Kinyarwanda

For the Rwandan film, see Kinyarwanda (film).

Rwanda
Kinyarwanda
Native to	Rwanda, Uganda
Native speakers	9.8 million (2007)
Language family	Niger–Congo Atlantic–Congo Benue–Congo Southern Bantoid Bantu Northeast Bantu Great Lakes Bantu Rwanda-Rundi Rwanda
Writing system	Latin
Official status
Official language in	Rwanda
Language codes
ISO 639-1	rw
ISO 639-2	kin
ISO 639-3	kin
Glottolog	kiny1244
Guthrie code	JD.61
Linguasphere	99-AUS-df

Kinyarwanda (IPA: [iciɲɑɾɡwɑːndɑ] or IPA: [iɟiɲɑɾgwɑ:ndɑ]), known as Urufumbira in Kisoro, Uganda, is an official language of Rwanda and a dialect of the Rwanda-Rundi language spoken by at least 12 million people in Rwanda, Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo and adjacent parts of southern Uganda (Kirundi dialect is the official language of neighbouring Burundi). Kinyabwisha and Kinyamulenge are the mutually intelligible dialects spoken in North Kivu and South Kivu provinces of neighbouring DR Congo.

Kinyarwanda is one of the four official languages of Rwanda (along with English, French and Kiswahili) and is spoken by almost all of the native population. That contrasts with most modern African states, whose borders were drawn by colonial powers and do not correspond to ethnic boundaries or precolonial kingdoms.

Phonology

See also: Rwanda-Rundi § Comparison of Kinyarwanda and Kirundi

Consonants

The table below gives the consonants of Kinyarwanda.

		Bilabial	Labiodental	Alveolar	Post- alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal		m		n		ɲ	(ŋ)
Plosive	voiceless	p1		t		c	k
	voiced	(b)		d		ɟ	g
Affricate	voiceless		p͡f	t͡s	t͡ʃ
Fricative	voiceless		f	s	ʃ	ç		h
	voiced	β	v	z	ʒ
Approximant						j	w
Rhotic				ɾ

1. /p/ is only found in loanwords.
2. Consonants in parentheses are allophones.

Vowels

The table below gives the vowel sounds of Kinyarwanda.

	Front	Back
Close	i i:	u uː
Mid	e eː	o oː
Open	a aː

Tone

Kinyarwanda is a tonal language. Like many Bantu languages, it has a two-way contrast between high and low tones (low-tone syllables may be analyzed as toneless). The realization of tones in Kinyarwanda is influenced by a complex set of phonological rules.

Orthography

Letter(s)	a	b	c	cy	d	e	f	g	h	i	j	jy	k	m	n	ny	o	p	pf	r	s	t	ts	u	v	w	y	z
IPA	a, aː	β, b	t͡ʃ	c	d	e, eː	f	g, ɟ	h	i, iː	ʒ	ɟ	k, c	m	n, ŋ	ɲ	o, oː	p	p͡f	ɾ	s	t	t͡s	u, uː	v	w	j	z

Except in a few morphological contexts, the sequences 'ki' and 'ke' may be pronounced interchangeably as [ki] and [ke] or [ci] and [ce] according to speaker's preference.

The letters 'a', 'e', or 'i' at the end of a word followed by a word starting with a vowel often follows a pattern of omission (observed in the following excerpt of the Rwandan anthem) in common speech, though the orthography remains the same. For example, Reka tukurate tukuvuge ibigwi wowe utubumbiye hamwe twese Abanyarwanda uko watubyaye berwa, sugira, singizwa iteka. would be pronounced as "Reka tukurate tukuvug' ibigwi wow' utubumiye hamwe twes' abanyarwand' uko watubyaye berwa, sugira singizw' iteka."

In the colloquial language, there are some discrepancies from orthographic Cw and Cy. Specifically, rw (as in Rwanda) is often pronounced [ɾɡw]. The differences are the following:

Orthog.	Pron.
pw	[pk]
bw	[bɡ]
tw	[tkw]
dw	[dɡw]
mw	[mŋ]
nw	[nŋw]
fw	[fk]
vw	[vɡ]
sw	[skw]
zw	[zɡw]
shw	[ʃkw]
jw	[ʒɡw]
pfw	[p͡fk]
tsw	[t͡skw]
cw	[t͡ʃkw]
rw	[ɾɡw]
py	[pc]
by	[bɟ]
ty	[tc]
dy	[dɟ]
my	[mɲ]
sy	[sc]
ry	[ɾɟ]

Note that these are all sequences; [bɡ], for example, is not labio-velar [ɡ͡b]. Even when Rwanda is pronounced /ɾwanda/, the onset is a sequence, not a labialized [ɾʷ].

Grammar

Nouns

Kinyarwanda uses 16 of the Bantu noun classes. Sometimes these are grouped into 10 pairs so that most singular and plural forms of the same word are included in the same class. The table below shows the 16 noun classes and how they are paired in two commonly used systems.

