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Gramática Kikongo

Kikongo grammar

Grammaire kikongo

Kikongo Grammatik

1855 to 1905 Baptist Missionary Society Congo

William Holman Bentley was a Baptist Missionary Society (BMS) missionary in the Congo. Bentley was born at Sudbury, Suffolk, England, where his father was a Baptist minister. He worked as a bank clerk before being accepted by the BMS for its new Congo mission. He sailed for the Congo (Zaire) in April 1879 in the company of Thomas and Minnie Comber, H. E. Crudgington, and J. S. Hartland. In January 1881, Bentley and Crudgington became the first Europeans to establish a route inland from the mouth of the Congo to Stanley Pool, where modern Kinshasa is situated. In 1884, Bentley returned to England on a furlough. He took with him a Congolese assistant, Nlemvo, who worked with him on the compilation of the Dictionary and Grammar of the Kongo Language (1887), a work still used today. During this furlough he married Hendrina Margo Kloekers. Bentley returned to the Congo in 1886 to assume responsibility for a station on the upper river, but the death of Thomas Comber in 1887 diverted him to Ngombe Lutete among the Bakongo people. There Bentley remained, nurturing the growth of the Kongo church and devoting his linguistic expertise to the translation of the New Testament into Kikongo, which was completed in 1893. He also translated Genesis, Proverbs, and part of the Psalms. For these achievements he was awarded an honorary doctorate of divinity by the University of Glasgow. He died in Bristol.

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Brian Stanley (source: www.dacb.org

Malongi ma Ndona Madungu i :

Kinkulu i kinvuama!... Evo vilakene kinkulu kiaku ngeye muntu ladidi(vididi) kwaku i siavo "mfwanga za ndundu ye mbaka…" Kitukidi muntu wa mpamba kikilu. Ulenda kala vo, u mvuama yevo nkwa ngangu kansi evo ngeye muntu luvila lwaku ku zeye yo ko, muna ki ntinu kia bana ba Kongo día Ntontela muntu kuzitisa nkatu. Muna tandu a nkaka zeto e muntu evo kazeye luvila lwandi ko, e wantu a nyindula, ye vova vo: "e ndiona muntu nanga sumbwa ka sumbwa(wayi); isia vo nzenza, ku nsi a nda katuka ka mwana Kongo día Ntontela ko".

Tutondele wawu vo e nding'eto kayi vila ko. E vo ngeye u mwana Kongo día Ntontele, tuku dodokele mpasi vo watoma kebanga e nding'eto, tanini yo, ye toma tumba bena be zolanga fwasa(be fwasanga) ye soba(be sobanga) e nding'eto; Sunguna kuntu vo e nkumbu zeto za mbote za tuvana mase ye ngudi zeto. Tufueti toma yo tanini; ye nwanina yo muna kibakala…: "ye nzala, ye meno meto..."

Note: by omitting or ignoring "M" or/and "N" you will be redefining nouns, verbs etc.. thus redefining kikongo language itself. Will you please make an effort to preserve the kikongo grammar as it was originally set up by the honourable Mr. NLEMVO in 1887 ?

Kikongo language, as any other language deserves a "linguist

respect". Hole is not the same word as Whole; Night is not the same word as Knight. The list of words sounding alike, is very long in English language. Although they share the same pronunciation, each word has different meaning.

Kikongo language top linguist was the honourable Mr("nkaka"). João Nlemvo. [To Bakongo people Mr . Nl emvo is their William Shakespeare(Brits); pour le Bakongo, Mr. Nlemvo c'est l'equivalent de Jean-Baptiste Po quelin "Molière" (les Gaulois); para nós Bakongo, o senhor Nl emvo é o nosso Luís Vaz de Camões(Os Lusos)].

