Konjo language (Bantu)

Konjo
Konjo
Olhukonzo
Native to	Uganda and Democratic Republic of the Congo
Ethnicity	Bakonjo
Native speakers	610,000 in Uganda (2002 census)
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Volta-Congo Benue–Congo Bantoid Southern Bantoid Bantu Northeast Bantu Great Lakes Bantu Rwenzori Konjo; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;
Language codes
ISO 639-3	koo
Glottolog	konz1239
Guthrie code	JD.41

The lhukonzo (Konzo) language, variously rendered Lukonzo, Olukonzo, and konzo, is a Bantu language spoken by the Konzo people of Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It has a 77% lexical similarity with Nande. There are many dialects, including Sanza (Ekisanza).^[1]

Writing system

Konzo alphabet^[3]
a	b	d	e	f	g	h	i	k	l	m	n	o	p	q	r	s	t	u	v	w	y	z

Phonetics

Consonants

Konzo consonant phonemes^[4]
		Labial	Dental	Alveolar	Retroflex	Postalveolar/ Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal		m		n		ɲ ⟨ny⟩
Stop	prenasalized	ᵐb ⟨mb⟩		ⁿd ⟨nd⟩		ᶮɟ ⟨ngy⟩	ᵑɡ ⟨ng⟩
	implosive/ voiced	ɓ ⟨bb⟩		d		ɟ ⟨gy⟩	g
	voiceless	p		t	ʈ ⟨th⟩	c ⟨ky⟩	k
	voiceless prenasalized		ⁿt ⟨nt⟩
Affricate				t͡s ⟨ts⟩
Fricative	prenasalized			ⁿz ⟨nz⟩
	voiced	v	β ⟨b⟩	z			ɣ ⟨gh⟩
	voiceless	f		s				h ⟨h⟩
Approximant				l	ɭ ⟨lh⟩	j ⟨y⟩	w
Rhotic				r

Vowels

Konzo is characterized by distinguishing advanced and retracted tongue root.^[5]

Konzo's IPA vowel chart

^[4]	Front	Back
Close	i	u
Near-close	ɪ	ʊ
Mid	ɛ	ɤ o
Open	a

Basic vocabulary

List of basic phrases and words.^[6]

Good morning – wabukire
Good afternoon – wasibire
Good night - ukeyesaye buholho
Thank you (very much) – wasingya (kutsibu)
How are you? – ghune wuthi?
How are you? – muneyo?
Fine – ngane ndeke
Sir/man – mulhume
Madam/woman – mukalhi
Boy – omuthabana
Girl – omumbesa
Dear – mwanithu
Friend – omukaghu
King – mukama/mwami omusinga
2-10 – ibiri, isatu, ini, ithanu, mukagha, musanju, munani, mwenda, ikumi
Car – engumbaghalhi
Water – amaghetse
Gift – kihembo
House - enumba
Goat - embene
Dog - embwa

References

^ ^a ^b Konjo at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
^ Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
^ Kambale 2007.
^ ^a ^b "Konjo language and pronunciation". omniglot.com. Retrieved 2022-10-29.
^ Derek Nurse; Gérard Philippson, eds. (2003). The Bantu languages. London: Routledge. ISBN 0-7007-1134-1. OCLC 50323065.
^ Kambale, Balinandi (2009). Lhukonzo - English -- English - Lhukonzo Dictionary. Kampala: Fountain Publishers. ISBN 978-9970-02-574-9.

Works cited

Kambale, Balinandi (2007). Lhukonzo literature grammar (PDF). Kisubi: Marianum Press.

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[e18-1] Konjo at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)

[Guthrie-2] Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online

[FOOTNOTEKambale2007-3] Kambale 2007.

[:0-4] "Konjo language and pronunciation". omniglot.com. Retrieved 2022-10-29.

[5] Derek Nurse; Gérard Philippson, eds. (2003). The Bantu languages. London: Routledge. ISBN 0-7007-1134-1. OCLC 50323065.

[6] Kambale, Balinandi (2009). Lhukonzo - English -- English - Lhukonzo Dictionary. Kampala: Fountain Publishers. ISBN 978-9970-02-574-9.

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Konjo
Olhukonzo
Native to	Uganda and Democratic Republic of the Congo
Ethnicity	Bakonjo
Native speakers	610,000 in Uganda (2002 census)^[1]
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Volta-Congo Benue–Congo Bantoid Southern Bantoid Bantu Northeast Bantu Great Lakes Bantu Rwenzori Konjo
Language codes
ISO 639-3	`koo`
Glottolog	`konz1239`
Guthrie code	`JD.41`^[2]