Kaonde language: Difference between revisions

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Kaonde (natively called kiiKaonde) is a Bantu language spoken primarily in Zambia. Kaonde and its dialects are spoken by over 350,000 people.

Speakers

Kaonde speakers mainly live in the Northwestern and parts of Central regions of Zambia. In Zambia, the Kaonde people are found in Solwezi, Mufumbwe, Kasempa, Kalumbila and Mushindamo in the North-Western province.

The term "Kaonde" refers to a group of people who are identified by a common language known as kiiKaonde. The Kaonde group, like many others in Zambia, was originally part of the Luba Kingdom. They migrated south to area surrounding a stream called Kaonde in river Congo Basin. From there, the people migrated into what is now Northwestern Zambia. Native speakers refer to the language as kiiKaonde. Speakers of most other Bantu languages use the prefix "chi" rather than "kii".

The Kaondes are ruled by the traditional leaders. Some of the Kaonde chiefs are Chief Kapiji Kasongo, Kasempa, and Mpanga

Grammar

Nouns

Like other Bantu languages, Kaonde nouns are grouped into several semantic classes, ranging from those that denote human beings to those that denote things. The concord or agreement markers for each class is a prefix attached to verbs and adjectives related to the noun. Tense markers may modify the concord.

Singular noun	Singular concord	Plural noun	Plural concord
mu (person)	u-	ba	ba-
mu (thing)	u -	mi-	i-
ki	ki-	bi	bi-
ka	ka-	tu	tu-
n	i-	ma	a-
lu	lu-	ma	a-
bu	bu-	ma	a-
ji	ji-	ma	a-
pa (locative "on")	pa-	none	none
ku (locative "at" or "to")	ku-	none	none
mu (locative "in")	mu-	none	none

Pronouns

Kaonde has personal, demonstrative and relative pronouns. The first and second person pronouns are independent of the noun class system. Third person pronouns are formed using the demonstrative pronouns for the ba noun class. Demonstrative are arranged by noun class and by deixis.

	Singular	Plural/Formal
1st person	amiwa	atweba
2nd person	obewa	anweba
3rd person	awe/ao/awa	abe/abo/aba

Sample text in Kaonde

Mu byambo byanji byalamata bantu bonse, Lesa waambile ne byambo bikwabo pa byo anemeka bumi ne mashi.

Translation

In a declaration applying to all humans, God revealed more about his evaluation of life and blood

References

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External links

A sample paragraph in Kaonde
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Lubuto Libraries, Template:Usurped, Lubuto Library Special Collections, accessed May 3, 2014.
Template:Usurped, Lubuto Library Special Collections
OLAC resources in and about the Kaonde language
J.L. Wright’s Outline of Kikaonde Grammar

Template:Languages of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Template:Languages of Zambia Template:Narrow Bantu languages (Zones J–M)

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 }}
-'''Kaonde''' (''kiiKaonde'') is a [[Bantu language]] spoken primarily in [[Zambia]] but also in the [[Democratic Republic of the Congo]]. Kaonde and its dialects are spoken and understood by 350,000 people.
+'''Kaonde''' (natively called ''kiiKaonde'') is a [[Bantu language]] spoken primarily in [[Zambia]]. Kaonde and its dialects are spoken by over 350,000 people.
 ==Speakers==
-Kaonde speakers mainly live in the Northwestern and parts of Central regions of Zambia. Fewer numbers of Kaonde speakers live in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. However, they are not known or identified by the term Kaonde but rather by the term Luba. In Zambia, the Kaonde people occupy the following districts: Solwezi, Mufumbwe, Kasempa, Kalumbila and Mushindamo in the North-Western province.
+Kaonde speakers mainly live in the Northwestern and parts of Central regions of Zambia. In Zambia, the Kaonde people are found in Solwezi, Mufumbwe, Kasempa, Kalumbila and Mushindamo in the North-Western province.
-Strictly speaking, the term "Kaonde" refers to a group of people who are identified by a common language known as kiiKaonde. The group, like many others in Zambia, was originally part of the Luba Kingdom. They migrated south to area surrounding a stream called Kaonde in river [[Congo Basin]]. From there, the people migrated into what is now Northwestern Zambia. The group called their language kiiKaonde in native. Speakers of the other Bantu languages use the prefix "chi" other than "kii" to refer to this language.
+The term "Kaonde" refers to a group of people who are identified by a common language known as kiiKaonde. The  Kaonde group, like many others in Zambia, was originally part of the Luba Kingdom. They migrated south to area surrounding a stream called Kaonde in river [[Congo Basin]]. From there, the people migrated into what is now Northwestern Zambia. Native speakers refer to the language as kiiKaonde. Speakers of most other Bantu languages use the prefix "chi" rather than "kii".
-The Kaondes are ruled by the traditional leaders. The following are the chiefs of the Kaonde people Senior Chief Kapiji Kasongo Kamuyange Mujimanzovu, Senior Chief Kasempa, Chief Kapiji Mpanga, Chief Mumena, Chief Matebo, Chief Ingwe, Chief Mukumbi Kizela, Chief Mushima Mubambe, Chief Mulendema, Chief Mumba, Chief Kaindu, Chief Mukumbi Katotola and Senior Chief Mukumbi Ibaloli ( Originally, Mukumbi Ibaloli is a Lunda).
+The Kaondes are ruled by the traditional leaders. Some of the Kaonde chiefs are Chief Kapiji Kasongo, Kasempa, and Mpanga
 == Grammar ==
@@ Line 99: / Line 99: @@
 *{{usurped|1=[https://archive.today/20140511162813/http://lubutocollections.org/items/browse?search=Kiikaonde&submit_search=Search Kiikaonde language stories]}}, Lubuto Library Special Collections
 *[http://www.language-archives.org/language/kqn OLAC resources in and about the Kaonde language]
+*[https://theswissbay.ch/pdf/Books/Linguistics/Mega%20linguistics%20pack/African/Niger-Congo/Bantu/Kaonde%3B%20An%20Outline%20of%20Kikaonde%20Grammar%20%28Wright%29.pdf J.L. Wright’s Outline of Kikaonde Grammar]
 {{Languages of the Democratic Republic of the Congo}}