Kituba language

Creole language spoken in Central Africa

Kituba (, ) is a widely used lingua franca in Central Africa. It is a creole language based on Kikongo, a Bantu language. It is a national language in Republic of the Congo and Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Kituba is known by many names among its speakers. In academic circles the language is called Kikongo Kituba. In the Republic of the Congo it is called Munukutuba, a phrase which means literally "I say", and is used in the Republic's 1992 constitution. The latter (Kituba) means "way of speaking" and is used in the 2015 constitution. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo it is called Kikongo ya leta ("the state's Kikongo"), or Kikongo de L'état, shortened to Kileta. Confusingly, it is also called Kikongo, especially in areas that lack Kongo (Kikongo) speakers, meaning Kituba. There are also other historical names such as Kibula matadi (literally "the stone breaker's speech"), (literally "do not know"), but they have largely fallen out of use.

The majority of Kituba speakers live in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It is spoken as the primary lingua franca in the provinces of Kongo Central, Kwango and Kwilu and to a lesser extent in Kinshasa, Mai Ndombe and Kasai. Kituba is spoken in the southern of the Republic of Congo, in regions of Kouilou, Pointe Noire, Niari, Bouenza, Lékoumou and in the capital Brazzaville. Lingala is more popular in the north. Kituba is also spoken in the northern part of Angola, since modern nations cut across the lines of tribal areas and ancient kingdoms, and northern Angola borders the Kwango Province of the Democratic Republic of Congo which is a strong Kituba speaking area. Although mutually intelligible, there are differences, mainly in vocabulary, between the eastern and western areas of The Democratic Republic of Congo, and still more between the Kituba spoken there and that spoken in Congo Brazzaville (Republic of Congo).

There are several theories on how Kituba came into being. One theory claims that it had already evolved at the time of the Kongo Kingdom as a simplified interdialectal trade language, which the European colonists subsequently took into use for regional administration. Another theory claims that a simplified trade language called Kifyoti was developed at the Portuguese coastal trading 18
post and it was later spread upstream by the Christian missionaries to the region between the Kwango and the Kasai rivers where it evolved further (hence the name Kikwango). Yet another theory emphasizes the construction of the Matadi Kinshasa railroad at the end of the 1800s, which involved forced labour from West Africa, lower Congo, and the neighbouring Bandundu region. The workers had diverse linguistic backgrounds which gave birth to a grammatically simplified language. Harold W. Fehdereau, a linguist and missionary, carried out a major linguistic survey of Kituba speaking areas under the joint auspices of the American Bible Society and the American Mennonite Brethren Mission. He published his work in a Kituba French English dictionary in 1969. He traced the development of Kituba back to the 1800's or earlier, necessitated by the inter tribal needs of the Congolese themselves, and later, their relationship with slave traders. Then in the early 1900's, the Belgian and French colonization of the area brought further need for a convenient language of communication with the Congolese. He admits that we do not have a very complete picture of the development of Kituba before the 1930's, when it came into wide use by Christian missionaries. He notes that many today have grown up knowing Kituba as their mother tongue, and at the same time, it has reached some complexity of grammar unusual to pidgin languages. He notes that there is an increasing tendency, particularly in the western Kituba speaking region, to borrow words from French, adding Kituba prefixes and suffixes for everyday usage. Regardless of the genesis, Kituba established itself in the large towns that were found during the colonial period between 1885 and 1960. Kituba is spoken as the primary language in the large Bakongo cities of Moanda, Boma, Matadi, Pointe Noire, Dolisie, Nkayi, and Brazzaville and also in large non Bakongo cities of Bandundu, Kikwit, and Ilebo. It is the main language spoken throughout the modern provinces of Kwango and Kasai. A dialect called 'Monokutuba' is spoken in Congo Brazzaville (Republic of Congo). The first portions of the Bible were published in 1934, followed by the New Testament in 1950. A revision was published in 1957. The complete Bible was published in 1982, all by the Bible Society of Congo. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has published a translation of Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Kituba.

Kituba has a well developed verbal system involving grammatical tense and aspect. Most verb forms have long and short versions. The long forms are used in formal written communication whereas the short forms have developed for spoken communication. The irregular conjugation of the verb or (to be) is presented in the table below. It is the only irregular verb in Kituba. Tense Long form Short form Example Translation Present and immediate future kele ke Yau kele nkosi. It is a lion. Future kele/ata kuv(u)anda ke/ta v(u)anda Mu ta vuanda tata. I will be a father. Present progressive kele kuv(u)andaka ke v(u)andaka Nge ke vuandaka zoba. You are being stupid. Future progressive ata kuv(u)andaka ta v(u)andaka Beno ta vuandaka ya kukuela. You will be married. Past v(u)anda Yandi vuanda kuna. He was there. Past progressive v(u)andaka Beto vuandaka banduku. We used to be friends. Past perfect mene kuv(u)anda me v(u)anda Yandi me vuanda na Matadi. He was in Matadi. Past perfect progressive mene kuv(u)andaka me v(u)andaka Yandi me vuandaka mulongi. She has been a teacher. All other verbs are conjugated with the help of auxiliary verbs. The conjugation of the verb (to do) is presented in the table below. Tense Long form Short form Example Translation Present and immediate future kele kusala ke sala Yandi ke sala. He works. / He will work. Present progressive kele kusalaka ke salaka Yandi ke salaka. He is working. Past salaka salaka Yandi salaka. He worked. Immediate past mene sala me sala Yandi me sala. He has worked. Immediate past progressive mene salaka me salaka Yandi me salaka. He has been working. Past progressive vuandaka kusala va sala Yandi vuandaka kusala. He used to work. Narrative sala sala Future ata sala ta sala Yandi ta sala. He will work. Future progressive ata salaka ta salaka Yandi ta salaka. He will be working.

A Kituba English French dictionary compiled by linguist Harold W. Fehderau, Ph. D., was published in 1969. It is not widely available.

The bulk of Kituba words come from Kikongo. Other Bantu languages have influenced it as well, including Kiyaka, Kimbala, Kisongo, Kiyansi, Lingala, and Swahili. In addition, many words have been borrowed from French, Portuguese, and English. These include:
sandúku (Swah. sanduku) "box", the Swahili word comes from Arabic صندوق (ṣandūq)
matáta (Swah. matata) "trouble"
letá (Fr. l'état) "state"
kamiyó (Fr. camion) "truck"
sodá/solodá (Fr. soldat) "soldier"
masínu (Fr. machine) "machine"
mísa (Port. missa) "mass"
kilápi (Port. lápis) "pen"
katekisimu (Eng. catechism)
bóyi (Eng. houseboy)
sapatu (Port. sapato) "shoe"
mesa (Port. mesa) "table"
dikopa (Port. copa) "cup"
simisi (Fr. chemise) "shirt"