LET'S SPEAK KIKÔNGO - The lâri of Brazzaville and its culture - Jean de Dieu NSONDÉ-gctid87572

[Mani Kongo]

LET'S SPEAK KIKÔNGO
The lâri of Brazzaville and its culture

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Translated excerpt

The lâri language and the other kikôngo (languages)

The current location of the kikôngo shows, in fact, that through this generic name, many regional dialects of central-west Kmt, strongly related to each other, in terms of structures and linguistic forms, but also the lexicon are found. This set now occupies about 250 000 to 300 000 km2, divided between the Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo-Kinshasa, Angola and Gabon, and concerns from our estimations nearly 6 million people. This area includes roughly the third southern Congo-Brazzaville, including the regions of the Pool, the Niari, the Bouenza, the Lékoumou and the Kouilou, the province of Bas-Congo and a part of Bandundu in the southwest of Congo-Kinshasa; extreme northern Angola, with the province of the Zaire, to which must be added the Cabinda; and finally the coastal region of Mayumba in Gabon. The understanding between the different dialects can be analyzed under the rule of concentric circles, with a "central" area that linguists and historians traditionally locate as starting from the Angolan city of Sâo Salvador, former Mbanza-Kongo. In the former "capital" of the pre-colonial state of Kongo, a kikôngo often called "classic", or "pure", and considered as such by many authors is spoken. Thus, logically, the immediate mutual understanding is even easier, at least theoretically, when one is not far from the "original home". Today, and in the daily reality of Kôngo, situations of more favorable communication than in the past are added to this phenomenon, with some fluency - bilingual or trilingual - for many speakers. Inter-comprehension therefore relates to individual skills that foster communication between speakers of dialects already close. In addition, the development of modern transportation - the railroad and to a much lesser extent the road in Congo-Brazzaville - and the importance of radio, picked up way down in the countryside, contribute to the direct or indirect auditory contact of populations still separated fifty years ago; people are more familiar with once distant dialects. Similarly, the acceleration of the rural exodus led to a unprecedented massive melting pot, especially in large cities such as Brazzaville and Pointe-Noire in the same neighborhoods Kôngo from different regions are close to one another. However, it is also true that dialects who are highly differentiated on the articulatory level (the stress accent), such as kivili (Congolese Kouilou region) or kibêmbé (Congolese Niari region), communicate even more hardly with other Kôngo because they are geographically distant from them since centuries, all while integrating external inputs (téké or others) and developed strong peculiarities. The linguistic community, as the cultural glue of these populations, corresponds therefore to the links that we find also in terms of social organization.

Regarding the lâri dialect more specifically, the term itself is a kind of historical enigma since its use - both from the collective memory and in eureurasiaan accounts - is set only this century. Previously, until the late nineteenth century, all Kôngo from the sub-region call themselves, either by that name, if they occupy a position near Mbanza-Kongo (Sâo Salvador), or by a specific name, for all the remote communities of the former political "center." Why this sudden burst of a term no earlier source mentions, even though most of the current names are documented in one form or another, by many different clues, sometimes as early as the XVI century? This is a question that researchers should focus their attention on.

Where is the lâri spoken ?

The Lâri language spoken in Brazzaville and in the Pool region Congo, is a genetic brother of other Kongo dialects, which together represent the majority of the 2.8 million inhabitants of the country. Within the Congolese borders first, so kikôngo, kisûndi, kibêmbé the kivili, to mention only the most important in the supposed number of speakers, all belong, very closely to the same linguistic and cultural group. Beyond that, outside the borders of Congo, in the provinces of the neighboring states of Congo-Kinshasa (Kinshasa, Bandundu and Bas-Congo), of Angola (Cabinda) and of Gabon (Mayumba), one finds many related languages​​, some of which have already been mentioned above. Similarly, in the Congolese context, taking account of a former distance, the communication does not occur with equal ease between Lâri speaker and the other dialects, more "eccentric". Inter-comprehension is perfect in Congo-Brazzaville, in descending order, with the kisûndi (districts of Mindouli and Kindamba in the Pool), the kikôngo of Boko, and to a lesser extent, on the other side of the river, with the kintàndu of Congo-Kinshasa. The barriers are most often the result of differences of emphasis, what linguists call "articulatory habits", and/or of some specific regional vocabulary. Thus, a good Lâri speaker from Brazzaville can communicate to a large extent, with the majority of people in the lower basin of the Congo River in particular because this area is also home to a strong socio-cultural cohesion in the west-central Kmt, heavy traffic on the routes Pool Malebo/Pointe-Noire and Pool Malebo/Matadi.

