Kirundi ni lugha ya Kibantu inayotumika na watu milioni kumi au zaidi hasa nchini Burundi lakini pia katika maeneo ya jirani ya Tanzania, Jamhuri ya Kidemokrasia ya Kongo na Uganda. Ndiyo lugha ya taifa na mojawapo ya lugha rasmi za Burundi. Wanaosema Kirundi na Kinyarwanda, lugha rasmi ya Rwanda, wanasikilizana bila shida. Kwa kiasi kikubwa sana hata Waha na Wahangaza wa Tanzania wanasikilizana nao. Ethnologue, 15th ed. Broselow, E. & Niyondagara, A. (1990) Feature geometry and Kirundi palatalization. Studies in the Linguistic Sciences 20: 71-88. de Samie. (2009) Dictionnaire Francais-Kirundi. L'Harmattan. Paris. Goldsmith, J. & Sabimana, F. (1989) The Kirundi Verb. Modèles en tonologie. Editions du CNRS. Paris. Meeussen, A.E. (1959) Essai de grammaire Rundi. Annales du Musée Royal du Congo Belge, Série Sciences Humaines - Linguistique, vol. 24. Tervuren. Myers, S. (1987) Tone and the structure of words in Shona. PhD dissertation, University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Garland Press. New York. Ntihirageza, J. (1993) Kirundi Palatization and Sibilant Harmony : Implications for Feature Geometry.