Kituba is known by many names among its speakers. In academic circles the language is called Kikongo-Kituba.
In the Republic of the Congo it is called Munukutuba, a phrase which means literally "I say",[4] and is used in the Republic's 1992 constitution.[5] The latter (Kituba) means "way of speaking"[6]: 213 and is used in the 2015 constitution.[7]
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo it is called Kikongo ya leta ("the state's Kikongo"[4] or "Government Kikongo"[8]), or Kikongo de L'état, shortened to Kileta.[6]: 212 Confusingly, it is also called Kikongo, especially in areas that lack Kongo (Kikongo) speakers,[8] namely the Kwango and Kwilu Provinces. The constitution of the Democratic Republic of the Congo lists "Kikongo" as one of the national languages.[9][10] The Kikongo spoken alongisde Lingala in urban centres is in fact Kituba.[11][6]: 30
There are also other historical names such as Kibula-matadi (literally "the stone-breaker's speech"),[4][6]: 212 (literally "be not", "it isn't so"),[4][6]: 213 Kikwango,[6]: 215 and Kizabave[12] (literally "do not know"), but they have largely fallen out of use.
Geographic distribution
Dialect map of Kikongo and Kituba. NB:[13][14][15] Kisikongo (also called Kisansala by some authors) is the Kikongo spoken in Mbanza Kongo. Kisikongo is not the protolanguage of the Kongo language cluster.
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 also spoken in the northern part of Angola, since modern nations cut across the lines of tribal areas and ancient kingdoms, and northern Angola borders the Kwango Province of the Democratic Republic of Congo which is a strong Kituba-speaking area.[16]
Although mutually intelligible, there are differences, mainly in vocabulary, between the eastern and western areas of The Democratic Republic of Congo, and still more between the Kituba spoken there and that spoken in Congo-Brazzaville (Republic of Congo).[16]
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, elementary education, and business.
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.[17][18][19][20][21]
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.
Harold W. Fehdereau, a linguist and missionary, carried out a major linguistic survey of Kituba-speaking areas under the joint auspices of the American Bible Society and the American Mennonite Brethren Mission. He published his work in a Kituba-French-English dictionary in 1969. He traced the development of Kituba back to the 1800's or earlier, necessitated by the inter-tribal needs of the Congolese themselves, and later, their relationship with slave traders. Then in the early 1900's, the Belgian and French colonization of the area brought further need for a convenient language of communication with the Congolese. He admits that we do not have a very complete picture of the development of Kituba before the 1930's, when it came into wide use by Christian missionaries. He notes that many today have grown up knowing Kituba as their mother tongue, and at the same time, it has reached some complexity of grammar unusual to pidgin languages. He notes that there is an increasing tendency, particularly in the western Kituba-speaking region, to borrow words from French, adding Kituba prefixes and suffixes for everyday usage.[22]
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. It is the main language spoken throughout the modern provinces of Kwango and Kasai. A dialect called 'Monokutuba' is spoken in Congo-Brazzaville (Republic of Congo).[23]
The first portions of the Bible were published in 1934, followed by the New Testament in 1950. A revision was published in 1957. The complete Bible was published in 1982, all by the Bible Society of Congo.[24][25][26]
Some examples of differences between Kikongo (Kisikongo, Kizombo, Kisolongo, Iwoyo, Kiyombe, Kisingombe, Kintandu, Kimanianga, Kindibu, Civili, Tsiladi (Lari), etc.) and Kituba (or Kikongo ya leta, Munukutuba, Monokutuba):[28][29][30]
1. Conjugation: In Kikongo, the conjugation of a tense to different persons is done by changing verbal prefixes, unlike in Kituba:
Example: verb "to be" conjugated in the present in Kikongo and Kituba:
Nkumbu ame / Nkumbu ami / Nkumbu ani / Dizina diame (or zina diame) / Dizina diami (or zina diami) / Dizina diani (or zina diani) / Lizina liami, etc.
