n.
A Bantu language of Burundi, closely related to Kinyarwanda and an official language of Burundi.
Kirundi
Dictionary:
Ki·run·di (kē-rūn'dē, -rʊn'-)  |
| Wikipedia: Kirundi |
| Kirundi | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spoken in | Burundi | |
| Region | Central Africa | |
| Total speakers | 4.6 million | |
| Language family | Niger-Congo
|
|
| Official status | ||
| Official language in | Burundi | |
| Regulated by | No official regulation | |
| Language codes | ||
| ISO 639-1 | rn | |
| ISO 639-2 | run | |
| ISO 639-3 | run | |
| Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. | ||
Kirundi (also written Rundi) is a Bantu language (D62 in Guthrie's classification) spoken by some 6 million people in Burundi and adjacent parts of Tanzania and Congo-Kinshasa, as well as in Uganda. 84% of the speakers are Hutu, 15% are Tutsi and 1% are Twa.
Kirundi is closely related to Kinyarwanda, the main language of neighbouring country Rwanda and to Giha, a language spoken in western Tanzania. Kirundi and Kinyarwanda are mutually intelligible.
The inhabitants of Rwanda and Burundi belong to three different ethnic groups: Bahutu, Batutsi, and Batwa (a pygmy people). The fact that these ethnic groups share the same language is assumed to be the result of the Bahutu outnumbering the latter two groups (see Bahutu for a more complete historical perspective).
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.
| Example translations | |
|---|---|
| Ego | Yes |
| Oya | No |
| Uravuga icongereza? | Do you speak English? |
| Bite? | What's Up? |
| Mwaramutse | Hi/Good Morning |
| Ikirundi n'ikinyarwanda bisa nk'igi czek n'igi slovak | Kirundi and Kinyarwanda are closely related like Czech and Slovak |
| Amata | Milk |
| Ejo | Yesterday |
| Eejo° | Tomorrow |
| Nzoza ejo/Nzoz'ejo | I will come tomorrow |
| Ubu | Now |
| Faransa/Ubufaransa | France |
| Ngereza/Ubwongereza | England |
| Leta zunz'ubumwe z'amerika | United States of America |
| Ubudagi | Germany |
| Ububirigi | Belgium |
| °N.B. eejo is pronounced the same as ejo: the other e is written for differentiation. |
|
References
- Meeussen, A.E. (1959) Essai de grammaire Rundi Annales du Musée Royal du Congo Belge, Série Sciences Humaines - Linguistique, vol. 24. Tervuren
External links
Kirundi edition of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Ethnologue on Rundi
- PanAfrican L10n page on Kirundi...
- Learning Kirundi (in Spanish)
- Online Kirundi/English dictionary
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Learn More
 | Kinyarwanda (Bantu language of Rwanda) |
| Bantu (member of any of a large number) |
| Khadja Nin (World Artist, '90s, 2000s) |
 | How do you say i love you in kirundi? Read answer... |
| How do you say here is some ideas in kirundi? Read answer... |
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Copyrights:
 |
 | Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more |
 |
| Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Kirundi". Read more |
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Mentioned in
- Kinyarwanda (Bantu language of Rwanda)
- Bantu (member of any of a large number)
- Khadja Nin (World Artist, '90s, 2000s)
- Burundi
