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Rwanda-Rundi

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Rwanda-Rundi or West Highlands Kivu is a group of Bantu languages, specifically a dialect continuum, spoken in Central Africa. Two dialects, Kirundi and Kinyarwanda, have been standardized as the national languages of Burundi and Rwanda respectively. These neighbouring dialects are mutually intelligible, but other dialects which are more distant ones may not be. The other dialects are spoken in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Kinyabwisha in North Kivu), Uganda (Rufumbira, spoken by the Bafumbira in Kisoro District), and Tanzania; Ha, with one million speakers, is the most widely spoken.

Contents

• Comparison of Kinyarwanda and Kirundi

• Tonal marking

• Spelling

• Word formation

• References

• Sources

Comparison of Kinyarwanda and Kirundi

Kinyarwanda and Kirundi are very similar in many aspects, but differ in several ways as well.

Tonal marking

Both languages are tonal languages. High and low tones (or H and L) are the essential tones and, having a phonemic distinction on vowel length, when a long vowel changes from a low tone to a high tone it is marked as a rising tone and when a long vowel changes from a high tone to a low tone, it is marked as a falling tone. This is often illustrated in Kirundi in Meeussen's rule. Propositions have also been made that tones can shift by a metrical or rhythmic structure.

|---|---|---|---|---|---|

| 1 These symbols are only used in transcription , for example in a dictionary , but in other forms of writing, plain vowels are used and letters are not doubled (unless if the word itself is spelt in that way). | 1 These symbols are only used in transcription , for example in a dictionary , but in other forms of writing, plain vowels are used and letters are not doubled (unless if the word itself is spelt in that way). | 1 These symbols are only used in transcription , for example in a dictionary , but in other forms of writing, plain vowels are used and letters are not doubled (unless if the word itself is spelt in that way). | 1 These symbols are only used in transcription , for example in a dictionary , but in other forms of writing, plain vowels are used and letters are not doubled (unless if the word itself is spelt in that way). | 1 These symbols are only used in transcription , for example in a dictionary , but in other forms of writing, plain vowels are used and letters are not doubled (unless if the word itself is spelt in that way). | 1 These symbols are only used in transcription , for example in a dictionary , but in other forms of writing, plain vowels are used and letters are not doubled (unless if the word itself is spelt in that way). |

Spelling

|---|---|---|---|---|

| j+y | - jy a | - j a | Prefix , verb | go |

Word formation

There are many instances in which the two speech varieties of both languages have words that are slightly different. However, these differences do not continually recur. One has to memorize such differences as "-anga" in Kinyarwanda in contrast to "-anka" in Kirundi (meaning to dislike or hate), because the shift from "g" to "k" is extremely rare, with proof being words like "inka" (cow), "inkono" (pot) and many other words where "nk" is common in both dialects. Such minor variations involve different consonants, vowels or vowel lengths, tones or affixes.

|---|---|---|---|---|

| 1 In both Kinyarwanda and Kirundi, nyogokuru is more commonly used to mean "grandmother". | 1 In both Kinyarwanda and Kirundi, nyogokuru is more commonly used to mean "grandmother". | 1 In both Kinyarwanda and Kirundi, nyogokuru is more commonly used to mean "grandmother". | 1 In both Kinyarwanda and Kirundi, nyogokuru is more commonly used to mean "grandmother". | 1 In both Kinyarwanda and Kirundi, nyogokuru is more commonly used to mean "grandmother". |

References

Rundi edition

Wikipedia

, the free encyclopedia

Kinyarwanda edition

Wikipedia

, the free encyclopedia

cite-note-11. Rwanda and Rundi: Nationalencyklopedin "Världens 100 största språk 2007" The World's 100 Largest Languages in 2007; others: citereflewis-m-paulgary-f-simonscharles-d-fennig2015Lewis, M. Paul; Gary F. Simons; Charles D. Fennig, eds. (2015). Ethnologue: Languages of the World (18th ed.). Dallas, Texas: SIL International.

Sources

• citerefzorcnibagwire2007Zorc, R. David; Nibagwire, Louise (2007). Kinyarwanda and Kirundi Comparative Grammar. Dunwoody Press. Preface p. iv and p. 2. ISBN 978-1-931546-32-4. Retrieved June 3, 2012.

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