Nande language

Nande, also known as (Oru)Ndandi and Yira, is a Bantu language spoken in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Nande
Yira
Ndandi
Native toDemocratic Republic of the Congo
RegionNord-Kivu province
Native speakers
(900,000 cited 1991)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3nnb
Glottolognand1264
JD.42[2]

The Nande of Congo and the Konjo people of Uganda are a single ethnic group, which they call Yira (Bayira). They trace their origins to the Ruwenzori Mountains between the two countries. The languages Nande and Konjo are close enough to be considered divergent dialects. Nande has a number of dialects of its own: Nande proper, Kumbule, Mate, Tangi, Sanza, Shu, Songola (Songoora, Nyangala), Swaga / Kira (in Nande, all of these are prefixed with eki-).

For the varieties of this language known as Shu we are given the information [3] that another language, "EkiShukaali" was formerly spoken by the women, the AvaShukaali. This may be a specific reference to some kind of "secret jargon" into which the girls, and not boys, were initiated.

Some of the Nande of Congo have a patron–vassal relationship with the Efé Pygmies.

References

  1. Nande at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
  2. Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
  3. Margaret Arminel Bryan, compiler, The Bantu Languages of Africa, Oxford University Press 1959 ,page 96.
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