Please when/if in doubt please check words again the original William Bentley's text online at: http://www.archive.org/details/dictionarygramma00bentuoft

Note: Kib = Kibokolo; Bako = San Salvador; Solongo = Soyo; P = Portuguese; Zombo = Makela do Zombo

The Bakongo Research Institute

November 2010

$^{i}$ A fictional character created by tata Andre Massaki Ndomikolayi www.andremassaki.org in the 1970’s. “ Nki a kuma yavanin'e nkumbu a Ndona Madungu muna malongi mame? Vena ye kuma. Muna vata dieto (Mbanza Lembe, ku Angola) i mwakala nkento mosi wandwenga, wazayi, wantona, ndiona walwakiIwanga kwa bantu bampila mu mpila mu vuvu kia tambula ndwengoso kwa yandi. Mu luyindulu Iwa nkumbu andi ye salu kina kasala muna zunga kieto, i kuma yabanzila vo nkumbu andi yafwana kikilu mu bakw'e tezo .” Quote from his book: Malongi Ma Mama Ndona Madungu (1977), published by Cedi(Centre Protestant d’Editions et de Diffusion. B.P 11.398, Kinshasa I, République du Zaïre)

Tata Massaki was born in Kíkaka(Kisemo) village; in Makela do Zombo county, in The Republic of Angola on 25 February 1923 ;He is Muzombo top writer(9 titles) of his generation and was the FIRST journalist/presenter and editor of the FIRST Christian program(Congo Baptist church news) ever broadcast on the D. R. of Congo National radio from 1958 to 1968. He was at the same time Swedish Mission Magazine(Messenger of Peace) correspondent and editor of "The Congolese Voice"(a magazine that dealt with political, social & cultural issues).

He and mama Ntantani Massaki(his wife)lived and worked in Austria with Walter Trobisch the founder of the Family Life Mission www.familylifemission.org and returned to Angola in early 1980's. He refused an offer to become the organization representative to the US, because he wanted to assist his own people (Angolans) in matters related to family, indeed he was a mentor to young people, mainly Christian youth. In Angola he setup and worked for the same organization until his retirement and now lives in Viana (Luanda).

pronounced as w before it, which is never the case ; it is always nzo zole, two houses, not nzo ezole.

This principle is seen in other cases also, when a final is pronounced as e before a word having a consonant initial ; thus :

Mwana-zumba, a bastard, is pronounced mwane-zumba.

e FINAL.

E final does not elide before a word having an initial e. The only exception to this rule are the monosyllables se, ne, nze, ke, ye, and e standing alone as a Particle, these do elide before a and e ; also the e final of ese, a father, elides before the initial a and e of the Personal Pronouns.

S'anunu,, 1 = they are now old, for. S'anunu,, 2 = se anunu.. S'asumuki, 1 = they are now se asumuki. S'asumuki, 2 = . S'ekwendanga, 1 = shiners, for he is going, for. S'ekwendanga, 2 = se ekwendanga. N'esi nsi ame, 1 = like my countrymen, for. N'esi nsi ame, 2 = ne esi nsi ame. N'akw'ame, 1 = like my people, for. N'akw'ame, 2 = . , 1 = ne akwa ame. , 2 = . K'akw'ame ko, 1 = not my people,. K'akw'ame ko, 2 = akwa ame ko. K'evata diame ko, 1 = ko. K'evata diame ko, 2 = ke evata diame. , 1 = not my town, for. , 2 =

1

Kw'es'andi

To his father, for

kwa ese andi

-se final, in nouns, is often pronounced as shi, in some districts, when followed by an initial a or e.

Ndoshi au

Munshi ame

their presence, for

my sugar-cane, for

ndose an

munse ame

E initial elides after the Article o, which is sometimes placed before it, in treating the Noun of which it is the initial as a Noun of the First Class.

O'yakala (eyakala) : the man. O'zina (ezina) : the corpse, thus euphemistically spoken of.

E initial also elides after the O final of konso, any (except the e of esi), and after the i final of mwisi, an inhabitant.

Konso'vata : any town.

Konso'yakala : any man.

Mwisi'vata : a man of the town.

Mwisi'vata : a man of the town.

Mwisi'kanda : one of the clan.

E initial elides after the Personal Pronouns, and the Demonstrative Pronominal Particles i and u.

