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Mongo language

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(Redirected from Nkundo)
Not to be confused with Mongo language (Cameroon), Mongol language, or Daju Mongo language.
Mongo
Nkundu
Lomongo
RegionDemocratic Republic of Congo
EthnicityMongo people
Native speakers
(400,000 cited 1995)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-2lol
ISO 639-3lol – inclusive code
Individual code:
ymg – Yamongeri
Glottologmong1338  Mongo
bafo1235  Bafoto
C.61,611; C.36H[2]

Mongo, also called Nkundo or Mongo-Nkundu (Lomongo, Lonkundu), is a Bantu language spoken by several of the Mongo peoples in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Mongo speakers reside in the north-west of the country over a large area inside the curve of the Congo River. Mongo is a tonal language.

There are several dialects. Maho (2009) lists one of these, Bafoto (Batswa de l'Equateur), C.611, as a separate language. The others are:[2]

  • Kutu (Bakutu), including Longombe
  • Bokote, including Ngata
  • Booli
  • Bosaka
  • Konda (Ekonda), including Bosanga-Ekonda
  • Ekota
  • Emoma
  • Ikongo, including Lokalo-Lomela
  • Iyembe
  • Lionje, Nsongo, Ntomba
  • Yamongo
  • Mbole, including Nkengo, Yenge, Yongo, Bosanga-Mbole, Mangilongo, Lwankamba
  • Nkole
  • South Mongo, including Bolongo, Belo, Panga, Acitu
  • Yailima
  • Ngombe-Lomela, Longombe, Ngome à Múná

Phonology[edit]

Consonants[edit]

Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal m n ɲ ŋ
Plosive plain p  b t  d k  ɡ
prenasal ᵐp ᵐb ⁿt  ⁿd ᵑk ᵑɡ
Affricate plain t͡s  d͡z
prenasal ⁿt͡s ⁿd͡z
Fricative plain f s h
prenasal ⁿs
Lateral l
Approximant w j
  • /d͡z/ can be heard as alveolar or dental [d̪͡z̪] and /t͡s/ can be alveolar or postalveolar [t͡ʃ], when before front vowels.[3]

Vowels[edit]

Front Central Back
Close i u
Close-mid e o
Open-mid ɛ ɔ
Open a

Proverbs and fables[edit]

In 1921, Edward Algernon Ruskin, a Christian missionary at Bongandanga from 1891 until 1935 in what was then the Belgian Congo,[4] published Mongo Proverbs and Fables, with the Mongo text and an English translation.[5] As Ruskin explains in the foreword to the book, his goal was to train missionaries in the Mongo language. Ruskin's style of English transliteration gives no indication as to the tones.

The book contains 405 Mongo proverbs. Here are some examples:

  • Ntambaka jit'a nkusa. You do not go hunting porcupines and collecting bark for making string at the same time. (#88)
  • Nkema ntawaka ndesanya. A monkey is not killed by merely watching it. (#172)
  • Ise aomaki njoku, beke bempate nko? Your father killed an elephant, then where are your tusks? (#219)
  • Tusake wese; wunyu botaka 'akata. Do not throw away a bone; a piece of lean meat has not yet fallen into your hands. (#389)

There are 21 Mongo fables in the book, including a story about Ulu, the trickster Tortoise.[6]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Mongo at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
    Yamongeri at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ a b Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
  3. ^ de Rop, Albert J. (1958). Grammaire du lomongo: phonologie et morphologie. Leuven & Léopoldville: Université Lovanium.
  4. ^ Elders at Bongandango, Congo, ca. 1920-1930 Calisphere. Retrieved July 7, 2024.
  5. ^ Ruskin, Edward Algernon (1921). Mongo Proverbs and Fables (available online at the Internet Archive).
  6. ^ "Ngila L'Ulu" in Ruskin, Edward Algernon (1921). Mongo Proverbs and Fables pp. 82-86.

External links[edit]

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