-Volume Set, Oxford University Press, USA, 2003, p. 351
  21. Source:
  22. "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.
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