Kiga (also called ''Rukiga'', ''Ruchiga'', or ''Chiga'') is a
Great Lakes Bantu language of the
Kiga people
Kiga people, or ''Abakiga'' ("people of the mountains"), are a Bantu ethnic group native to south western Uganda and northern Rwanda.
History Pre-colonial period
The Kiga people are believed to have originated in Rwanda as mentioned in one ...
(''Bakiga''). Kiga is a similar and partially mutually intelligible with the
Nkore language
Nkore (also called Nkole, Nyankore, Nyankole, Orunyankore, Orunyankole, Runyankore and Runyankole) is a Bantu language spoken by the Nkore ("Banyankore") of south-western Uganda in the former province of Ankole, as well as in Tanzania, the DR Co ...
. It was first written in the second half of the 19th century.
Kiga is largely spoken in the ancient Kigezi region which includes about 5 districts, namely
Rubanda
Rubanda is a town in the extreme southwest of the Western Region, Uganda, Western Region of Uganda. It serves as the commercial, political and administrative center of Rubanda District.
Location
Rubanda is located approximately , by road, west of ...
,
Rukiga
Kiga (also called ''Rukiga'', ''Ruchiga'', or ''Chiga'') is a Great Lakes Bantu language of the Kiga people (''Bakiga''). Kiga is a similar and partially mutually intelligible with the Nkore language. It was first written in the second half of t ...
,
Kabale
Kabale is a town in the Western Region of Uganda. It is the chief town of Kabale District, and the district headquarters are located there.
Sometimes nicknamed “Kastone” as in the local language Rukiga, a “kabale” is a small stone.
Lo ...
,
Kanungu
Kanungu is a town in the Western Region of Uganda. It is the location of the district headquarters for Kanungu District.
Location
Kanungu is located approximately , on a winding dirt road, southwest of the town of Rukungiri, the nearest large ...
and some parts of
Rukungiri.
As of 2021, Kiga is spoken natively by about 1.3 million people in Uganda.
Kiga is so similar to Nkore (84%–94% lexical similarity
) that some argue they are
dialects
The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of linguistic phenomena:
One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a ...
of the same language, called
Nkore-Kiga
Nkore-Kiga is a language spoken by around 5,800,000 people living in the
extreme southwest of Uganda. It is often defined as two separate languages: Nkore and Kiga.
It is closely related to Runyoro-Rutooro.
History
Archibald Norman Tucker w ...
by
Charles Taylor.
Phonology
* Sounds /i, u/ can also range to
, ʊwhen short or lax.
* /a/ can range from a central
to a back
sound.
* /r/ can also be heard as a glide
in free variation.
* /b/ can be heard as
in intervocalic positions.
Orthography
* a -
* b -
* ch/c -
͡ʃ* d -
* e -
* f -
* g -
/gʲ* h -
* i -
* j -
͡ʒ* k -
/kʲ* m -
* n -
* ny -
* o -
* p -
* r -
* s -
* t -
* ts -
͡s* u -
* v -
* w -
* y -
* z -
D and P are only used in foreign names and loanwords.
G and K are palatalised before I.
* ai -
i̯* ei -
i̯* gy -
* ky -
* mp -
p* mw -
w* nd -
d* ng -
* oi -
i̯* sh -
ref>
Grammar
In common with other
Bantu
Bantu may refer to:
*Bantu languages, constitute the largest sub-branch of the Niger–Congo languages
*Bantu peoples, over 400 peoples of Africa speaking a Bantu language
* Bantu knots, a type of African hairstyle
*Black Association for National ...
languages, Kiga has a noun class system in which prefixes on nouns mark membership of one of the noun genders. Pronouns, adjectives, and verbs reflect the noun gender of the nominal they refer to. Some examples of noun classes:
* mu – person (singular), e.g. ''omukiga'' = inhabitant of
Kigezi
Kigezi District once covered what are now Kabale District, Kanungu District, Kisoro District and Rukungiri District, in southwest Uganda. Its terraced fields are what gives this part of Uganda its distinctive character. Kigezi was popularly known ...
land
* ru – language, e.g. ''Rukiga'' = language of the Kiga
* ba – people, e.g. ''Bakiga'' = The Kiga people
* ki – customs or traditions, e.g. ''kikiga'', (sometimes spelled ''Kichiga''), describes religious tradition common to the Kiga people. Sometimes the people are called 'Chiga' by people misunderstanding the linguistic rules in relation to the prefixes.
The sound is not distinctive in Rukiga. The letter "r" is used instead.
See also
*
Runyakitara language
Runyakitara is a standardized language based on four closely related languages of western Uganda:
* Nyoro or ''Runyoro''
* Kiga (Chiga) or ''Rukiga''
* Nkore or ''Runyankole''
* Tooro or ''Rutooro''
Jouni Filip Maho's 2009 New Updated Guthrie ...
*
Nkore-Kiga
Nkore-Kiga is a language spoken by around 5,800,000 people living in the
extreme southwest of Uganda. It is often defined as two separate languages: Nkore and Kiga.
It is closely related to Runyoro-Rutooro.
History
Archibald Norman Tucker w ...
References
Languages of Uganda
Nyoro-Ganda languages
{{Bantu-lang-stub