Zina na mono kele / Nkumbu ya mono kele / Nkumbu ya munu kele
4. Noun classes : noun prefixes are not completely the same (cf. the Kikongo and Kituba grammars)
Phonology
Vowels
Kituba has five vowel phonemes: /a/, /e/, /i/, /o/, and /u/. They are very similar to the vowels of Spanish. 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"
Word-initial voiceless prenasalized consonants are reduced to simple consonants in some dialects: and become and in Kituba of Pointe-Noire.
Some dialects add stop to prenasalized alveolar fricatives: and become 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.
Singular
Plural
Subject
Object
Subject
Object
1st person
mu
munu, mono
beto
beto
2nd person
nge
nge
beno
beno
3rd person
yá
yandi
ba
bau
I love you in kituba
Mu (or Munu, Mono) zola nge / Munu me zola nge / Mu me zola nge / Me zola nge / Mono (or Mu, Munu) ke zola nge
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
Class
Prefix
Example
Class
Prefix
Example
0
–
mama ('mother)
2
ba-
bamama (mothers)
1
mu-
muntu (person)
2
ba-
bantu (people)
3
mu-
mulangi (bottle)
4
mi-
milangi (bottles)
5
di-
dinkondo (banana)
6
ma-
mankondo (bananas)
7
ki-
kima (thing)
8
bi-
bima (things)
9
n-/m-
nkosi (lion)
2+9
ba-n-
bankosi (lions)
11
lu-
ludimi (tongue)
2+11
ba-lu-
baludimi (tongues)
12
ka-
kakima (trifle)
13
tu-
tubima (trifles)
14
bu
bumbote (goodness)
15
ku-
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 or (to be) is presented in the table below. It is the only irregular verb in Kituba.
Tense
Long form
Short form
Example
Translation
Present and immediate future
kele
ke
Yau kele nkosi.
It is a lion.
Future
kele/ata kuv(u)anda
ke/ta v(u)anda
Mu ta vuanda tata.
I will be a father.
Present progressive
kele kuv(u)andaka
ke v(u)andaka
Nge ke vuandaka zoba.
You are being stupid.
Future progressive
ata kuv(u)andaka
ta v(u)andaka
Beno ta vuandaka ya kukuela.
You will be married.
Past
v(u)anda
Yandi vuanda kuna.
He was there.
Past progressive
v(u)andaka
Beto vuandaka banduku.
We used to be friends.
Past perfect
mene kuv(u)anda
me v(u)anda
Yandi me vuanda na Matadi.
He was in Matadi.
Past perfect progressive
mene kuv(u)andaka
me v(u)andaka
Yandi me vuandaka mulongi.
She has been a teacher.
All other verbs are conjugated with the help of auxiliary verbs. The conjugation of the verb (to do) is presented in the table below.
Tense
Long form
Short form
Example
Translation
Present and immediate future
kele kusala
ke sala
Yandi ke sala.
He works. / He will work.
Present progressive
kele kusalaka
ke salaka
Yandi ke salaka.
He is working.
Past
salaka
salaka
Yandi salaka.
He worked.
Immediate past
mene sala
me sala
Yandi me sala.
He has worked.
Immediate past progressive
mene salaka
me salaka
Yandi me salaka.
He has been working.
Past progressive
vuandaka kusala
va sala
Yandi vuandaka kusala.
He used to work.
Narrative
sala
sala
Future
ata sala
ta sala
Yandi ta sala.
He will work.
Future progressive
ata salaka
ta salaka
Yandi 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:
Bantu nyonso, na mbutukulu kevwandaka na kimpwanza ya bawu, ngenda mpe baluve ya mutindu mosi. Mayela na mbanzulu ke na bawu, ni yawu yina bafwana kusalasana na bumpangi.