Prefix	Classification			Number	Typical words	Example
	Bantu	Cox	???
umu-	1	1		singular	humans	umuntu – person
aba-	2			plural		abantu – people
umu-	3	2		singular	trees, shrubs and things that extend	umusozi – hill
imi-	4			plural		imisozi – hills
iri-	5	5	3	singular	things in quantities, liquids	iryinyo – tooth
ama-	6	5/8/9	3/8/9	plural (also substances)		amenyo – teeth
iki-	7	4		singular	generic, large, or abnormal things	ikintu – thing
ibi-	8			plural		ibintu – things
in-	9	3	5	singular	some plants, animals and household implements	inka – cow
in-	10	3/6	5/6	plural		inka – cows
uru-	11	6		singular	mixture, body parts	urugo – home
aka-	12	7		singular	diminutive forms of other nouns	akantu – little thing
utu-	13			plural		utuntu – little things
ubu-	14	8		n/a	abstract nouns, qualities or states	ubuntu – generosity
uku-	15	9		n/a	actions, verbal nouns and gerunds	ukuntu – means
aha-	16	10		n/a	places, locations	ahantu – place

Verbs

All Kinyarwanda verb infinitives begin with ku- (morphed into kw- before vowels, and into gu- before stems beginning with a voiceless consonant due to Dahl's Law). To conjugate, the infinitive prefix is removed and replaced with a prefix agreeing with the subject. Then a tense marker can be inserted.

	singular	singular before vowels	plural	plural before vowels
I	a-	y-	ba-	b-
II	u-	w-	i-	y-
III	ri-	ry-	a-	y-
IV	ki-	cy-	bi-	by-
V	i-	y-	zi-	z-
VI	ru-	rw-	zi-	z-
VII	ka-	k-	tu-	tw-
VIII	bu-	bw-	bu-	bw-
IX	ku-	kw-	a-	y-
X	ha-	h-	ha-	h-

The prefixes for pronouns are as follows:

• 'I' = n-
• 'you' (sing.) = u-
• 'he/she' = y-/a- (i.e. the singular Class I prefix above)
• 'we' = tu-
• 'you' (pl.) = mu-
• 'they' (human) = ba- (i.e. the plural Class I prefix above)

Tense markers include the following.

• Present ('I do'): - (no infix)
• Present progressive ('I am doing'): -ra- (morphs to -da- when preceded by n)
• Future ('I will do'): -za-
• Continuous progressive ('I'm still doing'): -racya-

Example translations
Yego	Yes
Oya	No
Uvuga icyongereza?	Do you speak English?
Bite?	What's Up?
Mwaramutse	Hi/Good Morning
Amata	Milk
Ejo hashize	Yesterday
Ejo hazaza	Tomorrow
Nzaza ejo	I will come tomorrow
Ubu	Now
Ubufaransa	France
Ubwongereza	England
Amerika	America
Ubudage	Germany
Ububirigi	Belgium

The past tense can be formed by using the present and present progressive infixes and modifying the aspect marker suffix.

Causatives

Kinyarwanda employs the use of periphrastic causatives, in addition to morphological causatives.

The periphrastic causatives use the verbs -teer- and -tum-, which mean cause. With -teer-, the original subject becomes the object of the main clause, leaving the original verb in the infinitive (just like in English):

(1a)

Ábáana

children

b-a-gii-ye.

they-PST-go-ASP

Ábáana b-a-gii-ye.

children they-PST-go-ASP

"The children left."

(1b)

Umugabo

man

y-a-tee-ye

he-PST-cause-ASP

ábáana

children

ku-geend-a.

INF-go-ASP

Umugabo y-a-tee-ye ábáana ku-geend-a.

man he-PST-cause-ASP children INF-go-ASP

"The man caused the children to go.

In this construction, the original S can be deleted.

(2a)

Abanntu

people

ba-rá-bon-a.

they-PRES-see-ASP

Abanntu ba-rá-bon-a.

people they-PRES-see-ASP

"People see"

(2b)

Ku-geenda

INF-go

gu-teer-a

it-cause-ASP

(abaantu)

(people)

ku-bona.

INF-see

Ku-geenda gu-teer-a (abaantu) ku-bona.

INF-go it-cause-ASP (people) INF-see

"To travel causes to see."

With -túm-, the original S remains in the embedded clause and the original verb is still marked for person and tense:

(3a)

N-a-andits-e

I-PST-write-ASP

amábárúwa

letters

meênshi.

many

N-a-andits-e amábárúwa meênshi.

I-PST-write-ASP letters many

"I wrote many letters."

