Ngombe language

Not to be confused with Ngombe language (Central African Republic).

Ngombe
Lingombe
Native to	DR Congo
Native speakers	(150,000 cited 1971)[1]
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Volta-Congo Benue–Congo Bantoid Southern Bantoid Bantu (Zone C.40) Buja–Ngombe Ngombe
Language codes
ISO 639-3	ngc
Glottolog	ngom1268
Guthrie code	C.41[2]

The tradition for a woman's first birth supports the child's survival. The husband is sent home for up to a year - younger sisters carry the baby and a stool for the mother. The mother visits family members and eats a lot.

Ngombe, or Lingombe, is a Bantu language spoken by about 150,000 people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In general, native speakers live on either side of the Congo River, and its many tributaries; more specifically, Équateur Province, Mongala District and in areas neighboring it (Sud Ubangi and Équateur districts). Ngombe is written in Latin script.[3]

The deities of the Ngombe include the supreme creator Akongo and the ancestor goddess Mbokomu.[4]

Ngombe includes several dialects in addition to Ngombe proper (Ŋgɔmbɛ). These are Wiindza-Baali, Doko (Dɔkɔ), and Binja (also rendered Binza, Libindja, or Libinja). The latter is not the same as the Binja/Binza language. Binja dialect is primarily spoken in Orientale Province and Aketi Territory, and shares about three-quarters of its linguistic characteristics with standard Ngombe.[3] Maho (2009) lists Doko as a distinct language in a separate group.

References

1. Ngombe at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
2. Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
3. Lewis, M. Paul, ed. (2009). "Ngombe". Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Sixteenth edition (online). Dallas, Tex.: SIL International. Archived from the original on Dec 19, 2011. Retrieved September 3, 2010.
4. Johnson, Allen W.; Price-Williams, Douglass Richard (1996), Oedipus Ubiquitous: The Family Complex in World Folk Literature, Stanford University Press, pp. 145–146, ISBN 978-0-8047-2577-4, retrieved 2017-11-06