2

Pers. Pron., 1 = Oyandi 'baba: he, the dumb. , 1 = man. Omono'kesa diandi : I, who am one of his soldiers Nge'toko :. , 1 = you, young man.. Pos. Pron., 1 = my own town.. , 1 = Ediame'vata Ediaku'buluku your own donkey.. , 1 = Ediandi'meme :. , 1 = his sheep. Edieto'sikilu :. , 1 = our drum.. , 1 = Edieno'sau : your ferry.. Dem. Pronl., 1 = Ediau'yembe : their pigeon.. Parts., 1 = Kadi u'baba : for you are dumb.. , 1 = I'vata didi : this is the town.

E initial does not elide after the Conjunction OVO, or, if; although it does elide after the Locative, OVO, on (second pos.).

Ovo'teva diaku : on your mat.

Ovo evata dikweme : if the town is burnt.

O initial (prefix to the verb in the second and third pers. sing.) elides after the Demonstrative Pronominal Particle i and se.

I'kwendel'o mbazi :

That is why you must go to-morrow.

Mfumu yandi kibeni i'singa kwiza : The Lord Himself shall come.

Owau se'tinini :

Now he has run away.

3

Owau se 'vovele wo : Now you have said it. Owau se'mon'e mpasi : Now you will have trouble.

Yandi i 'vitidi e lekwa yawonsono : He was before all things.

final in the Objective Pronouns, mio, kio, dio, no (that is to say, in those compounded with i), elides before the Interrogative and Impatient Interjection, e

Nga sumba nsumba ki'e? Shall I buy it then?

Unu tukesa mi'e? Shall we fell them to-day?

Nusolwele fi'e?

Have you found it?

Ozevo simbadi'e!

Hold it then!

In the case of the other Objective Pronouns it does not elide.

Onata zo e? Will you carry them

Mbonga lo e? May I take it?

O FINAL.

4

O final in yo elides before the prefix O of Pronouns.

Y'omame masa mpe: And my corn too.

A further instance of the remote euphonic influence noted on page 525 is found in the word menena, Applied Form of -ina, to be, 3rd pers. pl. 8th class,instead of menina.

O mankondo mama, adieyi menena e mbwaki? Why are these plantains red?

Its natural form would be ma-inina, which contracts (p. 524) into menina; but the resultant e of the prefix me- causes a further change, and the second i becomes e, menena ; so that Euphonic law reduces ma-inina to menena.

In some Bantu languages, such as Se-Chuana, the consonantal and other changes due to Euphony are far more numerous and complicated than in Kongo.

There are a few well-known contracted words among the Bantu languages,such as nkento, a woman, from nkazi ntu, or nkazi muntu, which is found as omukazendu in Herero (Damara-land).

Nkulùntu, an elder, from nkulu-muntu, is another instance ; the irregular accent being thus accounted for.

5

Nzo, a house, is found as ndaku in the language of the Bangala (Ba-iboko). Otherwise there is not much evidence of contraction in Kongo words.

There are a few instances of such influence at work on reduplicated words; thus, e kamba-kamba, borne by many, is found also as e kakàmba.

The Bakongo also often contract in the case of reduplicated numerals ; thus they will say ta-tatu instead of tatu-tatu, three each; and zo-zole for zole-zole, two each, and so on.

Nonòno, a number of tiny spots, is a contraction of nono-nòno, from nona, to pick up.

DERIVATIVE NOUNS.

THE TWELFTH DERIVATIVE.

When the Simple Form of the Verb [lu...u (luvangu)] is the basis of the construction of this Derivative, it is active in its meaning.

When it is formed from the Applied Form of the Verb[lu...ilu (luvangilu)] the Noun has a passive meaning ; it may, however, be so formed to convey the idea of the Applied Form, and indicate a means of accomplishing.

Simple Form. Luvangu : the manufacture, how they make. Applied Form. Luvangilu : the manufacture, how it is made.

6

The Eleventh Derivative denotes a manner, an act, a doing; or with the sense of the Applied Form, what it is made for.

The Twelfth Derivative,a process, or a purpose for which.

11th Der. Mpanga : a making.

Mpangwa : a being made.

12th Der. Luvangu : the process of making. Luvangilu : the process of being made, or the purpose for which it is made (the being made for).

Often it is not possible to trace these ideas, and where this form is used, it appears to be adopted as a convenient form to express the abstract idea of the general performance of the action indicated by the root. The eleventh would indicate a specific act; the twelfth the act generally.

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