(3b)

Umukoôbwa

girl

y-a-tum-ye

she-PST-cause-ASP

n-á-andik-a

I-PST-write-ASP

amábárúwa

letters

meênshi.

many

Umukoôbwa y-a-tum-ye n-á-andik-a amábárúwa meênshi.

girl she-PST-cause-ASP I-PST-write-ASP letters many

"The girl caused me to write many letters."

Derivational causatives use the instrumental marker -iish-. The construction is the same, but it is instrumental when the subject is inanimate and it is causative when the subject is animate:

(4a)

Umugabo

man

a-ra-andik-iish-a

he-PRES-write-CAUS-ASP

umugabo

man

íbárúwa.

letter

Umugabo a-ra-andik-iish-a umugabo íbárúwa.

man he-PRES-write-CAUS-ASP man letter

"The man is making the man write a letter."

(4b)

Umugabo

man

a-ra-andik-iish-a

he-PRES-write-INSTR-ASP

íkárámu

pen

íbárúwa.

letter

Umugabo a-ra-andik-iish-a íkárámu íbárúwa.

man he-PRES-write-INSTR-ASP pen letter

"The man is writing a letter with the pen."

This morpheme can be applied to intransitives (3) or transitives (4):

(3a)

Ábáana

children

ba-rá-ryáam-ye.

they-PRES-sleep-ASP

Ábáana ba-rá-ryáam-ye.

children they-PRES-sleep-ASP

"The children are sleeping."

(3b)

Umugóre

woman

a-ryaam-iish-ije

she-sleep-CAUS-ASP

ábáana

children

Umugóre a-ryaam-iish-ije ábáana

woman she-sleep-CAUS-ASP children

"The woman is putting the children to sleep."

(4a)

Ábáana

children

ba-ra-som-a

they-PRES-read-ASP

ibitabo.

books

Ábáana ba-ra-som-a ibitabo.

children they-PRES-read-ASP books

"The children are reading the books."

(4b)

Umugabo

man

a-ra-som-eesh-a

he-PRES-read-CAUS-ASP

ábáana

children

ibitabo.

books

Umugabo a-ra-som-eesh-a ábáana ibitabo.

man he-PRES-read-CAUS-ASP children books

"The man is making the children read the books."

However, there can only be one animate direct object. If a sentence has two, one or both is deleted and understood from context.

The suffix -iish- implies an indirect causation (similar to English have in "I had him write a paper), while other causatives imply a direct causation (similar to English make in "I made him write a paper").

One of these more direct causation devices is the deletion of what is called a "neutral" morpheme -ik-, which indicates state or potentiality. Stems with the -ik- removed can take -iish, but the causation is less direct:

-mének-	"be broken"	-mén-	"break"	-méneesh-	"have (something) broken"
-sáduk-	"be cut"	-sátur-	"cut"	-sátuz-	"have (something) cut"

Another direct causation maker is -y- which is used for some verbs:

(5a)

Ámáazi

water

a-rá-shyúuh-a.

it-PRES-warm-ASP

Ámáazi a-rá-shyúuh-a.

water it-PRES-warm-ASP

"The water is being warmed."

(5b)

Umugóre

woman

a-rá-shyúush-y-a

she-PRES-warm-CAUS-ASP

ámáazi.

water

Umugóre a-rá-shyúush-y-a ámáazi.

woman she-PRES-warm-CAUS-ASP water

"The woman is warming the water."

(5c)

Umugabo

man

a-rá-shyúuh-iish-a

he-PRES-warm-CAUS-ASP

umugóre

woman

ámáazi

water

Umugabo a-rá-shyúuh-iish-a umugóre ámáazi

man he-PRES-warm-CAUS-ASP woman water

"The man is having the woman warm the water.

References

• Boyd, J. Barron (December 1979). "African Boundary Conflict: An Empirical Study". African Studies Review. 22 (3): 1–14. ISSN 0002-0206. JSTOR 523892.
• Habumuremyi, Emmanuel; et al. (2006). IRIZA-STARTER 2006: The 1st Kinyarwanda–English and English–Kinyarwanda Dictionary. Kigali: Rural ICT-Net.
• Jouannet, Francis (ed.) (1983). Le Kinyarwanda, langue bantu du Rwanda (in French). Paris: SELAF.CS1 maint: Extra text: authors list (link)
• Kimenyi, Alexandre (1979). Studies in Kinyarwanda and Bantu Phonology. Edmonton, Alberta, Canada: Linguistic Research Inc. ISBN 0887830331.
• Kimenyi, Alexandre (1980). A Relational Grammar of Kinyarwanda. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 0520095987.

External links

• Kinyarwanda.net Kinyarwanda–English dictionary and grammar reference
• Kinyarwanda phonology case study by University of Texas
• PanAfrican localisation page on Kinyarwanda and Kirundi
• Kinyarwanda–English Dictionary by Betty Ellen Cox
• [1] - Practice reading Kinyandranda by reading news published in Kinyarwanda language