Kirundi
Rundi (commonly seen in its native form, Kirundi) is a Bantu leid (D62 in Guthrie's classification) spaken bi some 8.7 million fowk in Burundi an adjacent pairts o Tanzanie an Congo-Kinshasa, as well as in Ugandae. 84% o the speakers are Hutu, 15% are Tutsi an 1% are Twa.
Rundi is closely related tae the Rwanda leid, the principal leid o neighbourin kintra Rwanda, an tae Ha, a leid spaken in wastren Tanzanie. Rundi an Rwanda are mutually intelligible.
The inhabitants o Rwanda an Burundi belang tae three different ethnic groups: Hutu, Tutsi, an Twa (a pygmy fowk). The fact that these ethnic groups share the same leid is assumed tae be the result o the Hutu ootnumbering the latter twa groups (see Hutu for a mair complete historical perspective).
Rundi is frequently citit as a leid where Meeussen's rule, a rule describin a certain pattern o tonal chynge in Bantu lsid, is active.
| Example translations | |
|---|---|
| Ego | Yes |
| Oya | Nae |
| Uravuga icongereza? | Dae ye speak Inglis? |
| Bite? | Wha's Up? |
| Mwaramutse | Hi/Guid Mornin |
| Ikirundi n'ikinyarwanda bisa nk'igi czek n'igi slovak | Rundi an Rwanda are closely relatit like Czech an Slovak |
| Amata | Milk |
| Ejo | Yesterday |
| Eejo° | Tomorrow |
| Nzoza ejo/Nzoz'ejo | A will come tomorrae |
| Ubu | Now |
| Faransa/Ubufaransa | Fraunce |
| Ngereza/Ubwongereza | Ingland |
| Leta zunz'ubumwe z'amerika | Unitit States o Americae |
| Ubudagi | Germany |
| Ububirigi | Belgium |
| °N.B. eejo is pronounced the same as ejo: the other e is written for differentiation. |
|
[edit] References
- Meeussen, A.E. (1959) Essai de grammaire Rundi Annales du Musée Royal du Congo Belge, Série Sciences Humaines - Linguistique, vol. 24. Tervuren
[edit] External links
- Ethnologue on Rundi
- Free English-Kirundi Dictionary
- Free Kirundi-English Dictionary
- PanAfrican L10n page on Kirundi...
- Learning Kirundi (in Spanish)
- Online Kirundi/English dictionary
Template:Languages of Burundi Template:Languages of Uganda Template:African Union languages