More from this author
The pdf is in french:
                            Attached files    Extrait de Parlons Kikongo.pdf (194 KB)  

[Mani Kongo]

Mboté ! hello!; hi!
Matôndo: merci; I thank you
Ntondélé: merci; I thank you
Yizà: come !
Bongà: take!
Ma ! take!; come take!
Hê ! yes; ok
Nâ ? or nani ? who?

no: kâni
goodbye: sala or, sal'eno (if said to several people);

who are you?: ngué nani?
where are you going?: where are you coming from?: kué ta kwénda? kué tûkudi?
why?: munti?

do you speak lâri?: lâri tia lu zébi?
I don't understand lâri: ka nzébia lâri ko.

Time and calendar

time: ntàngu
year: mvula
season: muvu
month: ngônda
week: lumîngu
today: lumbu-tî; lolo
yesterday: mazôno
tomorrow: mbazi
day: lumbu

The days:

monday: léndi
tuesday: mâradi
wenesday: mérécrédi
thursday: jédi
friday: vendérédi
saturday: samédi
sunday: lumîngu

The time of the day

night: mpîmpa, buisi
morning: pàri
noon: midi
evening: nkôkila

Examples:

mbazi ni kwénda: I leave tomorrow.
muna mbazi ni kwénda: I leave the day after tomorrow.
léndi ni kwénda: I leave monday.

The time, ntângu, uses the same word that designates the sun;

ntià ntângu yé nânku?: what time do you have ?
yéka 7h yà padi: it is 7 in the morning.
mbo wîzi mu midi ta dià: you will come at noon to eat.

Note: all days of the week  are borrowed from french except for sunday as well as the word for noon (same exact word in french).

[Agya Yaw]

If all the words for the days of week were borrowed from french, what did they call the days of the week prior to them showing up? How did a Kikongo speaker describe or communicate days, besides sunday?

[Mani Kongo]

Good questions. Let me go back on something, the book is named "Let's speak Kikôngo, The Lâri of Brazzaville an its culture" but it can confuse you if you don't keep in mind that the Lâri is "just" a Kôngo dialect and not the ancient or "official" Kikôngo language (first paragraph). So this book could have been called "Let's speak Lâri".

Here are the days of the week in Kikôngo :

KIAMOSI : MONDAY
KIAZOLE : TUESDAY
KIATATU : WENESDAY
KIAYA : THURSDAY
KIATANU : FRIDAY
KIASABALA : SATURDAY
KIALUMINGO : SUNDAY

As seen here.

[Mani Kongo]

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From this book (Lesson 1, Section 2, p.5) : http://www.abibitumikasa.com/forums/showthread.php/77231-KONGO-LANGUAGE-COURSE-MALOONGI-MAKOONGO-A-Course-in-the-Dialect-of-ZOOMBO-NORTHERN-ANGOLA?p=84805&viewfull=1#post84805
                            Attached files    

[Mani Kongo]

Éléments du Ciel/Elements of the Sky : zúlu

 le ciel/the sky : zúlu
la lune/the moon : ngônda
 la pluie/the rain : mvúla
 le soleil/the sun : ntángu
 le vent/the wind : témbo
 une étoile/a star : mbwétété
la foudre/lightning : nzàzi
 l'horizon/the horizon : lôndé
 
