Republic of the Congo Languages
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Republic of the Congo Background |
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Description[edit | edit source]
The Republic of the Congo, also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply either Congo or the Congo, is a country located in the western coast of Central Africa. It should not be confused with the large neighboring country of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. [1] The official language is French with Kituba and Lingala as national languages.
- French - Spoken by 30% of the Congolese population
- Kituba or Munukutuba - A simplified Kikongo creole is used by 50.35% of the population who live in the south
- Lingala - The river language that is spoken mainly in the north and east and has grown quickly in the past few years [2]
Word List(s)[edit | edit source]
French
- French Genealogical Word List
- Most Common French Words at 1000MostCommonWords
- Useful French phrases at Omniglot
Kituba or Munukutuba
Lingala
Alphabet and Pronunciation[edit | edit source]
French
Kituba or Munukutuba
- Kituba Alphabet and Pronunciation at Omniglot
- Kituba Vowels at Wikipedia
- Kituba Consonants at Wikipedia
Lingala
- Lingala Alphabet and Pronunciation at Omniglot
- Lingala Phonology at Wikipedia
- Lingala Alphabet and Pronunciation at Wikipedia
The Lingala language has 35 letters and digraphs. The digraphs each have a specific order in the alphabet; for example, mza will be expected to be ordered before mba, because the digraph mb follows the letter m. The letters r and h are rare but present in borrowed words. The accents indicate the tones as follows:
- no accent for default tone, the low tone
- acute accent for the high tone
- circumflex for descending tone
- caron for ascending tone
Variants | Example | ||
---|---|---|---|
a | A | á â ǎ | nyama, matáta, sâmbóle, libwǎ |
b | B | bísó | |
c | C | ciluba | |
d | D | madɛ́su | |
e | E | é ê ě | komeka, mésa, kobênga |
ɛ | Ɛ | ɛ́ ɛ̂ ɛ̌ | lɛlɔ́, lɛ́ki, tɛ̂ |
f | F | lifúta | |
g | G | kogánga | |
gb | Gb | gbagba | |
h | H | bohlu (bohrium) | |
i | I | í î ǐ | wápi, zíko, tî, esǐ |
k | K | kokoma | |
l | L | kolála | |
m | M | kokóma | |
mb | Mb | kolámba, mbwá, mbɛlí | |
mp | Mp | límpa | |
n | N | líno | |
nd | Nd | ndeko | |
ng | Ng | ndéngé | |
nk | Nk | nkámá | |
ns | Ns | nsɔ́mi | |
nt | Nt | ntaba | |
ny | Ny | nyama | |
nz | Nz | nzala | |
o | o | ó ô ǒ | moto, sóngóló, sékô |
ɔ | Ɔ | ɔ́ ɔ̂ ɔ̌ | sɔsɔ, yɔ́, sɔ̂lɔ, tɔ̌ |
p | P | pɛnɛpɛnɛ | |
r | R | malaríya | |
s | S | kopésa | |
t | T | tatá | |
u | U | ú | butú, koúma |
v | V | kovánda | |
w | W | káwa | |
y | Y | koyéba | |
z | Z | kozala |
Language Aids and Dictionaries[edit | edit source]
French
- French Handwriting
- French Letter Writing Guide
- France Languages
- French to English Dictionary at Cambridge
- French Dictionary at Lexilogos
Kituba or Munukutuba
- Kituba Pronouns at Wikipedia
- Kituba Nouns at Wikipedia
- Kituba Verbs at Wikipedia
- Dictionary English - Kituba at Glosbe
Lingala
- Characteristics and usage at Wikipedia
- Lingala Noun class system at Wikipedia
- Verbal extensions at Wikipedia
- Tense inflections at Wikipedia
- Lingala dictionary at Lexilogos
- Guthrie, Malcolm, and J F Carrington. Lingala : grammar and dictionary : English-Lingala, Lingala-English. London: Baptist Missionary Society, 1988. Available at: WorldCat.
- Mawadza, Aquilina, and Yeno Matuka. Lingala dictionary & phrasebook : a language of Central Africa. New York: Hippocrene Books, Inc, 2016. Available at: WorldCat.
Additional Resources[edit | edit source]
- Baongoli, Arizona M. Learn to speak Lingala. Eldoret, Kenya: A.M. Baongoli, 2009. Available at: WorldCat.
- Redden, James E, F Bongo, and Foreign Service Institute (U.S.). Lingala : basic course. Washington: Dept. of State, 1963. Available at: WorldCat.
- Swift, Lloyd B, Emil W A Zola, and Foreign Service Institute (U.S.). BOOKTITLE. Washington, D.C: Dept. of State, 1963. Available at: WorldCat.
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Republic of the Congo," in Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_the_Congo, accessed 8 April 2021.
- ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Languages of the Republic of the Congo," in Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_the_Republic_of_the_Congo, accessed 8 April 2021.