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Kimbundu, a
Bantu language The Bantu languages (English: , Proto-Bantu: *bantÊŠÌ€) are a large family of languages spoken by the Bantu people of Central, Southern, Eastern africa and Southeast Africa. They form the largest branch of the Southern Bantoid languages. The t ...
which has sometimes been called Mbundu or 'North Mbundu' (see Umbundu), is the second-most-widely-spoken Bantu language in
Angola , national_anthem = "Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordinat ...
. Its speakers are concentrated in the north-west of the country, notably in the
Luanda Luanda () is the capital and largest city in Angola. It is Angola's primary port, and its major industrial, cultural and urban centre. Located on Angola's northern Atlantic coast, Luanda is Angola's administrative centre, its chief seapo ...
, Bengo, Malanje and the
Cuanza Norte The Cuanza Norte Province ( en, North Cuanza; umb, Konano Kwanza Volupale) is province of Angola. N'dalatando is the capital and the province has an area of 24,110 km² and a population of 443,386. Manuel Pedro Pacavira was born here and ...
provinces. It is spoken by the
Ambundu The Ambundu or Mbundu ( Mbundu: or , singular: (distinct from the Ovimbundu) are a Bantu people living in Angola's North-West, North of the river Kwanza. The Ambundu speak Kimbundu, and most also speak the official language of the countr ...
.


Phonology


Consonants

Allophones: �and �are allophones of /p/ and /b/, respectively, before /a/ and /u/. The phoneme /l/ is phonetically a flap � a voiced plosive or its palatalized version ʲwhen before the front high vowel /i/. In the same way, the alveolars /s/, /z/ and /n/ are palatalized to � �and � respectively, before There may be an epenthesis of after /ŋ/ in word medial positions, thus creating a phonetic cluster �gin a process of fortition. There is long distance
nasal harmony Consonant harmony is a type of "long-distance" phonological assimilation, akin to the similar assimilatory process involving vowels, i.e. vowel harmony. Examples In Athabaskan languages One of the more common harmony processes is ''coronal harm ...
, in which /l/ is realized as if the previous morphemes contain /m/ or /n/, but not prenasalized stops.


Vowels

There are two contrasting tones: a high (á) and a low tone (à). There is also a downstep in cases of tonal sandhi.


Vowel harmony

There is
vowel harmony In phonology, vowel harmony is an assimilatory process in which the vowels of a given domain – typically a phonological word – have to be members of the same natural class (thus "in harmony"). Vowel harmony is typically long distance, me ...
in two groups (the high vowels /i, u/ and the mid and low vowels /e, o, a/) that applies only for verbal morphology. In some morphemes, vowels may be consistently deleted to avoid a hiatus.


Loans


European Portuguese

There is a small number of words of Kimbundu origin and many of those are indirect loans, borrowed via
Angolan Portuguese Angolan Portuguese ( pt, Português de Angola) is a group of dialects and accents of the Portuguese language used mostly in Angola, where it is an official language. In 2005 it was used there by 60% of the population, including by 20% as their f ...
. The examples generally understood by most or all speakers of Angolan and European Portuguese include (, "very, a lot"), (, "old person") () () (, "money") () wi ("man, dude") fixe ("cool"), bué da fixe and muitá fixó ("excellent").Suplemento do léxico cigano
Mundo Cigano.


Conjugation

Conjugating the verb to be (''kuala''; also ''kukala'' in Kimbundu) in the present: Conjugating the verb to have (''kuala ni''; also ''kukala ni'' in Kimbundu) in the present :


References


External links


The art of the language of Angola, author Father Pedro Dias, published in 1697



PanAfrican L10n page on Kimbundu



Ethnic groups of Angola
Kimbundu languages Languages of Angola {{Bantu-lang-stub