"All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood."[27]
Literature
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (December 2021)
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.[34][35] A hymnbook, Bankunga ya Kintwadi (Songs of Fellowship) was published in 1988 by the Mennonite Brethren Mission. It is widely used by numerous Protestant denominations.[36]
Almost a hundred Kituba-language books and articles have been published by Every Child Ministries' Mwinda Project. These include articles on Christian education, Bible lessons for children and youth, teacher training, health, and a variety of other topics. These are available on-line and at bookstores and libraries within the Democratic Republic of Congo.[37]
^ abcdefMufwene, Salikoko S. (2009). "Kituba, or Kikongo? What's in a name?"(PDF). In de Féral, Carole (ed.). Le nom des langues III: Le nom des langues en Afrique sub-saharienne: pratiques, dénominations, catégorisations. Naming Languages in Sub-Saharan Africa: Practices, Names, Categorisations. BCILL. Vol. 124. Louvain-la-Neuve: Peeters. ISBN9789042922709. Retrieved 2021-07-31.
^Reinecke, John E.; Tsuzaki, Stanley M.; et al. (1975). "Kituba (Lingua Franca Kikongo)". A Bibliography of Pidgin and Creole Languages. Oceanic Linguistics Special Publications. Vol. 14. University of Hawai'i Press. pp. 649–653. JSTOR20006662. Retrieved 2021-07-31.
^Jasper DE KIND , Sebastian DOM, Gilles-Maurice DE SCHRYVER et Koen BOSTOEN, Fronted-infinitive constructions in Kikongo (Bantu H16): verb focus, progressive aspect and future, KongoKing Research Group, Department of Languages and Cultures, Ghent University, Université Libre de Bruxelles, 2013
^Koen Bostoen et Inge Brinkman, The Kongo Kingdom: The Origins, Dynamics and Cosmopolitan Culture of an African Polity, Cambridge University Press, 2018
^Raphaël Batsîkama Ba Mampuya Ma Ndâwla, L'ancien royaume du Congo et les Bakongo, séquences d'histoire populaire, L'harmattan, 2000
^ ab2022 Annual Report, Every Child Ministries' Mwinda Project, ECM, Hebron, IN
^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.
^Jack Berry et Thomas Albert Sebeok, Linguistics in Sub-Saharan Africa, Mouton De Gruyter; Reprint 2017 ed. édition (1 avril 1971), p. 525.
^Luntadila Nlandu Inocente, Nominalisations en kìsìkongò (H16): Les substantifs predicatifs et les verbes-supports Vánga, Sála, Sá et Tá (faire), Facultat de Filosofia i Lletres, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, 2015 (In French)
^Joaquim Mbachi, CAMINHOS DA GRAMÁTICA IBINDA, Cabinda (Angola), 2013 (In Portuguese)
^ Robert Tinou, Abécédaire du kouilou zaab’ ku tub’ tchi vili, L’HARMATTAN, 2015 (In French)
^Harold W. Fehdereau, Ph.D., Dictionnaire Kikonga (ya Leta)-Anglais-Francais, (Kinshasa: Editions LECO, 1969) p. xxxvi
^Harold W. Fehdereau, Ph.D., Dictionnaire Kikonga (ya Leta)-Anglais-Francais (Kinshasa: Editions LECO, 1969)
^William Frawley, International Encyclopedia of Linguistics: 4-Volume Set, Oxford University Press, USA, 2003, p. 351
Jean-Alexis Mfoutou, Parlons munukutuba : Congo-Brazzaville, République démocratique du Congo, Angola, Paris, Editions L'Harmattan, 2019, 426 pages.
Jean-Alexis Mfoutou, Pour une histoire du munukutuba, langue bantoue, Paris, Editions L'Harmattan, 2019, 130 pages.
Jean-Alexis Mfoutou, Grammaire et lexique munukutuba : Congo-Brazzaville, République Démocratique du Congo, Angola, L'Harmattan, 2009, 344 p. (ISBN 2296226736 et 9782296226739, présentation en ligne, lire en ligne).
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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