Kirundi

src: st3.depositphotos.com

Kirundi, also known as Rundi, is a Bantu language spoken by 9 million people in Burundi and adjacent parts of Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as in Uganda. It is the official language of Burundi. Kirundi is mutually intelligible with Kinyarwanda, an official language of Rwanda, and the two form part of the wider dialect continuum known as Rwanda-Rundi.

The inhabitants of Rwanda and Burundi belong to several different ethnic groups: Hutu, including Bakiga and other related ethnicities (84%), Tutsi, including Hima (15%) and Twa (1%) (a pygmy people). Kirundi is natively spoken by the Hutu, although the other ethnic groups present in the country such as Tutsi, Twa and Hima among others have adopted the language. Neighbouring dialects of Kirundi are mutually intelligible with Ha, a language spoken in western Tanzania.

Kirundi is frequently cited as a language where Meeussen's rule, a rule describing a certain pattern of tonal change in Bantu languages, is active.

Video Kirundi

Phonology

Consonants

Although the literature on Rundi agrees on 5 vowels, the number of consonants can vary anywhere from 19 to 26 consonants. The table below is compiled from a survey of academic acceptance of Rundi consonants.

Vowels

The table below gives the vowel sounds of Rundi.

All five vowels occur in long and short forms. The distinction is phonemic.

Tone

Rundi is a tonal language. There are two essential tones in Rundi : high and low (or H and L). Since Rundi has 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. When a long vowel changes from a high tone to a low tone, it is marked as a falling tone.

Rundi is often used in phonology to illustrate examples of Meeussen's rule In addition, it has been proposed that tones can shift by a metrical or rhythmic structure. Some authors have expanded these more complex features of the tonal system noting that such properties are highly unusual for a tone system.

Phonotactics

Syllable structure in Rundi is considered to be CV, that is having no clusters, no coda consonants, and no complex vowel nuclei. It has been proposed that sequences that are CVV in the surface realization are actually CV in the underlying deep structure, with the consonant coalescing with the first vowel.

Consonant harmony

Rundi has been shown to have properties of consonant harmony particularly when it comes to sibilants. Meeussen described this harmony in his essay and it is investigated further by others. One example of this harmony is triggered by /?/ and /?/ and targets the set of /s/ and /z/ in preceding adjacent stem syllables.

Maps Kirundi

Sample phrases

Fake Dictionary, Dictionary Definition Of The Word Kirundi ...

src: previews.123rf.com

Notes

Quran translated into Kirundi Language in Burundi - YouTube

src: i.ytimg.com

References

Broselow, E. & Niyondagara, A. (1990) "Feature geometry of Kirundi palatalization". Studies in the Linguistic Sciences 20: 71-88.
de Samie. (2009) Dictionnaire Francais-Kirundi. L'Harmattan. Paris.
Goldsmith, J. & Sabimana, F. (1989) The Kirundi Verb. Modèles en tonologie. Editions du CNRS. Paris.
Meeussen, A.E. (1959) Essai de grammaire Rundi. Annales du Musée Royal du Congo Belge, Série Sciences Humaines - Linguistique, vol. 24. Tervuren.
Myers, S. (1987) Tone and the structure of words in Shona. PhD dissertation, University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Garland Press. New York.
Ntihirageza, J. (1993) Kirundi Palatization and Sibilant Harmony : Implications for Feature Geometry. Master thesis, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Illinois.
Philippson, G. (2003) Tone reduction vs. metrical attraction in the evolution of Eastern Bantu tone systems. INALCO. Paris.
Sagey, E. (1986) The Representation of Features and Relations in Non-Linear Phonology. Doctoral dissertation, MIT, Cambridge, Mass.
Zorc, R. D. & Nibagwire, L. (2007) Kinyarwanda and Kirundi Comparative Grammar. Dunwoody Press. Hyattsville.