Kaonde (natively called ''kiiKaonde'') is a
Bantu language
The Bantu languages (English: , Proto-Bantu language, Proto-Bantu: *bantʊ̀), or Ntu languages are a language family of about 600 languages of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern, East Africa, Eastern and Southeast Africa, South ...
spoken primarily in
Zambia
Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...
. Kaonde and its dialects are spoken by over 350,000 people.
Speakers
Kaonde speakers mainly live in the Northwestern and parts of Central regions of Zambia. In Zambia, the Kaonde people are found in Solwezi, Mufumbwe, Kasempa, Kalumbila and Mushindamo in the North-Western province.
The term "Kaonde" refers to a group of people who are identified by a common language known as kiiKaonde. The Kaonde group, like many others in Zambia, was originally part of the Luba Kingdom. They migrated south to area surrounding a stream called Kaonde in river
Congo Basin
The Congo Basin () is the sedimentary basin of the Congo River. The Congo Basin is located in Central Africa, in a region known as west equatorial Africa. The Congo Basin region is sometimes known simply as the Congo. It contains some of the larg ...
. From there, the people migrated into what is now Northwestern Zambia. Native speakers refer to the language as kiiKaonde. Speakers of most other Bantu languages use the prefix "chi" rather than "kii".
The Kaondes are ruled by the traditional leaders. Some of the Kaonde chiefs are Chief Kapiji Kasongo, Kasempa, and Mpanga
Grammar
Nouns
Like other Bantu languages, Kaonde nouns are grouped into several
semantic
Semantics is the study of linguistic Meaning (philosophy), meaning. It examines what meaning is, how words get their meaning, and how the meaning of a complex expression depends on its parts. Part of this process involves the distinction betwee ...
classes, ranging from those that denote human beings to those that denote things. The concord or agreement markers for each class is a prefix attached to verbs and adjectives related to the noun. Tense markers may modify the concord.
Pronouns
Kaonde has personal, demonstrative and relative pronouns. The first and second person pronouns are independent of the noun class system. Third person pronouns are formed using the demonstrative pronouns for the ba noun class. Demonstrative are arranged by noun class and by
deixis
In linguistics, deixis () is the use of words or phrases to refer to a particular time (e.g. ''then''), place (e.g. ''here''), or person (e.g. ''you'') relative to the Context (language use), context of the utterance. Deixis exists in all known na ...
.
Sample text in Kaonde
''Mu byambo byanji byalamata bantu bonse, Lesa waambile ne byambo bikwabo pa byo anemeka bumi ne mashi''.
Translation
In a declaration applying to all humans, God revealed more about his evaluation of life and blood
References
External links
A sample paragraph in Kaonde*
*Lubuto Libraries, '','' Lubuto Library Special Collections, accessed May 3, 2014.
*, Lubuto Library Special Collections
OLAC resources in and about the Kaonde languageJ.L. Wright’s Outline of Kikaonde Grammar
{{Authority control
Luban languages
Languages of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Languages of Zambia
Library of Congress Africa Collection related