Éléments de la Terre/Elements of the Earth : mutóto
 
 la colline/the hill : móngo
 la falaise/the cliff : bénga
 le fleuve/the river : nzàdi
 la forêt/the forest : sângui
 le lac (l'étang)/the lake (the pond) : bàndà
 le marécage/the swamp : poto-poto
 la montagne/the mountain : móngo
 le pâturage/the grazing land : bitîti ou/or matîti
 la plaine, la brousse/the plain, the bush : mukobo
 
 Animaux/Animals
 
 le lion/the lion : ngò mbulu
 l'hippopotame/the hippopotamus : nguvu
 le léopard/the leopard : ngò
 la gazelle/the gazelle : nkabi
 l'éléphant/the elephant : nzawù
 l'antilope/the antelope : mvùri
 l'aigle/the eagle : mbémba
 le crocodile/the crocodile : ngându
 le chien/the dog : mbwà
 le cochon/the pig : ngulu
 
(p. 167-168 ; 173-175)

[Mani Kongo]

Rendre visite
C'est une formalité très importante au Congo et les visiteurs sont toujours bien reçus. En absence ou pour attirer l'attention des occupants d'une "parcelle " (la maison et sa cour), on peut s'annoncer à l'entrée en disant : kô kô kô ! : toc toc toc !

 La personne présente peut répondre alors en disant :
ni ngué wô ! : c'est toi !
tûdidi ! : te voilà (litt. tu es arrivé) s'il s'agit d'une personne que l'on attendait.

Visiting someone
This is a very important procedure in Congo and visitors are always well received. In case of an absence or to attract the attention of the occupants of a "plot" (the house and yard), we can announce the entry by saying :
kô kô kô ! : knock knock knock !

 The person who is present can then answer by saying :
ni ngué wô ! : it's you !
tûdidi ! : here you are (lit. you have arrived) in the case of a person that was expected.
(p.67)

[Mani Kongo]

ManiKongo;109248 wrote:
Visiting someone
This is a very important procedure in Congo and visitors are always well received. In case of an absence or to attract the attention of the occupants of a "plot" (the house and yard), we can announce the entry by saying :
kô kô kô ! : knock knock knock !

 The person who is present can then answer by saying :
ni ngué wô ! : it's you !
tûdidi ! : here you are (lit. you have arrived) in the case of a person that was expected.
(p.67)

I have personally witnessed in the island of Martinique that when announcing themselves, people say : to to to !
That was the first time in my life that I saw/heard that but now I understand it where it comes from.

[Mani Kongo]

ManiKongo;87864 wrote:
Here are the days of the week in Kikôngo :

KIAMOSI : MONDAY
KIAZOLE : TUESDAY
KIATATU : WENESDAY
KIAYA : THURSDAY
KIATANU : FRIDAY
KIASABALA : SATURDAY
KIALUMINGO : SUNDAY

Important:

 Lufueti sonika : Lumbu kiamosi, Lumbu kiazole, kwk.

Lufueti = you must
sonika = write
Lumbu = day

It doesn't make no sense to only write kiamosi or kiatatu,kwk.

[Mani Kongo]

East: Lubakala
West: Lukénto
North: Lôndé
South: Bânda

(p.168)

[Kala Kambon]

what does "kia" mean in words such as Kiambote, and as seen in the days of the week?

[Mani Kongo]

Kala Kambon;167866 wrote: what does "kia" mean in words such as Kiambote, and as seen in the days of the week?

It can be the nominal agreement of the "Ki" noun class as seen here:
 
and there:
 

 You will then find it in every word concording with a subject belonging to the "Ki" noun class as seen here:
 

It is also a verb. Laman's dictionary has it listed as kia (kya, kiya) meaning "to dawn, to clear up, to be clear, to be pure". There's a second entry of the same verb with a different meaning which is "to pick (fruits), to harvest (corn, etc.)". The infinitive form is Kukia.